Spooky Business (The Spectral Files #3) - S.E. Harmon Page 0,33

and I grinned. Chevy hated being preempted. “I think Delilah created this fake corporation to funnel money to her friend in preparation for her escape.”

“That tracks,” I murmured. “Valerie’s been lying to protect her friend so long that she probably doesn’t know how to tell the truth about it anymore. Not to mention, I’m fairly certain Delilah was supposed to be the last flower in Kane’s Rose garden.”

“He’s been locked up for twenty plus years,” she pointed out. “There’s nothing he can do to her now.”

“You’d be surprised what these guys can manage behind bars,” I said. “It’s maddening. It only takes a word to the guy in the cell next to you who’s getting out on good behavior. You let him know that you have a problem that needs taking care of, and family on the outside who will foot the bill for his services.”

“That’s damned good incentive to stay hidden until Kane is good and dead,” she muttered.

“I’ll say. What else did you learn about Valerie?”

“Nothing all that interesting. She was a secretary at a local church for over twenty-five years before she finally retired. You already know about her son, Joseph Carr, the social worker.” I heard keys clicking on her end. “She was married twice and has four stepchildren, all grown and living in different states.”

“Can you send me Valerie’s—” My phone dinged with a text and I chuckled. “Thanks.”

“No sweat, doll.” She popped her gum. “Just imagine, if you came back to BAU, we could do this kind of thing all the time.”

“Worst sales pitch ever,” I informed her.

“Have you even told Danny about the job offer?”

Have I told who about what’s that now? Speakerphone was such a bitch sometimes. It certainly didn’t help that Chevy’s voice only had two volume levels—microphone and megaphone.

I took her off speaker and put the phone to my ear. “It wasn’t really a job offer,” I hissed.

“Then why is your nameplate on the door of that corner office?”

Graycie was such a presumptuous bastard. “I certainly didn’t tell him to—wait, did you say corner office?”

“Mm-hmm. Big windows. Nice view.” She paused as I digested that. “If you’re moving back to DC, it’s kind of perfect timing. I’m thinking about buying a house and subletting my apartment. I put a lot of expensive renovations into that place, and I’d love it to go to a friend.”

“I’m not moving to DC,” I said firmly.

“That’s not what your parking space says.”

“He gave me a parking….” I shook my head. “Gotta go, Chev. Thanks for your help.”

I hung up and tossed the phone on the bed. Talking to Valerie Carr had just leap-frogged past every other item on my to-do list. She’d lied to me about Delilah, but that was to be expected. If I had a dollar for every person who lied to me during an investigation, I’d be a very wealthy man. I was more interested in what else she’d lied to me about. Had she kept in contact with her friend secretly all these years?

I also wanted more detail about her son’s murder. I certainly wasn’t going to get it from him.

“Did I hear Chevy?”

Danny’s voice made me inhale swiftly. I glanced over my shoulder, wondering what else he’d heard. He didn’t seem particularly perturbed but that didn’t mean much. Out of the two of us, I was the one who wore my every thought on my face. Danny’s poker face was so legendary, he could take it to Vegas and run the tables.

I frowned. Maybe I was getting a little too accustomed to keeping secrets from Danny. It wasn’t as though I wasn’t going to tell him about the job offer. Just not right now. I didn’t want to know how he felt about it… not until I knew how I felt about it.

“Maybe that question was a little too complicated,” he said with a raised eyebrow. “Should I try another?”

“Sorry, I was woolgathering,” I said, “but yeah, that was Chevy. She has a lead for me to follow up.”

“A lead?” He held out a cup of steaming hot coffee, and I rolled over to take it. “Anything I should know about?”

I took a sip of life-giving nectar. “Soon,” I promised.

His other eyebrow joined the first. “Soon like the boxes?”

I narrowed my eyes at him over my coffee cup. “I’m starting to think you’re obsessed.”

He leaned over and dropped a kiss in my bird’s nest of tangled blond hair. “And I’m starting to think you’re a hobo who just likes