she was evaluating the value of the information, which she couldn’t accurately assess yet. Hannah had an expectant expression her face, as if she was waiting to be thanked for her contribution to the investigation.
This was a delicate moment. Her little sister had put herself in real danger—danger that still existed—without seeming to have any real sense of what she’d gotten herself into. She appeared more excited by the intrigue of the situation than concerned for her own safety.
And yet, she’d been trying to help. Jessie had spent so much time worrying that Hannah might be conscienceless. Discovering now she had put herself at risk in the hopes of helping other young women was strangely heartening. She didn’t want to quash that instinct. Moreover, she’d been honest about it when she knew that it could get her into trouble. Jessie wanted to reinforce that impulse, not undermine it.
“Thank you for telling me,” she began delicately. “I’ll definitely take all the information you got and see if it can be useful. I really appreciate that you were trying to make a difference.”
“But you’re pissed,” Hannah said, her hopeful expression starting to turn sour.
“No,” Jessie said quickly. “I’m not pissed. I’m concerned, for the very reasons you mentioned. This Rico guy is expecting you to go with him to meet his boss tomorrow. That obviously can’t happen. They may have already done a background check on you based on your name. You’re no longer safe. That’s what I’m focused on—making sure that nothing bad happens to you. I was just hoping we could make it to the end of the year without any kind of threat to your life.”
“Wishful thinking,” Hannah muttered.
“Probably, but a girl can dream. So we’re going to do what we need to do to keep you safe. I’ll reach out to the right folks to follow up on this. If it’s connected to the trafficking ring I mentioned, we’ll pursue that. Even if it’s not, we’ll roll these people up and take some bad actors off the street. You’ll be responsible for making that happen. You should feel proud about that. I just wish you would have discussed it with me beforehand.”
“In a million years, you would never have let me get in that car,” Hannah insisted. “And I never would have gotten the recording.”
“You’re probably right,” Jessie admitted. “But can you blame me?”
They left it there. As soon as Hannah stepped out of the room, Jessie texted Gaylene Parker.
“Need to talk in person first thing tomorrow.”
Within seconds, she got a thumbs-up emoji. With that done, she helped Ryan settle in for bed. He’d been quiet all evening, which she’d attributed to his exhaustion. But once they were in his bedroom alone together, he motioned for her to sit beside him on the bed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked slowly.
She smiled. Even in his exhausted state, with her doing her best to hide her struggles, she couldn’t fool him.
“Just having a rough workday,” she said. “You know how it is. Sometimes everything seems to come in waves. It’s just a real storm right now.”
“Otis?” he asked.
She stared at him, amazed.
“How did you know that?” she asked.
“Watch news,” he huffed. “Hear you on the phone. Ears still work.”
She worried he was upset that she’d underestimated him, but he was smiling as he said it.
“I forgot,” she admitted. “You just can’t shut off that detective brain, can you?”
“Never,” he said with more vigor in his voice than she’d heard from him since the injury.
“I don’t want to bore you with the details, especially before bed,” she told him as she grabbed his hand and squeezed. “Let’s just say that solving a murder connected to a vindictive, amoral billionaire who may be involved in a criminal conspiracy that I can’t talk about definitely makes for a tiring day.”
He squeezed her hand back.
“Look…at me,” he said firmly.
She did. He continued, clearly, and without pausing for breath.
“No one better at this than you. No one better to bring this guy down. Stay strong. Love you.”
Only after he said it did he sink back against his pillow, worn out by the effort of what he’d needed to convey.
“Thanks, babe,” she said, wiping tears away with her free hand. “You don’t know how badly I needed to hear that.”
But his smile told her that he did know. And he was right. She could do this. And she would.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Jessie only slept until 4:30. There was a lot to do this morning. Her first call was to