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was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that saying her eyes were blue was like calling him different. They were like both the heavens and oceans with a mix of everything warm and fuzzy. A few minutes later, Stephen walked into the room.
    ~~~
    “ What do you mean you’ve no idea where she is? I asked you to find her, and you come in here with excuses. I need her found now. It’s been years since I started this search; don’t you have any idea where she is?” Edward didn’t really need her, but it was the principle of the matter. He owned her ass, and as far as he was concerned, she owed him. And until the debt was paid, he’d look for her.
    He was well off…very well off as a matter of fact. His poor dearly departed wife had left him in good shape. Cleo Kelley-Barron had made sure that there was enough money for her daughter if she passed, and that had doubled when she’d been murdered in a carjacking all those years ago. It couldn’t have gone better if he’d planned it. Which he sort of did.
    He’d only meant to have her scared. The fucking woman would not take the limo that was ready when she was for all pain in the world. Cleo would drive herself around with that brat of a daughter as if she were nothing more than a poor homeless person. And that car was an embarrassment to him. To say it was old was a gross understatement. It was older than her daughter had been.
    “ It’s mine and it’s paid for. Why do you care about what it looks like? It’s not like you ride anywhere with me.” And he never would so long as she was with the product. “I love my freedom to come and go as I please. Perhaps if you drove yourself once in a while, you’d be surprised at how much money you could save.”
    That had been another sore spot about her. She never took the money all that seriously. He’d have to make her buy a dress for any function they were asked to attend. Cleo would have worn the same dress over and over had he not stepped in and had a dress sent to her. Finally, he’d had to toss out her old dresses and have new ones sent to her. That had become harder and harder as the years went on as well. To be honest—and Edward was nearly always honest with himself concerning his wife and the product—he was nearly at the end of her being his wife anyway.
    “ We have all sorts of feelers out looking for her. Maybe she’s dead and nobody knew who she was.” Edward only shook his head at his latest hump-boy, Tony Webster. It was what he called all the flunkies that worked for him. They’d either hump their asses or he’d find someone that would. And this guy was proving to be very good as his job.
    “ I have a man at the FBI that knows to look for someone with her prints.” Edward leaned back in his chair and thought of the fat blob that he’d gotten as part of the deal with Cleo.
    “ Do you suppose she’s moved to another country? I mean it’s possible, I suppose. And even if she only went down south, it would still be difficult to find her.” Tony sat down in the chair across from his desk as he continued trying to find information. He supposed he would ask. He’d been on this assignment for only about three months when his predecessor had suddenly disappeared.
    “ She hasn’t applied for a passport, and even if she changed her name, she’d need money to do that. From what I’ve learned, she didn’t take anything with her, and what little money she might have had is long gone by now.” Which was true. When she’d kicked him that day and ran out of the house, the staff had found her little stash of money. There had been several thousand dollars in it, and that had pissed him off as well. But she was resourceful and always had been, so he knew if she wanted something, even if it was to hide from him, she’d be able to make it happen.
    “ Sir, do you think she might have changed her appearance?” Edward looked at Tony, trying to think what he might be talking about. He was worried