Red After Dark (Blackwood Security #13) - Elise Noble Page 0,43
going back to the hospital after to sit with the girl. Can you find Alaric?”
I spoke through gritted teeth. “I’ll do my very best.”
Emmy was right. Judd was an absolute lunatic.
CHAPTER 17 - ALARIC
BETH WAVED GOODBYE to Harriet, but as soon as she climbed into the passenger seat, her smile faded.
“Everything okay?” Alaric asked.
“We have a small problem.”
“How small?”
“About two feet, I’d say.” She closed her eyes and sighed as she leaned her head back. “Judd and Gemma…they’ve…well, they’ve kidnapped a baby.”
No, he must have misheard.
“For a moment there, I thought you said Judd and Gemma kidnapped a baby.”
“Yes, because they did.”
“You’ll have to start at the beginning.”
“Gemma called me half an hour ago. A girl came to the gallery today, asking her about ‘the American man who’d been asking questions on the Bellsfield Estate.’ That’s got to be you, hasn’t it? Or Ravi?”
Yes, they’d been asking questions, but they’d been careful not to leave any evidence that the “suicide” of one of the residents had actually been a little less than voluntary. Could a reporter have gotten wind of Gemma’s involvement? Unlikely—the death of a nobody on a run-down housing estate was hardly front-page news. But Gemma had dated the guy for months—had she made any friends there? Met any acquaintances who might know where she worked?
“Gemma didn’t recognise her?”
“She says not.”
“How did we get from a visitor at the gallery to kidnap?”
“The girl had a baby with her. And while she was talking to Gemma, some toff took offence to her being on the pavement, and she ended up getting hit by a car.”
Getting closer… Alaric had a bad feeling about this.
“That still doesn’t explain the baby.”
“Well, I guess Judd was worried about the girl knowing too much, because he told the staff at the hospital that he was the father of her baby, and now he’s at her bedside playing the concerned husband until she wakes up.”
“Fuck.”
“Funny, that’s the exact word I used.”
Judd’s loyalty was unquestionable, and for that Alaric was grateful, but hot damn, couldn’t he think things through for once? Alaric’s stomach twisted into a knot because although he’d spoken to a dozen women with babies during their search for Gemma, only one had made a long-lasting impression. Say it wasn’t Hevrin…
“Give me your phone.” Alaric took a deep breath. “Please.”
“What happened to yours?”
“Emmy dropped hers, so I lent her mine, and she left it on top of the car and drove off.”
He should have known better. Emmy went through so many phones she got a bulk discount. Beth fished hers out of her purse, but when he moved to take it, she held on.
“Uh, could you not tell him I told you? Gemma said she wasn’t meant to mention it.”
Good thing Judd was in London. Alaric couldn’t inflict grievous bodily harm if he was four thousand miles away, could he now? He punched in Judd’s number, put the phone on speaker, and waited. One ring, two, three…
“What’s up, babe?”
“Her name’s Beth, not ‘babe.’ What have I told you about harassing the female staff?”
“I’m on my best behaviour. Scout’s honour.”
Right.
“So, how are things in London? Busy day? Have you been working with your usual clinical efficiency?”
Emphasis on the clinical. Judd’s pause said he knew what Alaric knew.
“I tried to call you.” He lowered his voice and echoed Beth. “There’s a small problem.”
“How small?”
“Five feet six and 35-25-35 at a guess.”
For fuck’s sake.
“Elaborate. And stop referring to women like they’re objects.”
“A girl stopped Gemma outside the Pemberton gallery today. Started asking questions about the Bellsfield Estate. About an American. Then some bitch in a designer suit barged her out of the way, and she landed in traffic.”
“So you called an ambulance, right?”
Alaric already knew the answer, but he also didn’t want to drop Gemma in it. Trust was important in this game.
“Yes, but what if she knows something about what went on last week? Gem’s been through enough already, and you and Ravi don’t want your names coming out. The cops are gonna question her when she wakes up.”
“About the accident, presumably, not about the Bellsfield Estate.”
“What happens if she lets something slip? Do you want to take that chance?”
Quite honestly? No. But when there was a child involved, that had to take priority, a fact Judd should have been well aware of after everything they’d been through with Rune. This was why Alaric’s name was on her fake birth certificate rather than his.
“It’s not just about us. Who’s the girl? Does she have a name?