Page 32 of Believing in a Billionaire (Hearts and Holdings #7)

JULIA

J ulia’s heart thudded against her ribs as she waited for the red light to turn green. Her foot tapped against the car’s floor, drumming out a nervous rhythm. She glanced up and down the cross street. There wasn’t a car for miles.

“Go through it,” she said.

“Julia!” Alicia said. “No. I’m a cop.”

“I know. How I wish we had the siren right now.”

Alicia grabbed her sister’s hand. “I know you’re worried, but we’ll get there.”

“It’s nice that you’re worried about Kyle even though he’s a huge pain,” Sierra said from the backseat.

“He’s not a huge pain. He was very helpful trying to get information against your mother over the past few months.”

“Oh, maybe that’s what he’s doing now,” Sierra said. “Or maybe he’s just on her side.”

Julia sank her forehead into her palm as she stared out the window at the light. Odd that both Grant and Sierra always considered Kyle a turncoat. “He’s not on her side. Which is what makes me even more nervous.”

“Why?” Sierra asked.

Julia twisted to glance behind her. “Because if Lydia figured out that he double-crossed her, which I’m certain is obvious now, I’m really worried that she’d try to hurt him.”

Sierra frowned, slouching in the seat. “Oh, right. Well, look at what she tried to do to me, and I’m her daughter.”

“I’m sorry, what? What did she try to do?” Alicia asked as the light finally turned, and she pulled forward.

Julia heaved a sigh. “She had compromising pictures of Sierra, and she threatened to make them public unless I helped her ruin Grant.”

Alicia screwed up her face as they continued along the road, searching the perimeter for any signs of Kyle’s SUV. “Seriously? She did that to her own kid?”

“She did it. Alex Stone helped us remove her leverage. That’s when she really went berserk.”

“And almost threw Julia off the roof,” Sierra added. “So, she totally could hurt Kyle.”

Julia’s heart ached as the words spilled from Sierra’s lips. She’d been the one to bring him into this. If something happened to him, it was her fault. “I’m the one who suggested he work with us.”

Tears burned her eyes, pinching her features.

“Aw, sis, we’ll find him, okay?” Alicia rubbed her arm before she returned her hand to the wheel.

A warm hand wrapped around her shoulder and squeezed. “Yeah, Step-mommy, we’ll find him. I’ll bet my mom is so busy hating everyone that she never even thought of Kyle. Because…he’s kind of not really family.”

Though the words reflected Sierra’s ungenerous position on her newfound half-brother, she knew she meant well. Julia swallowed hard as she blinked her tears away. “Thanks, Sierra.”

Sierra leaned back in her seat. “Sure. He’s probably just on a bender. You know, like I was after I found out about the pictures.”

Julia tried to find solace in the words, but they did little to soothe her nerves. If this lead didn’t pan out, they’d be left with nothing. Although, they may already be too late. Her mind tried not to go to the worst, but she couldn’t help it. Was Kyle already gone?

The moon cast long shadows across the deserted road, turning each rustle of wind into a whispered threat.

She flicked her glassy eyes over the landscape, her brow furrowing as something glinted in the moonlight ahead of them.

“Stop, stop,” she said, poking a finger toward a clump of overgrown bushes on the roadside.

“What?”

“I saw something in those bushes,” Julia said as Alicia eased the car onto the shoulder and came to a stop.

Julia leapt from the passenger seat, hurrying forward in the darkness toward what she’d seen.

“Julia, wait!” Alicia called as she hurried after her. “Let me check it out first.”

Julia slowed, her heart thudding in her chest as the shape of a vehicle became obvious in the dim light. “That’s his car.”

A cold shiver ran down her spine, her earlier fear solidifying into a tangible dread. The door hung open, whispering a chilling tale of a hasty departure or worse.

“Okay, fine, just…stay here for a second, okay? Let me go first.” Alicia tugged the gun from the holster and thrust it forward, balancing her flashlight on top.

She crept forward as she approached the vehicle, hastily hidden behind the leafy bushes. The methodic crunch of her feet in the dry dirt made the hairs on the back of Julia’s neck stand up.

Sierra waited next to her, an arm wrapped around Julia’s shoulders. “Do you see anything?”

Alicia finished her circle of the vehicle. “Nothing. Front door’s open, keys are still inside.”

“Seriously?” The words ripped at Julia’s heart. Why would he abandon the car?

“Maybe he got out and then fell,” Sierra suggested as she glanced over the embankment.

Alicia holstered her weapon and aimed her flashlight over the edge. “Could be.”

“Why would he get out?” Julia asked.

Alicia shrugged as she crossed back to them, her flashlight beam still trained over the edge of the embankment. “Maybe he was sick. Drunk. If he was upset, he could have had too much to drink, pulled over to sleep it off, felt sick, got out of the car, and fell.”

Julia lifted her chin to peer over the edge as her sister called out to him.

Sierra stomped her way further down on the shoulder. “Kyle!”

Julia’s pulse raced as she hurried back to the car and retrieved another flashlight. She approached the car, shining her light over the edge near it. “Kyle!”

“Kyle! It’s your sister! If you can hear me, answer!” Sierra stamped a boot on the ground. “He’s so frustrating.”

Alicia scrambled further down the embankment to where it leveled off and searched the area.

“What are you looking for?” Sierra called.

“Footprints. Scrap of fabric. Anything that indicates he may have been here.” She flicked her beam up and swept the horizon. “Kyle!”

Sierra followed her, sliding down to her and parading around, checking behind bushes. “Kyle! Come out! Come on! Stop playing around. Come out, Julia wants to kiss you!”

“Sierra!” Julia said as she reached them.

“What? If he’s here, that’s totally going to make him answer. He’d do anything to kiss you.”

Julia offered her a chuckle and a begrudging smile as she wrapped her arm around Sierra’s shoulders in a half-hug.

“I don’t see anything here,” Alicia said. “I’m going to check out the car again.”

“Okay,” Julia said as her cell phone rang. She tugged it from her pocket and swiped to accept Alex’s call, toggling on her speakerphone.

“Did you find Junior G’s car?”

“We did. It’s abandoned. No sign of Kyle,” Julia answered.

“And the mystery deepens,” Alex answered as he clacked away on his keyboard.

“He’s definitely not here. We tried to lure him using a kiss from Julia. No dice,” Sierra said.

“Is that you, Peak Princess?”

“Yes, that’s Sierra. And the mystery might have deepened but the trail dead ends,” Julia noted as she climbed back to the road with Sierra. “There’s nothing else here.”

“Not quite,” Alicia answered as she crouched in front of the car, her flashlight pointed at the ground.

Julia crossed to her, her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“There are tire marks here. Looks like they lead back to the road.” Alicia followed the tire marks with her flashlight.

“Tire marks, eh?” Alex said. “Give me a second here.”

Julia held her breath as she waited for whatever information Alex needed time to find.

“Does it look like those tires could belong to a creepy white van registered to one…” He paused, the sound of keys clacking filling the air. “DG Industries.”

Julia’s heart dropped at the words, her stomach twisting into a knot. “Oh, no.”

“Recognize something there?”

“DG Industries. It’s the shell company Lydia’s been hiding behind.” Julia snapped her gaze to her sister. “Still think this is as innocent as him blowing off steam?”

Alicia rose to stand with a sigh. “No. But there’s not much we can–”

“Hold your tongue, Detective Dynamo. The great Alex Stone is tracking this van as we speak. What say we see how tightly I can narrow a location down.”

“Alex, I can’t thank you enough for this.”

“No problemo, Sunshine. I really like G-Clone. And I really dislike the Iron Lady.”

Julia tightened her grip on the phone as the night breeze made her shiver. Worry haunted her as ominous visions clouded her mind.

“Okay, we’ve got a white van approaching the next stoplight from your location shortly after G-Junior’s car went through the last light.”

“We’re getting in the car, can you talk us through where it went next?” Alicia asked.

“I can do better than that, Dynamo. I’m tracking Sunshine’s phone, so I can guide you to where that van went unless we run out of security cameras for me to tap,” Alex answered.

Julia offered a silent prayer that they didn’t run out of road before they’d caught a break as she hurried back to the car and slid into the passenger’s seat.

Sierra climbed into the back seat as Alicia fired the engine.

“So, I’m just heading to the next light?” Alicia asked.

“Full steam ahead, Dy. I’m checking the location of the van after that. Just give me a few seconds.”

The sound of furious typing filled the quiet car, only hushed by the sound of the tires rolling along the pavement. Julia’s heart was beating so hard that she worried she wouldn’t hear Alex’s directions.

“Straight through the light,” he said as they approached it.

“Light’s red, so we’re waiting,” Alicia reported.

“You want me to change it?” Alex asked.

Sierra leaned forward. “Is he serious?”

“As a heart attack, Harrington Heiress. I can hack this in two seconds and give you greens all the way through.”

“Uh, “Alicia murmured as she slid her eyes sideways at the phone, “no, it’s okay. We’ll wait while you track the van’s next moves.”

“Okey-dokey. You’re going to make a right at the next light,” Alex informed her as the light changed.