Page 44 of Deadly Conflicts

12

Twelve

Ally hated being a secretary. There was no escaping the fact that it irked her to the bone. The fact that she had to run into the office on a holiday weekend, though – mostly because her boss was too lazy to send his own fax – was doubly annoying.

It took her twenty minutes to drive to the office and three minutes to do the task. She was beyond irritated, mostly because she envisioned spending the day floating on an inflatable lounger in Mandy’s pool. Since Jake had to go to work, she thought she could share the day with her best friend and margaritas. That didn’t look to be in the cards – at least not yet.

When Ally hit the parking lot she pulled up short, a shadow moving in front of her and causing her heart to flip. It took her a moment to recognize who was standing there and when she did she wasn’t thrilled with the realization.

“Seriously, Vince, you scared the crap out of me,” she complained, tugging a hand through her hair. “Make a noise or something.”

“I wasn’t trying to frighten you,” Vince said, holding his hands up. “In fact, I was trying to do the opposite. That’s why I waited out here. I didn’t want to knock on the glass and freak you out or anything.”

“Uh-huh.” Ally wasn’t convinced. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I looked up your address because I was hoping to talk to your boyfriend,” Vince replied. “James didn’t give me his cell phone number and the phone at the office goes straight to voicemail.”

“It’s a holiday weekend.”

“I’m still missing a car,” Vince said. “I plugged your name into a Google search and found your address. I think I found your brother’s, too, but I didn’t think he would appreciate me just showing up on his doorstep.”

“Probably not,” Ally agreed. “Why do you want to talk to Jake?”

“I just want to see how they’re doing on the case,” Vince answered. “This might not be a big deal to them, but it is to me. This was supposed to be my coming out party on my home turf.”

“I get that,” Ally said, realizing she legitimately felt sorry for him. He put a lot of work into the launch and then lost it through no fault of his own. “Jake took off this morning because he was doing something with James. I don’t know what it is, though.”

“I guess they keep you out of the loop, too, huh?”

“I don’t particularly care about being in the loop on a stolen car case,” Ally said, opting for honesty. “I know it’s a big deal to you, but I wanted to float in the pool all day and instead I had to come out here.”

“I didn’t see a pool in your backyard when I pulled up.”

“No, but Mandy and James have one,” Ally said, scratching the side of her nose as something occurred to her. “Hold up. You said you were outside of my house. How did you end up here?”

“You were leaving when I pulled up,” Vince replied. “I tried to get your attention. Heck, I even honked my horn twice. You didn’t even turn around. I had to follow you out here. I figured this was where you worked, but I didn’t want to scare you so I waited outside. I didn’t think you would come out this quickly.”

“I just had to send a quick fax and I didn’t have access to the document I needed at home,” Ally said, her expression thoughtful as she regarded him. “Give me your cell phone number and I’ll give it to James. We’re having a barbecue at his house tonight. He’ll call you.”

“Why can’t you just give me his cell phone number?”

“Because he can’t stand you,” Ally replied. “I don’t blame him. You’re a real dick whenever he’s around.”

Vince’s smile was rueful. “I guess that’s fair,” he said. “He brings out the worst in me. He’s so … bossy.”

“That goes along with the Hardy genes,” Ally explained. “The only one who isn’t bossy is Finn. He’s the most even tempered out of all of us.”

“That must be hard on your parents.”

Ally giggled. “They’re bossy, too,” she said. “Give me your cell phone number and I’ll make sure he gets it. I agree that showing up on his front doorstep would not be a good move. It will totally tick him off.”

“And nobody wants that,” Vince said. “He’s like the Hulk, right?”

“More like the Jaws shark with an appetite for blondes,” Ally said, accepting the business card Vince handed her. “Whoops. I don’t need two of these.” She moved to hand the second card back, but Vince waved it off.

“The second one is for you in case you lost the one I gave you at the mall the other day,” he said. “You haven’t used it, so I thought that might be a possibility.”

Ally frowned. “Vince, I’m not sure what you’re getting at, but I’m with someone,” she said. “I’m happy with him, too.”