Page 12 of Mine This Time

Chapter Eleven

Nash

“What did you find?” I asked Trent.

Trent leaned back in his chair, drumming his fingertips on the leather armrest as he regarded me. “You’re not gonna like it.”

Narrowing my eyes, I replied, “Just hit me.”

“You already know all the financial info. He also opened four new credit cards in her name and applied for a business loan,” Trent explained. Trent was a private investigator I’d known for years. Whenever I needed to dig deeper into something, I turned to him for help.

“Okay, none of that’s all that unexpected given the situation. Anything else?”

“Yeah. Now you can add that he put a tracking chip on her phone. That’s how he traced her to your building.”

“What the fuck? Please tell me you already deactivated it.”

“If I deactivate it, he’ll know. Instead, I rerouted it to a burner phone I purchased. That phone is just going to sit with me during the day. I’ll drop it off with your security in the evening at your office building. That’s what we’ll do until you’re ready for us to cut bait.”

I was pissed. As Max had guessed, Brett was unquestionably using Mari.

Not that I’d been wondering about that detail.

She didn’t have a ton of money, in fact not very much at all, according to Max.

As he put it, she stubbornly refused his help.

Looking over at Trent, I shook my head slowly.

“My best guess is he hopes to get investments through his connections with Mari. When he didn’t get what he wanted, he decided to ruin her credit instead of his. ”

Trent nodded. “I can put a hold on everything he did money-wise under her name, but I need your clearance.”

“I need to talk to Mari first.”

This topic was dead last on the list of things I wanted to discuss with Mari. Brett was turning out to be more underhanded than I’d considered. For Mari’s sake, I had wanted this to be a clean break for her. His actions were making that difficult.

I promised Mari a good week in New Orleans. This topic was decidedly not good. Concern kept pinging through me every time I considered Brett showing up last night.

“Let me know when you talk to her. All she needs to do is put a freeze on her credit, and that’ll stop him in his tracks,” Trent said.

“Yeah, I know,” I said as I stood from my chair. “Thanks for your quick work, and I’ll talk to her today. I don’t want to delay on any of this.”

Moments later, I stepped out, the heavy afternoon heat only serving to add to my frustration.

Not that I didn’t expect it, mind you. Louisiana was hot most of the time.

My phone felt like it was burning a hole in my pocket.

I wanted to call Max and run this by him before I talked to Mari, but I knew that would piss her off.

When I felt the vibration of my phone as I walked down the street, I slipped it out quickly and glanced down to see Hannah Grantham’s name flash on the screen. I didn’t hesitate to answer.

“Hey, Hannah, what can I do for you today?”

“Just calling to give you a small piece of my mind,” she said tartly.

“Excuse me?”

“Look, Nash, you’re a gentleman and my family has known yours for years. I know you’re a good man, but I want to make sure you’re not gonna do anything to hurt my friend, Mariana Channing.”

“Well, uh, this is out of left field.”

“Oh, don’t start with the sports metaphors with me just because my husband plays one professionally,” she drawled.

“Mari stayed at Creek’s End Inn with her ex, who took off in the middle of the night.

When I spoke to her, she mentioned you’d helped her out.

You’re a good man, but she does not need a fling. You’re too charming for your own good.”

I was relieved Hannah couldn’t see me rolling my eyes. Although I wasn’t too close to Hannah, I knew her socially. Her family went as far back in New Orleans as mine. I crossed paths with Hannah and her family with regularity, and of course, everyone knew who her basketball star husband was.

Although I hadn’t expected such a call from Hannah, I appreciated her protectiveness of Mari.

“No need to worry, Hannah. I met Mari when she stopped by looking for her ex. I happen to know her brother because he handled security for my buildings. I offered Mari a place to stay. That’s it.” Obviously, I stayed silent on how much I wanted to kiss Mari again and then some.

“I’m glad I needn’t worry. You keep being nice, you hear me?”

Although Hannah might be nosy, I knew I’d hear it if I harmed a single hair on Mari’s head. Little did she know I liked Mari. Big time. “Of course. Didn’t you just say I was a good man?”

Hannah laughed. “All right, all right. I’m glad you offered Mari a place to stay. She was pretty stressed out when she checked out of here.”

“I can imagine. Anything else you need to lecture me on?

“No, but thank you for listening,” Hannah countered smoothly.

After that call with Hannah, I wondered just what the hell I was thinking with Mari. Perhaps the issue was that I wasn’t thinking. I certainly hadn’t been looking for romance. Work occupied all of my time, and I knew Mari would probably consider me a rebound.

Yet, I was ignoring all of those contingencies. I wanted her.

When I reached my office building after returning from the short stroll from Trent’s office, I welcomed the blast of cool air that hit me when I walked through the doors.

“Hey, Greg,” I called, lifting my hand in a wave just as the security guy hung up the phone at his station, where he manned all the comings and goings in the building.

“Howdy, Nash,” he replied.

Strolling over, I asked, “Schedule’s all set for an extra guy during the nights?

“Of course, sir.”

“How many times do I have to tell you not to “sir” me?”

Greg shrugged. “It’s a habit. You’re my boss.”

“I hired you to manage security because I’ve known you since elementary school, Greg. It’s damn strange when you call me sir. Now that we got an extra guy lined up for nights, I’d like to plan to keep that staffing level in place going forward.”

“Not just while Miss Channing is here?” Greg asked in return.

I nodded. “That’s right. She prompted it because of her situation, but I think it’s good for the business and our tenants.”

“Will do. I’ll make it permanent on the schedule, and get going on making sure we have staff lined up. Anything else you need today?”

“Nope. Thanks for everything.”

After I stopped by my office and caught up on everything Lydia had left in a list on my desk, I called Mari.