Page 25 of Demon Unleashed

“He’s an independent investment manager. Works for himself.”

“All right, then, let’s see what we can find. Let’s start with the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration.”

“Already did that.”

“So why are you asking me to do a check on him?”

“Because Hamish and Aiden insist that you do it. I told them I’d already checked him out. I even searched his condo. He’s clean. Nothing to worry about. But unless you can back me up, you know those two will never get off my back.”

“Fine. So, the MVA record was clean?”

She shook her head. “He doesn’t have a driver’s license in Maryland. I saw a driver’s license in his wallet, but honestly, I can’t remember which state it was from. So, don’t bother with that.”

“Okay, then.” He typed away on his keyboard and looked through the results he got. “Social security records look okay.” A few minutes later, he’d hacked into the FBI’s systems. “No criminal record.”

While that surprised her a bit, because Eric had said that he’d grown up on the wrong side of the tracks, it didn’t have to mean anything. If he had a juvenile record, it would have been sealed. Or he’d never been caught if he got into knife fights when he was younger.

“Okay, here are his tax returns. He makes quite a bit of money. Pays his taxes. Pretty straightforward.”

She’d already seen the records previously and nodded. “As I said. And he doesn’t have Facebook or Instagram. I asked him about it. He said social media is for teenagers.” She was getting impatient. “Are we done? I wanna take a shower and get the stench of those demons off me.”

“Let me just verify that he doesn’t have any social media accounts.” Moments later, Pearce pointed to the screen. “Well, well, well. No Facebook and Instagram, you’re right. But he’s got a LinkedIn page.” Pearce clicked on the link. “So that’s your type, huh?”

Enya stared at the photo posted on Eric’s profile. The name matched, and the profession did as well. But the man in the photo wasn’t Eric. He was dark-haired, yes, but everything else was different. He was skinny and looked nothing like the Eric she’d been seeing.

Pearce scrolled down the page. “I always thought you’d go for someone, I don’t know, hunkier? Oh well, to each his own.”

She couldn’t tell Pearce that the man on the picture wasn’t Eric. Not yet. Not until she knew what was really going on.

“Yes,” she mumbled. “Okay, then. I’ll take a shower now and go to bed. Can you tell Hamish and Aiden that everything’s good?”

She barely waited for Pearce’s confirmation before she rushed out of the command center. She raced to her quarters and entered, her breaths now unsteady, her heart beating a panicked rhythm against her ribcage. Who had she slept with? Because she hadn’t slept with Eric Vaughn, the man in the picture. The Eric she knew was an imposter. Was he a criminal who’d committed identity fraud? A con artist who used his good looks to trick women into a financial scheme? Or had she stumbled into an even more serious situation?

One thing was clear: she wouldn’t be able to sleep until she knew the truth. And whatever it was, she would deal with it one way or another. Nobody lied to Enya and got away with it, particularly not a man whom she’d just started to trust.