Forbidden With Me - Leigh Lennon Page 0,69

going on in here?” I ask.

“Oh, hey,” Malia utters, straightening up and stretching her hands. “Vanessa came and found me, asking if I wanted a break from prying eyes.”

Vanessa shrugs her noncommittal answer. “So, I saw your notes and the interview with the construction owner. He sure remembers a lot of facts.”

“Yeah, I didn’t have a chance to corner Higgie, but he has a gut feeling about something. Not sure what it is.”

She tosses her pen down, looking at Mal. “I guess we could talk about this without her here?” My response is on the tip of my tongue when Van begins to laugh. “You’re going to tell me to fuck off, so I’ll do you and your career a favor, and just say it doesn’t matter at this point. She’s immersed in the case as much as we are, if not more.”

Has my ex had a lobotomy in the past twenty-four hours? These thoughts and many others run through my mind, but all I do is laugh when she continues her questions on the investigation.

“Do you think the old man is hiding something?” Vanessa asks, and from my peripheral, Malia sits up, more interested in this line of questioning.

“You know, he was an ass at first, but then changed his tone. I don’t know.” The correct answer is I’m way too close to this case to be unbiased, but I’m certainly not recusing myself.

“And how is there any connection to the Strickland house?”

“Besides being similar in the floor plan, nothing else we can find. The builders of Malia’s childhood home has no connection with the builders of the Mastille and Halston house—but I’ll keep on digging through public records.”

I’m about to leave the room when Malia’s phone rings, and her text alerts go off. “Oh, shit.” She’s staring at her phone.

“What’s up, sweetheart?” I sit next to her, and I’ve been busted by Vanessa already, so I don’t hide what’s going on with us.

“The story of me has aired.” This is not a surprise, but for her, it’s got to be hard.

“We knew it was coming.”

She shows me the phone, a painstaking grimace on her face. “Yeah, well, now Georgia knows, and she’s pissed off I haven’t told her.”

“You mean, the redheaded spitfire best friend of yours?” I laugh because as Mal has described her, she’ll be sure to get an earful from her best friend. When I think she’s going to answer it, she sends it through to voice mail.

“What can I say, she’ll be pissed tomorrow, too.”

I’ve called him several times, and every call has gone to a voice message. I don’t begin to panic, not now. But Stewart Higgins being without his cell is not the norm.

I pick up the phone because Malia has made herself comfortable in Vanessa’s office. “Um, Captain, could you come out here for a second.” I swing around in my seat, and I see her talking to me, and I point at Malia. She stands, closing the door behind her.

“What’s up?” Her gaze falls on Higgie’s empty desk and back at me. “Where’s Higgins?”

“Cap, I can’t reach him, and his phone is going straight to voice mail. I’m not one to overreact, but hell, Van, he had a bad feeling, and I just let him go.”

She sits in Higgins' desk, reaching for his landline. “Yeah, give me Judge Carreter. I need a search warrant for…” I slide over the information, both the construction site and the owner's home address.

Vanessa recites the numbers, and I’m left to wonder if I’ll ever see Higgins again.

I whisk Mal out of the station, so quick, almost too quick, and in the back of a squad car with two uniforms for outside, and the same female cop she’s comfortable with while I’m out searching for my partner.

“What’s going on, Wells?” She’s not the scared little girl I remember. Even from several days ago, when I carried her in from the Montgomerys’ sidewalk, she’s matured in a way I could never quite explain if I hadn’t been with her since the beginning.

Her chocolate eyes are pleading with me. I know the only thing that will work is the truth.

“Higgins left to get the evidence from the owner. He’s not picking up his phone, and I haven’t heard from him. His car is still at the address, according to the tracker in all police-issued vehicles.”

She allows tears to fall from her face, but unlike the other times, it’s not in fear, but because someone she considers a friend