Buried in Secrets (Carly Moore #4) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,25
right. I’m sorry. I hadn’t thought of that.”
I stared down at him, my all-too-familiar fears bubbling up. “I don’t know whether to believe you or question if you said that just to shut me up.”
His eyes widened in surprise, but then he said, “Honestly? Maybe a little of both, and I’m sorry for that.” His mouth pulled into a pained grin. “You make me a more honest man.”
I knew he hadn’t meant anything malicious, yet the hairs on the back of my neck still stood on end.
“Sit down,” he said, gesturing to the chair on the other side of the table. “Let’s figure out a game plan.”
I put a plate of bacon and eggs on the table and sat down, watching him for a second while I nursed my coffee. I hated that doubts about him were swirling in my head. He thought I babied Hank too much. There wasn’t anything sinister in saying so. Yet my fragile psyche reminded me that I’d let men control me for most of my life, and that I’d always made excuses when I saw warning signs. I didn’t want that to happen with Marco too.
“Do you want to talk about Hank?” he asked evenly as he picked up his silverware.
“No. I do not want to talk about Hank,” I snapped.
“I was wrong to say that,” he said. “But he used to be a very powerful man. Just tread lightly.”
Squinting, I shook my head. “What exactly are you suggesting? That he’d hurt me if I make a wrong move?”
“No,” he said patiently. “Just the opposite. He cares about you enough to let you do things he’d normally do himself, just to make you happy. I’m sayin’ don’t take too much of his independence from him. That’s all.”
I didn’t think we were in danger of that happening, but it was something to consider, so I nodded. Then I picked up my fork, eager to change the subject. “So I need to track down Ted Butcher.”
“You’re gonna need an address. I can come up with that, but I don’t want you goin’ there alone. I’ll go with you. Who knows how dangerous he might be?” He frowned. “I’ll look up his priors while I’m at it.”
“Okay,” I said, slicing off a piece of pancake. “Sounds good. I’m also going to find Sandy Steadman and talk to her.”
He gave me a blank look.
“She’s one of the ladies lunch club members, and she seems the most likely to talk. Plus, she’s not dangerous. I’ll ask her about Pam’s son and see if I can get more information about his arrest. The personal stuff Pam went through, not the legal details.”
“That’s a good idea. I’d feel better if you stick to the people least likely to hurt you, but don’t take any chances. No one thought Pam was dangerous either. If you’re worried about your safety at all, walk away or find a way to contact me. I’ll come straight away.”
I nodded. “I thought I might talk to Pam’s daughter too. Take her a casserole and see what she says.”
He took another bite, his expression thoughtful. “Yeah, that could be good. Try not to make it look like questioning. You’re just expressing your concern and checking on Pam’s well-being.” He looked up at me. “What time are you going into work today?”
“Five.”
“So you have all day.” His lips twisted. “Are you wanting to fill it with this stuff or do you have something else you need to do?”
“This is it.”
“Then let’s pick another old case to look into as well. If Bart catches wind we’re tryin’ to pin him to the wall, he’s gonna pull out all the stops. We need to make sure we’ve got enough evidence to arrest him…and keep him in custody.”
“Don’t you think he’s more likely to figure out what we’re up to if we poke into several of his favors?”
He was silent for a moment. “We don’t have to go balls to the walls with more than two cases. You stick to gatherin’ information about Pam, and I’ll see what I can dig up on Ted Butcher. Then we’ll meet later to discuss what we’ve learned.”
“I’m workin’ until midnight.”
“Tell Hank you’re stayin’ with me tonight. I have some interviews this morning, but I’ll come by the tavern to check on you after I get off my shift.”
I smiled at him. “Look at you. All grown up and doing big boy stuff.”
He laughed. “I could take great offense to that, but I’m so grateful to