The Billionaire's Forgotten Fiancée

“No. Are you all right, Ginger? You sound harried.”

“I’m fine,” she said. “I just remembered something I had to tell him, but it’s not urgent. I’ll wait until he’s back. Love you.”

“Love you too, dear.”

Ginger tapped her finger on the edge of her phone. Another bust. What should she do next? Just cold call a few investigators and see? But the really good ones didn’t work for just anybody. She’d heard rumors that even Justin Sterling had had to get an introduction at one point.

She called Debbie. “Hey, can we meet?” Debbie was her last hope.

“I’m in downtown right now. You want to meet for coffee or something?”

“Sure.”

“Actually let’s have dim sum. I didn’t eat lunch, and I’m starving.”

“Okay, that’s fine, too.”

“Meet me at Golden Dragon in half an hour or so then. If I get there early I’ll order for you.”

Ginger put the envelope back into her purse and drove to the restaurant. Debbie liked it because it had fabulous Chinese food, and most importantly, she got to eat free there since it was owned by one of her second cousins. The place was gorgeously appointed in rich gold and red and dragon motifs. The hostess recognized Ginger and led her immediately to the private dining room in the back.

Debbie was in a cute sunflower yellow dress with spaghetti straps. Expertly pedicured toes peeked through her matching sandals. She pushed her shoulder-length black hair back when she noticed Ginger and gestured at the empty high-backed chair. “I just got here. Finished my soup. The lobster’s very good today.”

“Is lobster ever not good?” Ginger took the seat. It was amazing how much food Debbie ate and still managed to stay thin.

Debbie chortled. “True.” Her sharp gaze zeroed in on Ginger’s face. “So what’s up? You don’t look like a carefree, ‘I’m in love’ kind of woman. I thought you reconciled with Shane?” She glanced at the ring on Ginger’s finger.

“We did, and it was great, but that’s not why I wanted to see you.” She pulled out the photos inside and explained what they were. And how she couldn’t trace anything back to the sender.

Debbie stared at the pictures. “They’re really good. Wow. They look so authentic.”

“That’s the problem. I think they’re the reason Shane pulled that disappearing act.”

Debbie’s head snapped up. “Damn. That sucks. Why didn’t he say something?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he just freaked out. You know his family history. And these pictures… Shane probably looked for signs of manipulation and couldn’t find any.” He was a talented photographer himself and knew what good photoshopping could do.

Debbie scowled. “So you can’t tell if they’re photoshopped either?”

“If they were of somebody else, I would’ve thought they were real.”

“Eeek.” She rested her chin in her hand. “What do you want to do?”

“I want to find the person who did this.” Ginger explained what she’d tried. “So it looks like I’ll have to hire a pro for the job, and I’d like your help.”

“How?”

“You guys have an investigator on retainer, don’t you?”

“Yeah, we do, for vetting new employees and other stuff. But I don’t know the guy personally. He only deals with Dad. I’ll ask when I call him tonight.” Debbie scowled. “But the guy might be really expensive. Dad likes to splurge—you get what you pay for, blah blah blah blah blah.”

“I’ve got the money,” Ginger said. Dane had paid her plenty.

“Okay. I can’t promise anything…but hey, if Dad says no, we’ll find somebody else. It doesn’t matter.” Debbie narrowed her eyes. “I want to know what bastard did this to you, so I can set them on fire and watch them burn.”

Ginger hugged her friend. “You’re the best.”

* * *