More from Dark Secrets

 Jason was livid. Almost two weeks had passed since Riley had taken off, and none of the idiots who worked for him could seem to find a trace of her.

“I’m telling you,” he raged at Art, “she had to have help from someone. Her friends are calling, saying they’ve tried to reach her at the spa only to be told she’s not taking any calls. It’s costing me a pretty penny to get the spa to go along with the story. Now, her friends are hounding me. I need to come up with something in case one of those idiot women decides to drive out there.”

“I know this is not good,” Art Valderrama began but Jason interrupted him.

“Not good? Let me tell you what will happen if we don’t find her quickly. My ‘business partner’ will do it himself. He has far more resources than I do. Then, not only will Riley be dead, but we’ll probably be right behind her. I don’t know about you, but I’m rather fond of breathing.” He leaned forward on the desk. “I have a good life here, Arturo, and planning for a better one. You have a good life. But if we’re dead, we won’t be enjoying it very much.”

Valderrama shifted from foot to foot. “I’m doing my best. We all are. But trhere’s not a sign of her anywhere. And I mean anywhere.”

“Goddamnit!” Jason slammed his hand on the desk. “That’s jiust not acceptable. What I want to know is how the fuck she did it?”

“I’ve worked every one of our usual sources and them some. No one knows anything.”  Art sat in one of the client chairs, his bdy stiff. “I’ve got a suggestion.”

“Yeah? Let’s hear it.”

“I’m not sure—”

“Now, damn it,” Jason spat.

“What about using our own network? We can cover a good part of the country with them.”

Jason stared at him. “Are you crazy? You know what kind of people we’re dealing with. What do you think they’d say if they found out I can’t even keep track of my own wife?”

“Not as much as they’d say—or do—if we don’t find her before she can go to the feds,” Art pointed out. “We don’t have to tell them who we’re looking for. Just get her picture to them and tell them we’d appreciate their help in finding her.”

 Jason sat in silence for a long moment, staring out the large window that overlooked downtown.

 “All right,” he said. “But tell everyone to keep it under the radar. If this gets out, everything falls apart. Besides, the network operates almost invisibly. That’s why this works. Anything that calls attention to it is bad news. For all of us.”

“I’ll handle it.” Art placed his empty mug on the credenza. “Trust me. I’ll make this all go away.