card or something. She doesn’t deserve this and you know it, dammit!”
The silence was different this time. Carly waited.
“You’re sure he said he was from this New Symtaria place?” he finally asked.
“Positive. And there’s more.” She bit her bottom lip, wondering how much she should tell Donald.
“How much more?” His words came across hard, steely.
She said a quick silent prayer for forgiveness. “They’re sleeping together. I think he’s scamming Ria.” She could almost feel Donald’s grip getting tighter and tighter on the phone.
“They’re sleeping together?”
Carly knew Donald had dated Ria for a few months and had to settle for kisses. Now here was Kristor, and they had only known each other for a short time, yet they were already sleeping together.
Not good.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have drawn you into this.”
“No, you did the right thing. I’m as worried about her as you.”
“What should I do? I don’t think she’ll listen to me.” And that really hurt, but she was pretty sure Ria was falling head over heels in love with a scam artist.
“Call immigration. Tell them what you told me.”
She walked to the sofa and plopped down. “Isn’t that a little drastic?” Kristor had seemed nice. What if she was wrong? Ria would never forgive her.
“Do you want to take the chance that he could destroy her emotionally? If he is here legally, then no harm. But what if he is out to scam her? What if he takes everything away that she’s worked so hard to get? Then how will you feel?”
He was right, of course. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Try to be around Ria as much as possible, too.”
“Are you sure? What if I accidentally say something that alerts Kristor to the fact I’m on to him?”
“You’re not stupid, Carly. Just be careful what you do and say. But if you really want to protect Ria, then be there for her. Find out as much information as you can. For Ria.”
“For Ria.” Yes, she would do anything for her friend.
They hung up, with Carly agreeing to give Donald updates on the situation. If she was wrong, Ria would hate her for the rest of Carly’s life.
She called information, then waited for the number of immigration.
“Please let me be doing the right thing,” she prayed.
Chapter 18
Ria opened the door to the travel agency and walked inside. Empty. Carly must be in the back.
She was walking down the short hallway when Carly stepped from the supply closet holding a handful of pens. Her friend looked up, screamed, and threw the pens in the air.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I figured you heard the bell jingle.” Ria stooped and started picking up the pens. When Carly continued to stand frozen to the spot, Ria looked up. “Are you okay?”
Carly jumped into action, scrambling to scoop up the pens. “Yes, fine. Why wouldn’t I be? It’s like you said, you startled me.”
No, something wasn’t right. Carly dropped about half the pens she’d picked up because her hands were shaking so badly. She grabbed a couple more, then stood, hurrying to her desk. Ria followed, wondering what exactly was going on with her friend.
After Carly shoved the pens into a cup, she smoothed her hands over the front of her slacks. “So, why are you here? I mean, nothing is wrong is it?”
Oh, yeah, she was acting really weird. “No, nothing is wrong with me.” Ria had serious doubts about Carly, though.
“Good.” She sat down, leaning her hands on the desk, then quickly moving them to her lap.
“I thought maybe you’d want to come over tonight. We never did get to finish our girls’ night out.”
“Has Kristor left town?”
“No. Why?”
“Oh, no reason. I only wondered when he would be leaving town. You two seemed pretty hot and heavy.” She pursed her lips.
Could Carly be jealous? Ria knew Carly didn’t have a lot of friends. Her family was so boisterous that she often became invisible. So much so that she rarely went anywhere by herself. Carly had always been there for Ria, though, and she wouldn’t do anything to hurt her best friend’s feelings.
Ria chose her words carefully. “I like him.”
Carly took a pencil out of the cup and pressed her thumb against the eraser. “I’m sure he’s nice enough. I don’t want you to get hurt when he does leave.”
“But you’re still my best friend, and always will be.” Did Carly blush?
“We don’t have to do the girls’ night out or anything.” Her shoulders sagged. “Besides, I planned to work late tonight. I need to catch up on some things.”
“I want to do something. My assistant is running the shop by herself tomorrow with Jeanie. Instead of staying in and watching a movie, let’s go into the city and shop. We haven’t been in a long time.”
“Really?”
Ria grinned. “Yes, really.”
“I’d like that.”
“I’ll pick you up around ten in the morning?”
“That sounds good.”
Ria left the travel agency and walked back to her shop. She had a puppy pedicure in about thirty minutes. But as she walked back, she couldn’t help but wonder what in the world was going on with Carly.
Maybe she was still upset their girls’ night out had been interrupted. Carly had always been a little clingy, and then along comes Kristor. Then Ria had neglected their friendship. Another guilt trip. They were getting tiresome.
But all that was about to change. She had a plan: Neil, the sheriff’s deputy. He liked Carly. Ria was about to turn up the burner beneath their feet.
She was doing it for Carly’s own good. Not that she had a choice. What if the rogues came after her? Ria twined her fingers together. It could get dangerous for Carly to even be around her. No way would Ria ever intentionally put Carly in harm’s way.
When had life gotten so complicated?
She opened the door to her shop. Kristor was talking to Jeanie, half sitting on the corner of her desk. Jeanie laughed at something Kristor said. They both looked up when she opened the door and walked into the shop.
That’s when Ria realized she knew exactly when her life had gotten so complicated. But she supposed, in a way, it was a good complication. At least, now she knew who she was. Or better,
“I missed you,” Kristor said as he slowly came to his feet.
Jeanie looked between the two of them, then cleared her throat. “Uh, I’m taking off now to look at more houses, but if it gets busy, I’ll have my cell. You sure it’s okay?”
“I told you this morning it would be fine.”
“I’ll be back in about an hour.”
As soon as she was gone, Ria downed her head and hurried to the back. “I have a puppy pedicure in about ten minutes. I need to get ready for it.” Yeah, like get out the clippers. That should take her a good thirty seconds.
She heard his heavier footsteps behind her and realized they would be all alone in the back. Bad move! But it didn’t stop her body from tingling to awareness. They would probably have time for a quickie.
