Rick Egan was a bachelor with a very public social life. His family was extremely wealthy and influential. They were active in the Denver social scene, especially Jane Egan Smithson and her husband Phillip, who were big philanthropists.

There were lots of pictures of Jane and Phillip at charity events, as well as photos of Rick. Jane and Phillip were the perfect couple, Jane beautiful and Phillip handsome.

A memory surfaced of their meeting, of Smithson’s gaze running over her in an intimate way that hinted he might be a player. He had said he didn’t know Keller, but there was no way to know if it was true.

Like Phillip, Rick was beyond good-looking, with his black hair and intense blue eyes, which Ellie couldn’t help but notice when she’d walked into his office. Though neither of the two handsome men appealed to her the way Kade’s fierce masculinity did, she wasn’t dead, either.

In an Italian designer tuxedo, Phillip looked as if he belonged on a terrace overlooking the Mediterranean, while Rick, with a glamorous woman on his arm, was a tabloid photographer’s dream.

Ellie sighed and closed down her laptop. So far she’d come up with no reason for any of the executives to hire Frank Keller, or any connection to Kade Logan or the Diamond Bar Ranch.

Feeling the heavy weight of failure, she rose from the chair and started for the door. Her feet slowed. It wasn’t like her to give up, at least not so soon. Pulling out her cell phone, she hit the contact button for Zoe.

“Hey, girlfriend,” Zoe said.

“I hate to bother you, but—”

“But you need info.” Zoe’s smile came through the phone. “I work for you these days, remember? What do you need?”

Ellie smiled. “I guess I’m still getting used to it. So you like working for Nighthawk?”

“I do. Never a dull moment around here.”

Ellie laughed. “Isn’t that that the truth. So what I need is something that connects Kade Logan or the Diamond Bar Ranch to Clive Murphy, Anthony Russo, or Rick Egan. They all earn the kind of money it would take to pay Keller enough to cause Kade trouble.” Her mind returned to Smithson. “And if you get a little spare time, take a look at Phillip Smithson.”

“Why don’t I just take a look into Keller’s finances and see if I can find any large deposits?” Zoe said. “Follow the money, you know? If I find something, I might be able to track the money back to where it came from.”

“That sounds even better. I won’t ask how you’re going to do it. I don’t think I want to know.”

“Trust me, you don’t. Anything else?”

“Just a personal question. What happened with you and Chad?”

A long pause. “I saw him the other day.”