the few things I’d managed to find in a paper grocery bag, and it felt too light in my hands.
“You helped, trust me.”
As he drove us back to the hotel, I asked from the back, “Did you know Cindy Glass?”
He nodded, and I could see a tear in the corner of one eye. “She was special; there was no doubt about that. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to harm her. I thought it was going to kill Mr. Lane. He didn’t leave the penthouse for five days, but talking to you on the telephone when you and your husband first arrived seemed to revive him. Today, I finally believe that he is beginning to mend.”
“I wish I could take credit for it, but I haven’t really done anything.”
Henry shrugged. “Sometimes three quarters of the battle is just showing up and trying your best. At least that’s what my grandmother used to say.”
“She was a smart lady,” I said.
As we drove through traffic to the hotel, I leaned back in my seat, trying to get a handle on what I’d seen. I wanted to go through the letters the police had taken from Cindy Glass’s apartment. More than that, I needed to. Before, she’d just been a name to me.
Now she was a real person.
And if there was anything I could do to help Zach find her killer, I was going to do it.
Chapter 13
“SAVANNAH. WELCOME BACK.”
Garrett had evidently been waiting for me by the front of the Belmont, and he opened the door to the limo for me, but I didn’t leave until I spoke to Henry first. “Thank you for the ride.”
“It was my pleasure.”
“Mine, too,” I said.
“Ms. Stone, would you do me a kindness?”
“If I can,” I replied.
“Tell your husband a great many people are pulling for him. He’s got an army at his disposal. All he need do is ask.”
“I’ll let him know.”
Garrett raised an eyebrow as I got out.
“Something to say, Garrett?” I asked him.
“You seem to make friends wherever you go,” he said.
“I just listen to people when they talk to me,” I said.
“That explains a great deal. You have a tendency to make the person you’re with the center of your universe. It’s quite intoxicating.”
That wasn’t the first time I’d been told that I was a good listener. “My mom always told me that there was more skill in listening than there was in speaking, and that she never learned anything by running her mouth.”
“It’s an admirable ability, but one that I’m afraid is becoming a lost art in this day of technology.”
“There are always people behind emails and text messages,” I said. “It just takes a different kind of listening to hear what’s being said.”
“True.”
As we walked through the lobby, I noticed several of the staff watching us surreptitiously. When I caught a glance or two, there was always a smile backing it. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to merit their goodwill, but I wasn’t about to rebuff it.
I walked toward the main elevator, but Garrett touched my arm to stop me.
“It’s this way,” he directed. He showed me to a nondescript nook in the lobby that I hadn’t noticed before. Garrett opened a door to reveal a private elevator. He held the door open, swiped his card, and then started to get out.
“Aren’t you going with me?”
“It’s Mr. Lane’s orders. No one is allowed upstairs without his direct consent. If there’s anything you need, at any time, it is yours to ask.”
“Thanks,” I said, but the doors were already sliding closed. I didn’t know why I was so nervous about seeing Barton Lane again, but I was. Perhaps it was because I was seeing him on his home turf. Maybe it was due to the light bag of memories I was taking him. Whatever the reason, I was as nervous as a teenage girl on her first date.
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when the elevator doors opened. Our suite was elegant, so I couldn’t imagine how nice the penthouse must be. It didn’t let me down, either. The floors were tiled with marble, and the furniture looked to be all antiques. The ceiling in the entryway was at least twenty feet high, and there was a crystal chandelier hanging that looked like it would fit in a presidential palace. I took all of that in in a moment, because the second I saw Barton Lane’s face, I knew that the man was in some serious pain, and