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“Ain’t that the truth,” I said as I grabbed clothes and shoved a few necessities into an overnight bag. “I have a feeling Ciaran and I will be driving to Las Vegas tonight. How much time did your contact at the embassy give you to produce the real statue?”
“Twenty-four hours. I take it you’ll drive Ciaran to Vegas and confront Andy yourself?”
My stomach sank. I didn’t know how I was going to make everything work.
“Yes,” I said, sighing. “Seems like that’s the only option. God I hate that motherfucker.”
“Make sure Andy doesn’t have the last laugh, Matty.”
“I’ll make sure of it.”
I hung up and made my way to the garage, all the while wondering if I’d signed the death warrant for me and my friends.
47
CIARAN
“If we’re going to run away,” Matty started as he unlocked his Ferrari, “we might as well do it in style.”
When Matty rushed into the garage a few moments ago, the concerned expression morphing his face gave me pause. I was worried he’d be pissed at me for interrupting his dinner with Zoey.
Matty didn’t look mad. He looked anything but mad, but I didn’t miss the determined shape of his mouth.
He had things on his mind and wasn’t about to reveal them in front of Davies, who stood beside me like a Roman statue.
“I’m not running away,” I insisted as I stared at him in a stupor. Decked out in his tailored suit, though sans green tie, Matty was the epitome of a handsome man in control of a situation. “I happen to have an important errand.”
Matty slipped into the driver’s seat and the car roared to life. He pressed a button, which retracted the hard-top roof into the back of the car. There was a lump in the backseat. Matty had managed to pack a bag and place it in the backseat.
All he had to do was take one look at my red eyes and splotchy face to know something was wrong. I knew he wouldn’t cause a scene in front of Davies, but how did he know to come prepared with an overnight bag?
Even with those questions unasked, the main takeaway was that he and I were in this together, no matter what.
“An errand in Vegas?” He patted the passenger seat.
I hadn’t moved.
“In Vegas,” I confirmed. His kindhearted smile put me on edge. Did I expect him to change his mind? He was offering to take me to Vegas. If I thought hard about my reluctance, I knew it had everything to do with my entanglement with Drew. I didn’t want Matty to discover all the facts. I didn’t want him to know the source of my shame and guilt.
Matty looked at his watch. “This time of night, we’ll get there shortly after midnight.”
“Matty,” Davies started, “I can’t stop you, but may I suggest you depart in the morning instead?”
“Thanks for your concern, Davies,” Matty said. “Ciaran has an important errand and, as it so happens, I have an important item to retrieve in Vegas. You’re the one who taught me to drive, Davies, so you know I’m a good driver.”
“Matty—” Davies rebutted.
“It’s Andy.” I didn’t mistake the edge in Matty’s voice, which matched the dark look that spread across Davies’ face. “He’s up to mischief that I need to address tonight. It can’t wait.”
Davies seemed to understand the implied message contained in Matty’s words. She nodded. “What about your return? That’s a lot of round-trip driving.”
“We’ll stay at The Towers to rest before driving back,” Matty answered smoothly.
I knew The Towers was one of the premiere apartment buildings in Las Vegas, with units costing more than a half a million dollars. I wasn’t surprised that the Vaulteneaus owned a unit, or maybe even the whole building. If I had to guess, I’d guess the family stayed in the penthouse unit.
Thankfully, The Towers was near the sky-rise building Drew lived in, so while Matty dealt with Andy, I’d walk to Drew’s high-rise condo in The West Flamingo.
“Jump in, Ciaran,” Matty said to me. “I’ll explain on the way.”
