I felt my chest compress as I tried to catch my breath and couldn’t get my lungs to fill up. Carlos was going to come to my work, and he would see that I was lying to him. He’d hurt me for sure, or he’d have his brother hurt me. My head felt light and I thought I might pass out from the lack of oxygen.
My hands shook as I dialed Brandon’s number. It felt like I couldn’t break as the panic rushed through me and I sat down to try and focus myself. My fingers continued to tremble and the room felt smaller and smaller as I waited for him to answer the phone.
“He… um… he says he’s coming here,” I said as tears took over and the adrenaline made my whole body shake.
I didn’t want to cry. I really was trying to be brave, but the emotion of the whole situation had taken over and I couldn’t control myself. This wasn’t how things were supposed to have happened. I had controlled my fear to make the phone call, but there was no way I could keep my fear in check with Carlos standing right in front of me. I was doomed and I knew it.
“I’ve got you on speaker here,” Brandon said and I could hear everyone in the background. “What do you guys think?”
“He probably just wants to see what else she knows, but we should have someone there to keep an eye on her,” Billy said. “Guys like him think they know what they are doing, but he doesn’t. She should be able to tell him the same story, and he’ll take it and run with it.”
“What happened with getting the p
olice evolved?” Dick asked.
“I’ve got a buddy who’s on the force; he’s working on it,” Billy added. “I think he’ll get someone on the case, it is just going to take him some time.
“Okay, Delilah, listen to me. You keep him out in the main area. You tell him exactly what we talked about and that it’s all you know. I’m going to send a security guard over to keep observe. When is Carlos coming?”
“He said he’s coming right over.”
“Okay, just a second. I’m going to make a call,” Brandon said and I heard him dial someone else on a cell phone. “Joseph? Hey, this is Brandon. Yeah, I need that private security we talked about. Can you send someone over to the Dating the Rich office right away? Great, I’ll tell her to expect you. Thanks again, brother.”
My heart raced as I looked out the conference room in fear that Carlos would already be there. If he knew we were trying to set him up, there was nothing I could do to stay safe. This whole thing was so dangerous and I had already agreed to put myself right in the middle of it all.
“What’s going on?” I said as I tried to calm myself.
“Remember the head of the security company that was at my house the night we came home from the theater?”
“Yes. Well, I think so.”
I did remember the security guard. I remembered him and Brandon going into the house while I stayed outside waiting for them. It had only been a few days before, but it seemed like it had been weeks, or even months since that night.
“His name is Joseph Rigs and he’s coming to you right now. Put him in a cubicle and let him pretend to work there so he is right by you when Carlos arrives. Okay?”
“Um, yes.”
“Call me when Carlos leaves.”
“Okay, but what if something happens?”
“Delilah, listen to me,” Brandon said calmly. “Nothing is going to happen. Just tell him the same thing you said over the phone. He just wants to see your eyes when you say it. Use your acting skills.”
“Okay, I’m going to go now. I’ll call you when it’s over.”
I had barely been able to hide my nervousness as I talked to Carlos over the phone. How on earth was I going to hide it when he was there in person? I closed my eyes and took a couple deep breaths as I tried to calm down.
This had to go off without a hitch. The whole rest of the plan only worked if I was able to convince Carlos that Brandon was actually doing illegal trading. If Carlos thought he could use the illegal trading as leverage, he would go after even more money. The guys would be able to tape him as he blackmailed Brandon, and hopefully, we’d be able to get that information to the police to use against Carlos.
Everything in the plan worked together, so I had to do my part.
“You’ve got this, Del. You’re a kick-ass actress. You survived losing your husband. You can deal with this,” I told myself as I felt my body calming.
“Del, someone is out here for you,” Mattie said as she peeked into the conference room. “He says his name is Joseph Rigs.”
“Oh, yeah! Yes. Okay, I’m coming. Can he sit in your desk for a minute?”
“What? Why?”