“Just slow down for a second. No one was thinking anything. It just kind of happened. It was nothing, just a friendly good-bye. Nothing more. Like I said, the pictures are out of context.”
“Pictures? What pictures?” Why is it so damn hard to get straight answers out of this guy?
“Isn’t that why you’re calling? The picture of me and Lamm?”
God, I hate it when he calls her that. “I’m talking about the spending spree you two have been on. Boats and chateaus. Big piles of cash.”
“Now I’m lost. I haven’t seen Arianna in a month. I don’t know anything about boats or chateaus. Definitely don’t know anything about piles of money. Ari hates carrying cash. What’s going on?”
“So she’s not with you?” I ask.
“No, she dropped by my place last month. I told her I couldn’t help her, and she left. Hasn’t returned my calls since.”
“Oh, Jesus. So if she isn’t with you, where is she? Who the hell is she spending all this money on?”
“Spending what money? What is going on?”
I fill him in on everything the accountant told me.
“Someone has to have hacked her identity. That doesn’t sound like Lamm at all,” he says.
“I agree, but the question remains, if someone’s traipsing all over Europe spending her money, where is she? I thought she was with you this whole time.”
He sighs. “After she told me you two got into a fight, I told her I couldn’t be a pawn in the games between you anymore and sent her away. Like I said, that was a month ago. Haven’t heard from her since.”
She felt betrayed by her parents, then me, and then Henrik closed the door in her face. She must have felt completely abandoned. Who knows how she reacted? I need to get to her. “I’ve got to go. I’ll call you back as soon as I know something.”
I redial Colin. “She’s not with the person I thought she was. I really think she could be in trouble. I need to find her. Where are the last charges made? I’ll hop on the next flight and find her.” I search the trailer for the piece of paper and pen I had earlier.
“Sir, if I may? In my experience, if a family member or loved one steamrolls into a complicated situation, it may only make matters worse. I recommend sending an investigator to track her down and provide a clearer picture of what’s going on.”
PIs take time, and we don’t have time to waste. She needs me now. “What do we need assessed? Something’s wrong. I need to find her. End of story.”
“Look, Mr. Brennan, I’m an accountant for a number of celebrities, and I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’ve seen everything from secret weddings to mental breakdowns to trust fund kids trying to get their parents’ attention to kidnapping. Whatever’s going on with Arianna, you’ll be able to help her better if you know what’s going on. And you have to remember you’re a celebrity in your own right. Wherever you go, you’ll bring your own fanfare, and that could either spook her and make her run or make an already volatile situation worse.”
“So I’m just supposed to sit here and wait?”
He continues as if I hadn’t spoken. “In addition, you have to remember she’s been hopping from city to city. A professional will be much more adept to finding her than you. You could waste weeks chasing shadows.”
He’s right. Whatever’s going on, I need to be smart about finding her. Running my fingers through my hair, I push out a frustrated sigh. “I’ll make some calls. I’m sure whoever I hire will need to speak with you to get all the financial information. Will you be available?”
“Of course.”
There’s another knock on my trailer. “Mr. Brennan, the director would like to get this shot before breaking for lunch.”
Fuck. How am I supposed to move hay bales with a big dumb grin while Ari’s in trouble? If she were here, she’d slap me upside the head and tell me to pull my head out of my ass and be the professional I’m being paid to be. “Just give me fifteen, and I’ll be out.”
I call Carmen and fill her in on the situation. She agrees that having an investigator get the lay of the land is smart and tells me she’ll get the investigators who looked into Jenna on the case. She asks me a million questions about Ari, her habits, our relationship. She gets pretty personal, but if I can’t be honest with my lawyer, who can I be honest with?
I guess now all I can do is sit and wait.
There’s another knock on my trailer. “Mr. Brennan?”
Fuck. Back to work I go. I hope this scene calls for surly and brooding because that’s all they’ll get out of me today.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chase
For the next three days, I keep my phone glued to me. I jump at every notification, hoping it’ll be news, but every time, I’m disappointed. I’d think the price I’m paying entitles me to some sort of daily update, but as Carmen put it, would I rather the investigator waste time writing an email saying they haven’t found her yet or use that time to look for her?
On the fourth day, I finally get an email to expect a video call later this afternoon. Knowing Charlie will want to be here for this, I forward the message to her, then I call my agent and have him cancel my whole afternoon. When Charlie gets here, I’m packing my bags.
Charlie watches me pack. “I have a bag packed for every possible type of climate, and Spencer already reserved a plane. They know we won’t know our destination until the last minute, but apparently that’s not that big of a deal. I guess if we wanted, we could take the video call at the airport. Then we can take off that much quicker.”
I toss another pair of jeans in my bag. “I thought about that, but what if we get a spotty signal? I’ve been waiting too long for this call. I can’t risk something going wrong.”
Charlie looks through my bag. “Eight pairs of jeans, long johns, and a tuxedo jacket. Interesting fashion choices.” She pulls shoes from the bag. “And two left shoes.”
I look at my bag and shake my head. “Clearly my mind is elsewhere. My brain keeps running through all these scenarios of where she could be, what she’s been doing for the past month. It was one thing when I thought she was with Henrik, but now that I know she’s not, I’m losing my mind. Where the hell is she?”
Charlie looks at her watch. “We’re going to find out in less than ten minutes, then we’ll go get her.” She pushes me out of the way. “You sit. I’ll pack for you.” Charlie goes through my closet, pulling out clothes, then she folds them neatly in the bag. “It’s sad when the girl on hormones is the calmest one in the room.”
“I know. I’m a fucking mess. I’ve never been like this before. Usually I’m good in a crisis.”
“You love her. It’s hard to stay calm when it comes to someone you love. If it were Spencer, I’d probably have a psychotic break, and you’d have to send me to that place they sent Jenna.” She squeezes my knee as she walks to my dresser then opens my sock drawer. “Let me be the strong one for a change.”
My computer dings, notifying me of the incoming call. I reach to open the laptop.
Charlie grabs my hand before I can touch my computer. “No matter what he says, we’ll get through this.”
From the look in her eye, I can tell she feels it too, this dark, foreboding sense that something is very wrong. The ominous feeling has settled around me since Collin’s call, and no matter what I do, I can’t shake it. Maybe it’s a twin thing and she’s picking it up from me, or she has the same fears I do. Either way, I know she’s just as worried as I am.
I nod. “I know we will.”
She opens the lid and clicks accept. I had been expecting some big burly guy, but the investigator is a tiny little thing with short brown hair.
“Mr. Brennan, I’m Ashley Butcher. Everyone calls me Butch.” She smiles. “I’m sure you were expecting a man.”
I laugh. “Yeah, kind of.”
“Yeah, most private dicks have one, and I have lots of muscle on my crew for the times when I need it, but I find being a woman gives me an
advantage, lets me get into places and talk to people men can’t. Are you comfortable working with a woman?”
“Can you find my girlfriend?”
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s all I care about.” I put my arm around Charlie. “This is my sister, Charlotte. She’s Arianna’s best friend.”
Charlie gives her a wave.
She smiles. “It’s a pleasure working with the both of you. I know you’re anxious to hear an update, so let’s get down to it. I’ve found Arianna.”
Charlie and I breathe a sigh of relief. She grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze. “Oh thank God,” she says. “Where?”
“Valencia, Spain. She was here for the Las Fallas festival. It’s a five-day party in honor of Saint Joseph. Think Carnivale, Mardi Gras. That sort of thing. All-day parties in the streets. It was tricky to find her because the town is flooded with people, but I tracked her down.”
“You saw her? How is she? Did you talk to her? Where has she been? What has she been doing for the last month? Why won’t she answer her phone?” Charlie fires questions at Butch.
I put my hand on Charlie’s. “Let’s give her a chance to talk.”
Butch doesn’t look fazed by Charlie’s barrage of questions. “I did see her, and no, she did not see me, and that’s just the way I want it for now. If she thinks she’s being followed, it might spook her, and spooked people do stupid things. Arianna’s racking up a long list of stupid things on her own, so I don’t want to provoke her into adding to it.”
I type “Valencia, Spain” into my phone, but the damn thing is taking forever to load. “Where in Spain is this? Any idea where we should fly into? Barcelona or Madrid?”
Butch holds up her hand. “Hold on a second before you book your airfare. She’s just boarded a private jet and is headed out of Spain. I have men trying to pin down where her plane is headed, then I’ll go there and give you another update. Until then, there’re some things we need to discuss. I’m sending some pictures to your email right now. These pictures may come as quite a shock to you, but let’s talk about it and decide what the best course of action is.”
“What do you mean this ‘may come as a shock’? What’s going on?” I ask.
A notification comes across the bottom of the screen, letting me know an email has arrived. My hand hovers over the mouse, but I’m too afraid to move. For the past month, I’ve spent every day wondering what she’s doing, but now that it’s been presented to me with that warning, am I ready to learn the truth?
Putting her arm around me, Charlie rests her chin on my shoulder. “If we don’t know, we can’t help her, and from the sound of things, she needs our help. I know this may hurt, but you have to be strong for her. Love isn’t always about roses and rainbows—sometimes it’s all thorns and pain. But it’s better to experience that pain and have her in your life than feel nothing and be without her. You know that better than anyone. Now suck it up, click the button, and let’s see what we’re dealing with.”
She’s right. Taking a deep breath, I click the button and watch the file load.
Charlie gasps as a picture of Ari fills the screen. “She looks—”
“Like a coked-out junkie?” Butch says. “That’s what her companions are trying to turn her into. We need to get her away from these people.”
I barely recognize her. She’s dyed her hair black with purple and pink streaks. She’s thin, as though she hasn’t eaten in the month she’s been gone. Her clothes are falling off of her, revealing pointy shoulders and elbows. Dark circles frame her sunken-in, bloodshot eyes. Her nails are bitten down to the quick. We flip through picture after picture of her snorting lines of cocaine. It’s hard to believe this is the same Ari who wouldn’t eat refined sugar because it’s bad for her body. We know plenty of celebrities who party like this but no one that Ari’s ever associated with socially. Certainly not someone she would run to after hearing about her father.
As I toggle through the pictures, I don’t recognize any of the people with her. “Who is she with?”
“Sven Lundberg. He wasn’t at the club or party in the pictures I sent you, but here.” Butch pushes a button on her computer that allows me to see her screen. She shows me a number of pictures of him with Ari. He has his hand on the small of her neck as they board a plane.
Fucking Sven Lundberg, that prick! I’ve always hated this guy. I knew he was trouble! I fucking knew it! “I’m familiar with him. He’s a tennis player who was always trying to get into her pants.”
“Well, it seems he’s finally succeeded.” My fist clenches Butch continues. “Sven retired about five years ago. Between alimony to his six ex-wives and a string of bad business decisions, he’s broke. In fact, he owes a ton of money to a ton of people. Instead of getting a real job, he’s become a fulltime con artist. He and this group of brats.” Butch flips through several pictures of people I don’t know.
“Who are they?” Charlie asks. “I’ve never seen any of these people before.”
Butch shows the pictures one at a time. “Christian Pinault, Hans Schaeffler, Luca Ferrarro, and Nico Wyss. Most of them came from money and have either blown through their trust funds already or their parents have cut them off. Hans is supposedly trying his hand as a professional snowboarder. These people are leeches. They find some unsuspecting person with deep pockets then fill their noses and arms with enough drugs to keep them on the ride of their life. They travel from city to city, one exclusive resort after the next. Little does the chump know he’s footing the bill for the whole thing: travel expenses, food, clothes, drugs. The mark ends up paying for it all, half the time without their knowledge. The leeches hang on until they get caught or realize the jig is up. Some people just get the privilege of paying for a group vacation. Others get suckered into investing in one of their schemes. For the past month, Ari’s paid for everything and has no idea, and right now, she’s too high to care.”
Every word out of Butch’s mouth makes my stomach churn. Thank God Colin picked up Ari’s crazy spending. If he hadn’t, this could have gone on for months.
With a furrowed brow, Charlie scratches her forehead. “I don’t understand. How can she not know she’s footing the bill?”
Butch opens a note pad in front of her. “I did some digging and spoke to some other investigators that have followed them. From what it sounds like, one of them nabs a card or two without her knowledge and uses it to pay for everything. They tell her that to pay for her ‘share’ of the drugs, she can take out cash. Hence the large cash withdrawals. They take her shopping and talk her into buying copious amounts of clothes, shoes, jewelry. She’s so high she doesn’t notice when they tack their stuff onto the bill.”
“Well, this at least explains why she’s been bleeding money,” I reply. “It’s so hard for me to believe Ari’s fallen for their con. She’s typically so savvy.”
Butch scans a few pages on the pad. “I have notes from the intake interview Carmen conducted. It says here that Ari’s just been through something traumatic. Well, these guys are adept at picking that up and exploiting it. We haven’t figured out where she met up with them, but we’re guessing it was before Ibiza. That’s where the spending started, and from what I’ve gathered, Ibiza isn’t a location Arianna would have chosen. She wasn’t a party girl, do I have that right?”
Charlie and I shake our heads.
“No, not at all,” Charlie says.
Butch pushes her lips together and gives us a pitiful nod. “That’s who they go after, the innocent ones. Or they go after the repeat rehabber. Either one is easy to suck in and bleed dry. Fucking parasites.”
“Should we call the authorities?” Charlie asks. “We can’t let them get away with this.”
“A few people have tried to go after them, but technically, they aren’t doing anything illegal. Yes, they’re signing for her credit cards, but they’re smart. They make sure she’s always there. They’ve argued everything from the mark being present giving them de facto
consent as an authorized user to the liability resting with the vender for having the wrong person sign the card. They’re a slimy, shady bunch of smooth talkers and very skilled at skirting by.”
“Should Collin turn her cards off again?” I ask.
Butch shakes her head. “We need her to keep spending so we can track her. Think of this as a real-life version of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? If she doesn’t leave clues, we can’t follow her. I know she’s burning through money and your gut instinct is to protect her, but our only hope of finding her is by following the money. It won’t be for much longer though. I think we’ll have her by tomorrow. A few days at the latest.”
“So what happens next?” Charlie asks. “We know they’re off to another city. Then what?”
“We’ve looked at the pattern of her spending habits and also spoken to the various rental companies from whom she’s rented property,” Butch explains. “In every city, they’ve left the place completely trashed, and there were multiple complaints of excessive noise and parties. So I’m guessing they rent a place, throw a rager for a few days, then move on to the next city. As soon as I figure out where they went, we’ll head there. Together we can work on a plan to get her out.”
Charlie stares at the screen in disbelief. It’s hard to believe this is Ari that Butch is talking about. “How long will it take to you figure out where she’s going?”
Butch glances over her shoulder. “I’ve got a guy getting their flight plan out of the AENA officer. He’ll have something for us any second. Now, we need to talk about an extraction plan. From what I observed last night, they either feed her a line or a pill any time she starts to sober up. If they’ve been doing this all month long, withdrawal is going to be tough. We need to have a plan. I can have a doctor on hand to make it easier on her, but it’ll still be a brutal road.”
“I can’t take any more right now.” Charlie wipes tears from her eyes. “Butch, why don’t we focus on getting to you, then we can hammer out the details. To be honest, I need a little time to process all of this. I think we should hang up so Chase and I can get to the airport. Will you contact us as soon as you know where she’s headed? We have a plane waiting, and we’ll be able to take off as soon as you give us a destination.”
Love To Hate You Page 24
