been trying to find Olivia and Savannah, I would have been on the next flight to New York City.
Giovanni apologized, something he wasn’t used to doing. It was sincere, and as much as I wanted to be there, he promised to keep me informed of any progress he was making if I stayed put, and I agreed—at least until my own case was solved. But if I solved it, and Daniela was still missing, our deal was off.
“It was me,” Maddie said when my conversation with Giovanni was over. She sat down on the bed, patting Lord Berkeley on the head and avoiding eye contact. “Lucio called me and wanted to know if you were all right.”
I leaned back on the pillow. “Well, at least now I know why Giovanni finally called. Once he found out I had something else to occupy my time, he knew I wouldn’t fly out there. Not right now, anyway.”
“He just didn’t want you to worry,” she said.
But I was worried, and not just for Daniela. I was finally starting to understand the consequences of being involved with someone who lived the kind of life Giovanni did. He might have been loving and kind to me, but that was only one side of his personality. I’d never seen the other. And I didn’t want to—I’d grown fond of him over the past several months, an attribute that allowed me to overlook certain things. I couldn’t imagine what Daniela might have been suffering on her brother’s behalf, or if she was still alive. I wanted to sleep, but I couldn’t. Now that I knew the price of being with him, what was I going to do about it?
CHAPTER 17
In my dream, two girls were running through the woods, calling for me—by name. The sounds of their voices echoed around me. The girls came to a door suspended in mid-air between two giant pine trees and knocked on it, even though they could have just stepped around it and been on the other side. I tried to open the door, but it was stuck. The knob turned, but when I pulled back, nothing happened. Their knocking grew so loud it vibrated in my head, forcing me awake.
Someone was knocking on the hotel room door.
I sat straight up in bed and looked around. I shouted for Maddie. There was no reply. And Boo wasn’t on the bed anymore. Maybe Maddie had gone out and forgotten her room key. I threw my robe on and cracked open the door, surprised when it wasn’t Maddie on the other side.
The man in the hallway was an older gentleman, at least twenty years my senior, maybe more. He wore a button-up shirt with a thin, black vest over the top, and a brown cowboy hat that looked like it had gone through the washing machine a few too many times. Around his neck was a tassel-like choker worn in place of a tie with a round piece of solid rock the size of a half dollar dangling from it. His beard was white and slight and most likely trimmed on a daily basis. It made him look respectable and refined, but it didn’t hide his tired, stress-infused eyes.
“Detective McCoy?” I said.
“How’d you know?” the man said with a slight smile.
“Lucky guess,” I said. “You’re Cade’s father, right?”
He nodded. “I was hopin’ I could have a word?”
I stifled a yawn. “What time is it?”
“A little after six in the mornin’,” he said. “I’m sorry if I woke you. I can come back later if you like.”
I opened the door all the way, letting him in. “Give me just a minute.”
I brushed my teeth, saving my daily flossing routine for later. I didn’t want to keep the detective waiting. On the bathroom counter was a note scratched in pencil:
I took Boo for a walk. Back soon.
I pulled on a pair of jeans, zipped up my sweater, and joined the detective in the living room area of the hotel.
“My son says you’re a private investigator,” he said.
“Are you here to ask me to leave? Because if you are, you should know I—”
He shook his head.
“Six months ago, I would have done everything in my power to run you out of town, but now…” He curled one hand over the other, resting them in his lap. “My boy says you had a meetin’ with Noah Tate a few days ago. I’m interested in knowin’ what the conversation was all about.”
I crossed one leg over the other.