CHAPTER 193 Intercom

*Xavier*

I was surprised to feel my heart pounding against my chest. Panicking wasn't part of my usual repertoire, but neither was facing Sarah Hughes under these circumstances.

I took a deep breath. Maybe I was panicking for no reason. Maybe, just maybe, Sarah was here to simply order something she couldn't find in New Salem.

Still, nothing is as simple as it seems.

Sarah Hughes wasn't just anybody. Standing right outside these walls was the one woman who was madly in love with Noah. If she wasn't here on her own volition, then she was definitely here because Noah sent her here.

And anything involving Noah was a problem.

As always, Sarah's timing was impeccable. I gestured to my men, who were busy loading up the truck, to hurry the hell up. I didn't want her, of all people, to stumble on our covert operation.

"Men, heads up. We have an unexpected... visitor," I alerted all my men through coms. "Proceed with caution."

Yes, she was someone I was wary of.

Sarah Hughes was undoubtedly the female version of Liam Cohen. Just like him, she came from privilege, and as such, she acted like the entitled little brat that she was.

Yet, unlike Liam, who had a certain *je ne sais quoi*, Sarah was gawky and unattractive. Then again, she was a highly intelligent woman, cunning and shrewd, and that, I believe, made up for what she lacked aesthetically. That is, until that nasty attitude of hers reared its ugly head.

As they say, 'like repels like', which, in this case, described the relationship between Liam and Sarah. From what I witnessed at Theodore's wake, the two have been butting heads since they were children. It's unfortunate they never got past their differences, because they would have made an indestructible duo.

"Beaufort, did you hear what I just said?" Dina asked. "Sarah Hughes wants to speak to you." I quickly shook my head, clearing my thoughts of Liam and Sarah.

"Yes, Dina. I heard you the first time. We all did," I answered her, my dread apparent. I didn't want to see Sarah, let alone speak with her.

I rubbed my forehead, hoping my exhausted little brain would come up with a clever way to get rid of her, however, all I could think of was knocking her unconscious and sending her away.

I glanced at Sebastian, expecting to see that familiar sparkle in his eyes when an idea pops into that brilliant mind of his. Unfortunately, all I saw was a blank stare.

*Damn*. *He had nothing*. I closed my eyes, forcing myself to focus. *Xavier*, *think*! *There must be a way to avoid seeing her*!

Luckily, I didn't need to rack my brain for a plan. Dina, clever girl that she was, came up with a simple solution to my problem.

"Beaufort, your manager has just told Sarah he's going to page you through the intercom," Dina informed us, "so, I'm going to go ahead and forward the call to the surveillance room."

I quickly opened my eyes and smiled. *That's it*! *The intercom*! *Dina*, *you're a genius*!

"By the way," Dina continued, "Primo, I have been receiving audio from a previously unknown source. I traced the location of the unknown source and discovered that the audio is coming from the Sheriff's car. For confirmation, I did a forensic voice comparison, and I got a match to Mayor Cohen. It appears Miss JT was able to place a listening device in Liam's pocket."

"Thanks, Dina," Cristos replied enthusiastically. While he went on with instructions, I focused on how to handle Sarah.

I decided it was better to improvise... to just go with the flow. Since I didn't know why Sarah was here or what was so important that she needed to speak with me, I was better off following her lead.

But first things first. We had to make sure there wasn't anything here that could lead the Colonel to us. "Dom, I need you to supervise clean-up while I see why Sarah is here."

Sebastian hesitated, his brow furrowed, unsure. *Hell*, *I was unsure*. But the only way to get rid of Sarah without any of us having to use extreme measures was to talk to her.

"Okay then. I'll let you handle this," Sebastian answered, shrugging his shoulders, before gesturing to a group of my men. "I need you to mop the floor with bleach. After you're done, use a UV light to detect any possible stains."

"Dom, when you're done, go ahead and get changed for the hospital. While you, Chip-"

"Will go to the surveillance room with you," Cristos said, finishing my sentence. "I need to see Dina too... regarding that audio she's getting from Liam."

"Fine. Just stop interrupting me," I replied, both annoyed and somewhat overwhelmed. Not only was I worried about Joy, I also had to deal with the most unpleasant woman in this town. I bowed, then waved my hand in the air. "After you, my kind sir."

Cristos stuck his tongue out at me before turning toward the surveillance room.

"Bo, don't forget to get an update from De Luca," Sebastian reminded me. I nodded my head and patted him on the shoulder, then turned to follow Cristos.

"Hudson must have told her that I'm with you," Cristos said as we walked. "This means I need to be with you when you see her. But I doubt she'll feel comfortable with me being in the same room. So, why don't I just excuse myself and come back here through Virtue's?"

"Sure, you can do that," I replied, agreeing with his suggestion, "or I can just speak to her through the intercom."

"Ah.... the intercom. Why didn't I think of that?" Cristos asked rhetorically, nodding his head approvingly. "Quick thinking, Bo. No need to talk to Sarah face-to-face."

"Thank Dina. She's the one who came up with the idea." I reached over, grabbing the handle of the glass door of the surveillance room, and swung it open. "Honestly, my initial plan was to knock her unconscious, then send her to Mandan with the dead," I admitted brazenly. Cristos grimaced.

"I hope you didn't plan to put her in one of the body bags... or did you?" Cristos asked. I grinned and nodded my head. He rolled his eyes at me. "Of course, you did."

In the surveillance room, we found Dina seated in front of her work station, pouting while covering her ears with her hands.

"It won't stop," Dina cried out, annoyed at the constant ringing from the intercom. "And check this out." Dina pointed at the screen of her monitor. "Sarah is causing a scene."

I ran my fingers through my hair, muttering a curse under my breath. *Just what I needed*. *An angry woman in my store*. I glanced at Cristos and rolled my eyes.

*Maybe sending her to Mandan in a body bag wasn't a bad idea after all*.

I quickly picked up the receiver, earning a big sigh of relief from Dina as the room became quiet once more. "Yes, Hudson?"

"Bo, sorry to disturb you, but Ms. Hughes wants to speak with you," he answered hastily, a hint of desperation in his high-pitched voice. "I told her that you're busy, but she won't-" He wasn't able to finish his sentence. From the feed on the monitor, I saw Sarah snatch the handset from Hudson's hand, before pushing him aside. Hudson quickly took a step back, both of his hands raised above his head. Obviously, he didn't want to get hurt.

"Take no for an answer," Sarah Hughes said, her deep voice replacing Hudson's. "Hudson, you twerp, do you mind?" In the background, I heard Hudson quickly excuse himself while Sarah continued to berate him."Go on, Hudson. Beat it. Scram!"

"I'm really busy at the moment, Sarah, so please tell me, how can I help you?" I asked nicely even though I was seething with anger. *How dare she*! *How dare she treat my staff in that manner*!

"I need to talk to you. It's about Pete," Sarah quickly replied, cutting to the chase. I grimaced. *She wasn't here to order something.* *But this was proof that Noah was lying to Jack and Cristos earlier*. "I heard from a... reliable source that he's... uhm... back in New Salem to ruin..."

I waited for her to continue, but all I got was silence. I rolled my eyes. Apparently, I needed to coax it out of her. "To ruin what exactly, Sarah?" I asked impatiently.

"*To ruin the wedding of the century*," she answered dryly, the disdain in her voice obvious for all to hear.

I scoffed. This woman had the audacity to openly mock *Virtue's* wedding. She had no shame... none at all.

"Let me get this straight, Sarah. You came here to tell me Pete is in New Salem to specifically ruin Virtue's wedding. Shouldn't you be telling Liam all this?" I asked rhetorically.

"You honestly expect me to talk to him after what he did to me at his father's wake?" Sarah answered angrily with a rhetorical question of her own. "To be totally honest with you, I'm doing this for Virtue. She doesn't deserve to have her wedding destroyed by someone like Pete. And because you're her friend, I thought I'd come to you about this. I was about to go to the pub and talk to Chip, but my presence at the pub so close to the election isn't good for my image."

*Wow*, *Sarah Hughes was concerned about her image*. She probably avoided looking at herself in the mirror.

"I see," I croaked, restraining myself from laughing out loud. "Fine. I'll tell Virtue when I see her at the hospital later that you swung by to tell me that Pete-"

"Wait. What did you just say? Virtue is in the hospital?" She asked, sounding surprisingly concerned, however, the twisted little smile that played on her lips told me otherwise. If it weren't for the CCTV camera zoomed in on her face, she would have had me convinced.

"Chip told me she sprained her ankle during the parade," I replied, forcing myself to be polite. "This is why I need to finish going over the inventory, so I can go see her at the hospital."

"I'm so sorry to hear that Virtue is in the hospital, but don't you see? It's Pete. He did this. I'm telling you, Bo, he'll go to great lengths to stop the wedding... he'll even go as far as to hurt her!" She exclaimed.

"But why would Pete want to hurt Virtue?" I asked, sounding unconvinced. Well, I had to play along.

"Because he's obsessed with her, Bo, that's why," Sarah answered curtly.

"Like none of the men in this town aren't," I replied dryly.

"I can't believe this! You don't sound too concerned about Pete. How can you not be concerned? I'm telling you he's out to get her!" She screamed in my ear hysterically.

"Sarah, you need to calm down. From what I heard from Chip, Virtue tripped on the heel of her shoe. It was just an accident. I assure you there was no Pete involved," I explained in a soothing voice. "But I will take your word for it. After I tell Virtue, I will personally talk to Liam and tell him what you just told me, so he can increase security. Okay? Now, is there anthing else you'd like to tell me before I go back to work?" This time I didn't hide my contempt.

"Yes, there is. Don't tell Liam that the info came from me, please," Sarah answered politely. *That was a first*.

"No problem. I won't tell Liam the information came from you," I assured her.

"Thanks, Bo," Sarah replied sweetly. "Before I go, I need to ask you for another small favor."

"Sure. What is it?" I asked, my lips curving into a wicked smile.

"If you see Pete, I need you to call me straight away," she answered quickly. *I knew it*!

"Is that all? Sure, I'll call you if I do see him. I promise you," I assured her.

"You won't forget, right?" She asked.

"I'll call you, Sarah. You have my word."

Satisfied, she finally placed the handset back onto its cradle, turned around and walked towards the exit.

But before Sarah could leave the store, Hudson came toward her, probably to ask her if she needed anything else. Instead of thanking him for his assistance, she brushed past him and left in a huff.

"Seems like Sarah and Noah want us to help them locate Pete, huh?" Cristos asked amused.

"Yep," I answered, placing the intercom's handset back into its cradle. "Those two think they're so smart." I turned to Dina. "Dina, I want you to track her. If she meets with Noah, I want you to inform me."

"Sure thing," Dina replied before typing in a set of commands on her keyboard.

"I'll be sending someone to plant a listening device on her," I said as I watched Sarah enter the parking lot, her smartphone pressed against her ear. "Noah may know how to cover his tracks, but Sarah... she's clueless."