She could call him out for his language while betraying a friend, cousin, work associate or whatever? “So you’re doing this strictly for the money,” he said.

“Of course.” She spoke quickly to confirm it, but he got the impression there was something else at play, something more personal. As long as he got what he wanted, however, he didn’t care. “Okay. I’ll let you know what I find. And if you can get me any more information, please do. We’ll have a lot better chance if we make quick work of it.”

“I’ll do what I can, but...you’ll pay me, right? How do I know you’ll really pay me?”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Not if you do your part.”

“I’ve brought you this far, haven’t I?”

He was doing all the work. That was the thing. He’d pay her a little, but there were a lot of excuses he could use to whittle down the amount they’d initially discussed. “Close isn’t good enough,” he said. “But I’ll see what I can do.”

He hit the End button. If he was going to find Tia Beckett, he needed to get out and visit the nightclubs and bars. If the most buzzed-about Hollywood star since Jennifer Lawrence was in town, someone would be talking about it.

Tia heard the sound of a car engine and peered out the window to see Aiyana leaving in her sedan and Seth getting into his expensive Porsche. She wondered if they were going to Aiyana’s house or if Aiyana was going home and Seth was going out. He’d lived in Silver Springs when he was younger. He could have friends here. He definitely had family.

After they were gone, she walked over to the main house to take care of Kiki and tried, once again, to teach the bird to say I love Tia. She repeated the phrase ad nauseam, but Maxi’s parrot had no interest in even attempting to copy her.

“How did you learn what you say already?” she muttered, frustrated by her lack of success.

Kiki barked like a dog but didn’t repeat any of the phrases Tia knew she could say. The bird mostly kept a close eye on the ball, obviously hoping Tia would throw it. Maybe she remembered the dog barking while playing catch.

Tia played with Maxi’s parrot for quite some time before she let herself out of the aviary. She listened to see if Seth had returned, and when it became clear she was still alone in the house, she considered going upstairs to take a peek at whatever it was he was working on. She was curious to see his process.