Holding his Hostage - Amy Gamet Page 0,13
her eyes and moved to the sink, rinsing out her bowl, while Sloan tried again to answer. “Nothing like that. I was—”
“Ooh, did it get run over by a Humvee?”
Sloan leaned back in his chair. “Nope.”
“Did somebody stab you?”
“Nope.” He smiled at Fiona, who seemed truly interested in their conversation and not at all disturbed.
“Somebody shot my dad,” she said, putting her lips on the edge of the bowl to scoop marshmallows into her mouth.
Sloan turned to the girl, suddenly interested.
“Shut up,” yelled Lucas.
Fiona slurped up a diamond-shaped marshmallow, her eyes never leaving Sloan’s. “He’s in heaven with the angels.”
Jesus Christ.
Sloan didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this. David had been murdered?
“There’s no such thing as heaven,” said Lucas, picking up his bowl and dropping it into the sink with a clang.
“Yes, there is! Mommy said so.”
“She lied,” said Lucas, storming out of the kitchen.
The little girl’s face fell and her bottom lip quivered.
“Lucas,” snapped Sloan, but the boy was already gone. He squeezed Fiona’s arm. “He’s just kidding, honey. Of course there’s a heaven.”
“Do you promise?”
“Absolutely.” The girl seemed to accept that and went back to eating, clearly trying to avoid anything that wasn’t a marshmallow.
He stood and made coffee, careful to keep his distance from April. She had the air of a frightened animal, and he didn’t want her to bolt. On the contrary, he wanted information. “I’m sorry to hear about your dad. How long ago did he pass away?”
“Thursday.”
Fuck, no wonder Jo was a wreck. “I’m sorry,” he repeated. There was definitely a connection between David’s death and Jo’s sudden need for money, and he wondered if the other man had left an insurance policy to provide for his family. “What happened?”
The girl shrugged. “We don’t know. He was at his hunting cabin.”
“So it was an accident?”
April looked pointedly at Fiona, then back at Sloan. “No.”
“I see,” he said, but he didn’t really understand at all. He’d have to have Moto look into it for him. “Where do you live?”
“Just outside of Chicago.”
He pulled out his phone and texted Moto, who’d just gone on assignment with Trace out in Wyoming, but hopefully he could find some time to learn what really happened to David Regan.
Joanne appeared in the doorway. “I can’t believe I slept so late.” She kissed the top of Fiona’s head. “Lucky Charms, eh? Your favorite.”
“Marshmallows,” said the girl.
Jo headed for the coffeepot. “Morning, April.”
“Lucas was being a jerk.”
“I heard that!” Lucas yelled from the other room.
“Why don’t you hop in the shower?” Jo said, combing the girl’s hair back from her face with her fingers. “We’re going to get out of here in the next hour or so.”
Fiona perked up. “We’re going home?”
“No, genius, we can’t go home, remember?” asked Lucas as he walked into the room. “And I was not being a jerk. April refused to share the good cereal.”
April held up her hands. “I’m going in the shower. I can’t take this anymore.”
Lucas moved his head back and forth. “Good, ’cause you stink.”
“That’s enough,” said Joanne.
Sloan handed her the first cup of coffee. “There’s half-and-half on the top shelf. You sleep okay?”
“Eventually.”
“Can I play in the snow?” asked Lucas.
“Sure,” said Jo. “But wear your snow pants. We don’t have a lot of clean clothes.” Lucas left the room and she turned to Sloan. “What time does the bank open?”
She was certainly in a hurry to get out of here, but his curiosity was piqued. David had died days earlier, Joanne was desperate for money, and she couldn’t go home. “They’re open now. Why don’t you come with me for the ride? It’ll give us a chance to talk.”
“I can’t leave Fiona with Lucas. They’ll kill each other.”
Sloan winced. “I was hoping we could talk privately.”
“I haven’t had a private conversation since 2007. I’ll grab her iPad and headphones out of the Porsche. I don’t think you’d fit in there. We were like sardines in a can.”
Fiona’s eyes went wide, her mouth forming the letter O. “I watch princesses?”
“Yes, pumpkin,” said Joanne with a smile. “You can watch princesses.”
8
Six days.
Acid flooded Joanne’s stomach as her anxiety reared to life. She only had six more days to find the money and return it to Bannon.
It had been her first thought when she opened her eyes this morning, the words repeating like a mantra while she brushed her teeth and showered.
Six days.
Six days.
You only have six more days.
She grabbed Fiona’s booster seat from the Porsche and strapped the girl tightly