Page 84 of Rebooting Conor Flynn

She waved and mouthed the word, so I waved at her phone.

“Okay perfect. Lucky for you, I can cut out the audio, so you don’t come across as a complete...wanker.”

“Ah, been hanging out with Rhys too much, I see, but maybe wanker is a step up from fuckboy.”

“As far as I can figure out, not much.” She wiggled her fingers in the air as she sauntered off to video more unsuspecting people stuffing food in their faces.

I finished my lunch, dumped my trash, and headed back to my room. As I swiped my card key, I felt a wisp of air behind me and spun around—nearly knocking Noelle off her feet.

“Why are you sneaking up on me. I almost took you out.”

She crouched forward, cranking her head from side to side to check the hallway. “I don’t think we should be seen together.”

I pushed open the door and grunted. “You’re my publicist. I think it’s okay.”

“I’m also your bus fuck buddy.” She fell across my bed and then sprang up. “Don’t get any ideas.”

“I always have ideas when I’m around you, baby.”

“Don’t...” she pointed an unsteady finger at me “...call me baby.”

“Why? Does it get ya hot?” I grabbed her finger and pressed a kiss in her palm.

“I’m here on business.”

“I’m sick of talking about Ashley Bennett and her schemes.” I dropped Noelle’s hand and walked to the balcony. I slid open the door and stepped into the desert heat, not much different from Arizona’s, except for those mysterious looking volcanic buttes.

“It’s a hundred degrees out there, at least. You’re letting out all the AC—typical Brit.” She joined me anyway and dropped into one of the chairs. “This is about that other business.”

I swiveled my head toward her. “Did you discover anything new?”

“A little. Remember I told you I DM’d Louise on Instagram. She replied.” Noelle took her phone from the little bag strapped across her body. “Do you wanna hear what she said?”

“Did she name names?”

“No, but she did confirm that she was the responsible party for issuing and programming the new phones.”

“Okay.” I sat forward. “I suppose she doesn’t remember the phones in Australia.”

“Actually, she does. It was the first time Gordon ordered new phones and numbers for you guys. So, it was kind of a test run.”

“Is she implying mistakes were made because it was a trial run for the phone swap?” I gripped the balcony railing. “Because that’s bollocks, Noelle. It might be believable if we got out of service notifications when we tried to text each other, or if someone responded that we had the wrong number. But we didn’t. My old number was reassigned to someone who was instructed not to respond to your texts or voicemails. And the number they programmed into my phone for you went to someone who was instructed not to let me know I had the wrong number. That’s not a coincidence. That’s sabotage.”

Standing up next to me, she rubbed my back. “I know, and that’s not what Louise suggested. She just indicated that she swapped your phones, and Gordo warned her not to give out your new numbers to anyone. That’s why I didn’t get your number.”

“Did you tell her why you were asking?” I pinned my gaze to the wavy desert landscape and took a deep breath. Noelle’s touch calmed me—it always did.

“I didn’t get to that yet. Should I ask her directly how my number could’ve been incorrectly transferred to your phone?” She held out her cell. “Do you want me to read the whole thing? Sit down. Do you want something to drink?”

I plopped into the chair and wedged my feet against the balcony. “I’m good. You don’t have to read the whole thing. I get the idea. Can you ask her about the transfer?”

“I’ll do it right now.” Her fingers flew over her screen, and she read aloud as she typed. “Thanks for responding, Louise. I know it sounds a little cra...daft after all this time, but I’m comparing notes with someone back in the day. Is there any way a number from the old phone could’ve transferred into the new phone as a wrong number?”

She glanced at me. “How’s that? Anything else?”

“That works.” I pounded my fist into my palm. “I want answers, Noelle.”

“I know you do.” She stroked my arm. “I want them too, but I’m happy we figured out that something happened, and that we didn’t ghost each other.”