Buried in Secrets (Carly Moore #4) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,104
said. “He has the answers.”
Oh, God. Please don’t let it be Hank. “And who would that be?”
“You’re a smart girl. You tell me.”
“Todd Bingham.”
She nodded and my relief was palpable. “Tell him to give you what you need, and I’ll give him what he wants in return.”
“He’ll know what I’m talking about?”
“He will. He’ll be eager to talk.”
“Why not approach him yourself? He’s outside right now. It would be easy to arrange.”
“He won’t talk to me, plus it would be unseemly. I needed a go-between, and you’re perfect.”
“So you’re using me?” I asked dryly.
“Don’t pretend like you’re getting nothing out of this,” she scolded. “All three of us win.”
I pushed out a breath. She was right, but I still didn’t trust her.
“One more thing,” she said. “You can’t tell anyone about our deal. Not my sons and especially not Marco.”
My back stiffened. “I don’t keep secrets from Marco.”
“Don’t be deluded,” she groused. “Everyone keeps secrets from the ones they love.”
That pissed me off. “Not all of us have warped relationships like you do with your husband.”
“There you go with your delusions of love.” She gave me a sideways wave. “You may leave now but send Max back. He and I still have unfinished business.”
I stared at her in disbelief. She thought she could just dismiss me? “Speaking of your husband, where is he?”
“He got called away to the construction site, which gave me more time to spend with Max.” She gave me a shrewd look. “So no, he won’t know that we talked.”
I had other questions, but I didn’t want risk Bart coming back and seeing me with his wife. He was already suspicious of me. I didn’t need to give him any more fodder.
“You’re certain this will bring him down?” I asked as I stood.
“I guess you’ll need to see for yourself.”
I certainly planned to.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Marco was helping Max change the keg when I went back outside. I was torn between telling him what had just happened, Emily be damned, and finding Bingham and pinning him down for a private conversation.
The worried look in Max’s eyes sent me straight toward the two guys.
“Thanks for lookin’ for those cups,” he said as I approached. “I take it from the fact you’re empty handed that you didn’t find them?”
All of the plastic cups were outside, so I recognized we were talking around my visit with his mother rather than bringing it out in the open. “Yeah, sorry. You might want to go look yourself.”
“We should be fine since people are bringin’ their cups back up for refills,” he said as he finished changing the keg. He stood and looked me in the eyes. “I hope you didn’t go to too much trouble.”
“Everything’s just fine.”
He held my gaze a moment longer. “If you ever get a request or order you don’t want to fill, then let me know, okay? I’ll find a way to get you out of it.”
His sincerity and concern were overwhelming. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “You too, okay?”
He hugged me back, and we stayed like that for a long second before he released me. “We should probably talk soon.”
I nodded.
He went back inside, and I turned back to Marco, who was watching me with narrowed eyes.
“I’m reading a whole lot of hidden context there.”
“I’ll tell you about it later,” I said. “In fact, we should probably leave soon to discuss it, but first I need to talk to Bingham. Have you seen him lately?”
“Why do you need to speak to Bingham?”
“That’s what I need to tell you about later.” I scanned the crowd. “I don’t see him.”
“I haven’t seen him for a while, but I’ll be honest—I haven’t been lookin’. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Bart or Emily either.”
“I have it on good authority that Bart got called away to the construction site.”
“But not Emily?” he asked with a lifted brow.
I knew he was a smart man. “I’m going to make a pass around the lot to see if he’s here.”
“Should I come with you?”
I hesitated, but if it had been dangerous for him to accompany me to Jonathon Whitmore’s house, it was much more so for him to be seen with me and Bingham. “No. It’s probably better if you don’t.”
“Carly…”
I walked over and gave him a kiss. “It’s okay. I promise.”
“Okay.”
As I made my way around the crowd, I didn’t see him or Lula anywhere, but Greta and her boyfriend were dancing. The song ended, so I