Buried in Secrets (Carly Moore #4) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,103

to the chair next to the sofa. “Come have a seat. I’m straining my neck to look up at you.”

I moved over to the chair and sat down. “Why did you call me Caroline?”

She laughed. “Please. Don’t insult my intelligence. Bart’s known your secret practically since you came to town. Of course I know it too. And I’m certain Wyatt does as well. Whenever I bring up questions about your past, he gets cagey and changes the topic. But Max…” She released a sigh. “He has a tendency to be short-sighted. I get the impression he knows you’re not who you say you are, but he doesn’t seem to care about the truth.” She tilted her head as she studied me. “You should go back to being a blonde. It suits you better.”

“Beauty tips aside, does any of this have a point?”

“I think perhaps we have a common quest, and it might be to our advantage to pool our resources.”

My heart began to race. “I’m listening.”

A slow smile lifted her lips, and the triumphant look in her eyes suggested she thought she’d already swayed me. “You’ve been asking questions about poor Pam Crimshaw, but perhaps you’re looking in the wrong direction?” She lifted her voice at the end.

Did she know I was looking for information to tie Pam’s case to one of Bart’s favors? Was she looking to bring him down?

I hesitated. “I take it you have a suggestion?”

“Perhaps…”

“You’re insinuating that you know what I’m up to,” I said. “What is your interest in this?”

She laughed. “Carly, the last time we met, I told you I’d been looking for an exit strategy. Perhaps you and I can work together.”

I considered her suggestion. Did she really want to put her husband away? Or was she using me to feed information back to her husband? “That would mean I’d have to trust you,” I said.

She tilted her head. “Yes, but I would have to trust you as well.”

“How do you figure?”

“What I’m about to tell you…only two people know. If Bart finds out that you know…let’s just say it would be to my detriment.”

“He wouldn’t presume the other person had told me?”

“The other person doesn’t like to discuss…business.”

Who would she be talking about?

“Why would you trust me?” I countered.

She laughed. “Your true colors show through, my girl, which isn’t necessarily to your advantage. But it is to mine.” Pausing, she shifted her weight on the sofa. “I know my husband has threatened you to keep you in line. I also know you’re not the kind of woman to take that lying down.”

She watched me, waiting for a response, and when I didn’t answer, she said, “Exposing my husband would benefit us both. Bart would no longer have control over you, but he would also no longer have control over me. It’s a win for both of us.”

“Obviously you want me to do the dirty work,” I said.

“Let’s just say the other party doesn’t care for me much, but I understand you’ve garnered favor with him. Perhaps he’ll be more willing to accommodate you.” Her lips lifted into a tight smile. “Taking care of Bart will benefit him as well.”

“So why hasn’t he done it himself already?”

“It can’t come directly from him either, but I suspect he’d trust you to handle it.”

Was she talking about Bingham? He would benefit from Bart’s downfall and likely revel in it, but I couldn’t imagine he would have failed to act if he had incriminating information on Bart.

“So I go to this person,” I said, “and convince them to tell me what they know?” I shook my head. “I don’t even know what this is about.”

“I told you that you were looking in the wrong direction. You’re looking at recent history, but you need to look deeper into the past.”

I frowned. “I don’t have any idea what Pam could have done in the past.”

“Again,” she said. “Wrong direction.”

“Pam doesn’t have anything to do with this?”

“She killed a man, didn’t she?”

“But she was coerced?” I asked.

She smiled again. “But by whom?”

Was she insinuating that Pam hadn’t asked for the favor? If not Pam, then who? Was her husband behind this after all?

“You need to look at Rob Crimshaw,” she confirmed. “As well as his brother and his father.”

“His brother disappeared, and his father died in prison.”

She looked pleased. “And Rob Crimshaw is scot free. Do you know why his father was in prison?”

“Drug possession with intent to sell.”

“You need to look at the source of those drugs,” she