“If I can’t leave, that means I’m working.”

“You can have dinner with us, right? And you can’t work every minute of the day. And besides, Ryan misses you a lot.”

“Shh,” Ryan said in a stage whisper. “That’s between you and me, kid.”

Eve smiled. She had been through a rough patch in April and had had to adjust to a whole new life after learning that the people she loved and trusted the most had lied to her.

Max knew how she felt. The difference was that Eve’s uncle had lied to her for the right reasons, to protect her and give her a safe life. Max’s mother had lied to her for her own selfish reasons.

But Eve had accepted her new life, embraced it, and looked at the past as a learning tool. A lot like Max would have done, and she was proud of her.

“If I can’t leave on Friday, I would love to see you both in person. I have a suite, so there’s plenty of room.”

“It’s a date,” Ryan said. “I need to feed this kid, and you have no food. Let me know what Agent Kincaid says and if you need to talk, I’m here.”

Though Max often irritated Lucy in how she approached an investigation by jumping in without looking, Lucy was always impressed with how she organized her information. Lucy was very visual, so viewing Max’s timeline and all the relevant data clearly listed helped her see the whole case. Though she was exhausted and just wanted to go home and sleep, Lucy was glad she’d come by the hotel.

In the forty-eight hours that Max had been in town, she had done a lot.

“What is HFM?” she asked. She was both upset and angry that Sean and Max had been followed this afternoon after Max’s meeting with Harrison Monroe, but she understood why they hadn’t called the police. There had been no crime, and proving to the authorities that someone was tailing you was virtually impossible. “On paper it looks legit.”

“It may be legit,” Max said. “At least on the surface. He buys a lot of property, holds it for a year, and sells it—all through HFM. But it’s impossible to tell—without a federal warrant—where his original money came from. Sean doesn’t think we have enough to turn over to your people. Neither does Ryan.”