Chapter 41

Ezra couldn't figure out the information for the man Danika appeared to be with. Maybe they didn't live in California. Doing the hike to the Hollywood sign was something tourists did, but he'd found out some locals did it, too.

The likelihood of her living in Los Angeles was small. It was more likely they lived somewhere else, like Phoenix, San Diego, or San Francisco. Finding the photo of her was a start, but it wasn't enough. He needed more information to find her, and he would find her. No question, she would be under his control again soon.

First, he needed to take care of business. The guy from Cape Town was pissed that there'd been a delay, but moving product took time. It wasn't like he could just shove them into a box and put it onto a container ship. If the people in the box didn't have food or water, they wouldn't make it. Then, if the ship had any issues and they didn't have extra water or food, they died. Basically, shipping product to another country took time and skill.

He would have the shipment ready in a week at most. Between now and then, he had to take care of a job he was running here in England. The investors needed more reassurance that the paintings he had were authentic. Of course, they weren't, but he had papers of provenance. Lucky for him, the buyer didn't know how to research the provenance properly. They didn't have the connections they needed to ensure the previous owners really were who he'd implied. He was lucky to have found stupid people who wanted to make others in their social circle think they were richer than they were.

The door opened, and he spun, ready to tell whoever was interrupting him to go to hell. It was Charlie, and he had a huge smile on his face. Ezra had hired Charlie a few weeks ago and handed the task of looking for Danika over to the guy. Of course, Charlie had no idea what the core of Ezra's business was. Ezra had given Charlie some excuse about a long-lost friend he'd gone to school with, and the idiot had bought it.

"I think I found her." Charlie barged in, setting the tablet down on the desk beside Ezra.

He pushed away the agitation that made him want to yell at Charlie and tried for a smile. "Where?"

"You were right about California. She's in San Diego."

"How do you know for sure?"

"I found another photo with her in the background. This is a bar, and she's waiting tables. She isn't there to eat. See, she's bringing drinks out to that table."

Ezra leaned in close, staring at the photo on the screen. Sure enough, it was Danika. She looked happy, carrying glasses on a tray full of what he could only guess was beer. How could she be happier waiting tables in some dive bar than being with him? When he'd found her in that shit hole of a city in Georgia, he thought for sure she would give up and come back to him. She couldn't be happy living in such a dreadful place. With him, she'd had access to real culture, and now she lived in a place that didn't have enough history to have a culture. Instead, they all looked to film and TV personalities to define the culture. Talk about disgusting.

"So I guess I'm going to California soon. First, I have to settle the thing with our South African manager. Thank you, Charlie. You're a very helpful addition to our company. If you keep working this hard, you'll be brought in on more business."

The smile on Charlie's face gave him relief. He liked having people work for him who enjoyed the work. Maybe Charlie wouldn't like the real business, but if he had an issue with it, they could always send him off to swim with the sharks in the channel.

Now, he had to plan a way to get Danika back. No one left him. Soon enough, Danika would learn that lesson the hard way.