Holly sat on the edge of the bed in her hotel room, her eyes scrunched tightly as she willed the memory to return.
“Come on,” she whispered through gritted teeth.
She’d been trying to retrieve more memories, or at least get more of the one she had, for some time to no avail.
The whole thing had been such a shock that she hadn’t been able to take it all in at first. She’d never experienced a flashback like it. It completely took her by surprise that her brain had hidden something so personal and so vivid just beyond her reach. Now she wanted it back, as well as whatever other secrets it held on to.
But she couldn’t recreate it, and that frustrated her deeply.
She clung to the vague memory, which was already fading from her recollection like a half-remembered dream. Victoria had looked so imposing, towering above her, but also damned sexy in the figure-hugging gown. The problem with the hem was the most minor issue Holly had ever seen, but Victoria had huffed and cursed under her breath as Holly attempted to use her completely inappropriate skill set to provide a quick fix.
She bit her lip as she wondered what had come next. Had Victoria worn the dress regardless? Had she decided to change? Had Holly helped her unzip the tantalisingly tight dress?
Her eyes flew open, and she jumped to her feet.
“No,” she reprimanded herself. “No, none of that. Not now.”
She walked in front of the window a few times as she calmed her breathing. Thinking about how beautiful Victoria looked both in and out of her fashionable couture was not going to make her feel any better now that they were apart. She needed to focus on the issue at hand.
She pulled the chair out at the desk and sat down in front of her open notebook. Phoebe Wheeler’s name was circled. Phoebe had been one of Holly’s early suspects. Not because of anything the woman had done, Holly hadn’t even met her since the accident, but simply because of her photographic and digital image manipulation skills. Not to mention the fact that Holly’s journals indicated that Phoebe had wanted a promotion for years, even eyeing Victoria’s role.
A scandal, especially something involving sex, would easily topple anyone from their position. Especially a woman.
Holly sighed and looked at the other leaf of the notebook. She picked up a pen and added a question mark beside Louise’s name. Despite having met her that afternoon to hand the key over, Holly still didn’t have an accurate reading on Louise.
The conversation had been short and to the point, Louise signing off with a cold “see you never.” Holly winced a little when she considered how Louise would feel when Holly and Victoria announced they were back together again. She didn’t like Louise, and the feeling was mutual, but she still felt sorry for her being stuck in the middle of their scheme.
Her phone rang, an unknown number on the screen.
“Holly Carter,” she answered.
“Carter, it’s Jazz.”
“Hey, find anything out?”
“You could say that,” Jazz replied. “Did you know your girlfriend has an offshore bank account with money she’s stolen from Arrival?”
Holly stopped breathing and felt her eyes widen. Then she burst out laughing.
“Good one,” she said breathlessly.
“I’m being serious,” Jazz said. “There’s an account with millions stashed away. It’s been going on for years. It took some digging, but Victoria Hastings’ fingerprints are all over it.”
Holly shook her head. “No. No way. Victoria would never, ever steal from anyone. And not from Arrival. She doesn’t need to.”
“I’m just telling you what I found,” Jazz said. “Are you sure she’s not playing you?”
Holly didn’t know what to say. The very thought of Victoria stealing money was absolutely preposterous. And lying to her? Even more so. But she trusted Jazz’s skills, which meant something huge was going on.
“I trust her,” Holly said.
Jazz sighed. “Look, Carter, I don’t want to break your hopes and dreams and tell you that Disney princess lifestyles don’t exist, but are you really sure? Like one hundred percent sure? You lost your memory; do you really know her?”
Holly hated that she hesitated, but the truth was that she did have brain damage and memory issues and maybe she didn’t know absolutely everything. She wanted to trust Victoria; she did trust her. But was there a tiny chance that trust was misplaced? She didn’t know.
“I…” Holly trailed off. She rubbed at her forehead with her freehand. “I trust her. I do. I really do.”
Jazz blew out another breath. “I can look again, but Carter, I don’t know what to tell you. There’s an account. It has money in it. It came from Arrival, and Victoria’s fingerprints are all over it.”
Holly felt cold at the very thought. “Please, double-check?”
“Sure. But, you know, don’t hold your breath,” Jazz told her before hanging up.
Holly lowered the phone from her ear and stared straight ahead.
“Shit,” she muttered.