Depending on his agenda, he might provide the surprise value to cement my alliance with the Queen.
My gut said he wasn’t out of her life; therefore, my next order of business was to learn his identity. The officer that Levi had reached out to had canvassed friends on that front, and there hadn’t been any mention of a boyfriend.
If he was the reason Mayan had taken off that heart pendant, started smoking, and hanging out in Hedon, then he might not be the kind of man she told her friends about. Or knowing he was a bad-boy fling, but not a physical threat to Mayan, they may have kept mum about him.
Something had happened when Mayan was over there. She wasn’t so easily shocked that just going to a bar would upset her enough to never want to go back. Her friends might not recognize him as a threat—that was my job. I’d promised Levi I’d find out what happened to her, and if I had to engage in some morally gray activities to keep Mayan safe, like low-key blackmail, then I could live with that.
Jumping off the bench, I strode back inside and up to the reception desk. “Your fundraiser is coming up, isn’t it?”
“Oh, do you mean the Black and White Ball?” Olivia said. “Would you like tickets?”
Mayan would be there. From her social media profile, she hadn’t missed a year since she’d started working for the Foundation.
“Give me two.” I grinned. “It’s my excuse to ask this guy out. Can’t say no to a good cause, right?”
She smiled back. “He’d be a jerk if he did. That’ll be four hundred even. Could I get your email for our mailing list please?”
I tried not to choke as I handed over my credit card and spelled out the junk email I kept for anyone selling me something. “I hope he has a tux. Why I always go for musicians is beyond me.”
Laughing, Olivia gave me the keypad to enter my pin number. “You like the bad boys.”
“The one thing Mayan and I have in common.”
“I wouldn’t know about that.”
“I think you would.” I leaned on the top of the desk. “Here’s the thing, Olivia.” She started at my use of her name. “I’ve seen photos of you and Mayan and I know you’re chummy. I’m trying to track this guy down who Mayan was seeing and I’d appreciate your help.”
“Sorry.”
“He’s not good news. Help me help her.”
“I’d like you to leave.”
“And I’d like an answer.”
She reached for the receiver. “I’m calling Mayan.”
“You do that. Then I’ll mention how when you were still going by your married name back in Toronto, you were fired from the non-profit you worked at with accusations of theft.”
She dropped the receiver back in its cradle. “How did you know about that?”
“Short answer? I’m a very thorough private investigator. Now, I’m sure you’ve turned your life around and I’m happy for your past to remain there. If you give me a name.”
She worried at her bottom lip with her teeth. “I never met him. She only went out with him a few times.”
“A name.”
“Jonah Samuels.”
“Did he ever come around here?”
“No. Their meetings were very much on the down-low. Except…”
I made a “get on with it” motion.
“A man came to buy a ticket to the fundraiser a couple of weeks ago. Mayan was coming back from lunch and even though they didn’t speak, she looked flustered for a second at his presence.”
“Did you get his email?” She had. I typed it into my phone along with a description of him. “Does she have a date for the ball? If this guy is going to be there, she should have someone with her, making sure he doesn’t get close.”
“Yes. She’s going with Levi Montefiore.” She gave me the receipt and the tickets.
“Is she now?” I waited for my outrage and betrayal to emerge, but honestly, I was worn out from the constant game playing. I’m sure he’d have a perfectly acceptable reason for not mentioning it, and it’s not like he could have been my plus-one, but I was over him keeping me in the loop only when it suited him. Especially on this case, where he’d come to me for assistance. Levi, you ass.
I received a text with the good news that Miles did indeed have an in at a lab and they were going to do a rush toxicology workup on the cigarette. I dropped the sample off, now free to track down Jonah Samuels.
It didn’t take long. In his early forties, Jonah was older than I’d expected, with a nerdy red-headed cuteness about him. His profession was listed as Medical Researcher. His lone social media profile wasn’t sparse enough to set off any bells, more that it had the air of someone who was a half-hearted poster. There were no photos of him and Mayan together anywhere public. That would fit if he’d truly been a casual hook-up.
He wasn’t registered in any of the Canadian House databases. Neither was I, so that didn’t rule him out being Nefesh.
Levi’s travel agent phoned. Not only had Levi come through with two tickets to the island of Antigua on a red-eye flight tonight, he’d splurged for business class. Though not for first class, so maybe this was the equivalent of economy in Levi’s world.
I made arrangements to get the tickets from the agent so I was spared dealing directly with Levi. I wasn’t sure what, if anything, I wanted to say to him yet.
After racing home to pack, Priya tried to make me do a video for the dog in case she missed me. I refused; Priya filmed me anyway. It consisted of sixteen seconds of me scowling at the screen in dead silence. As a reward, she gave me the contact info of the man with the Wonderland recollection. That call would have to wait until morning.
Arkady and I cabbed it to the airport that evening.
“Here.” He shoved a
