When the Bough Breaks (Rose Gardner Investigations #6) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,100

had a higher moral code than his father and degenerate brothers.

I covered my forehead with my palm as I thought this through. “Close to the house?”

“No, it’s by the old cabin. Deeper in the woods.”

I nodded, trying to remember the layout of the property from my trip there last year. “I suppose the only road out is the lane that leads up to the house? The way the house is situated, I suspect they always have a good view of who’s comin’ and goin’.”

“You been there before?” she asked in surprise.

“Yeah.” I took another breath, trying to come up with a plan. “The house faces northwest. Where is the icehouse in relation to that?”

“About a quarter mile to the west.”

“So not close to the house. What about a guard?”

She shook her head. “They don’t keep anyone there from what I can tell. They bring ’em food and water.”

“They must be locked in. Do you have anything to break the lock?”

“They ain’t locked in. Them boys have a bar across the door so the kids can’t open it.”

I nodded. “That’s good. So we should be able to get in and out. We’ll bring them back this way. Did you bring any flashlights? It’s gonna be gettin’ dark soon.”

“I get you to the kids, and you’re on your own after that.”

Did I believe her? Was she setting me up so the Collards could hold me hostage too? Then again, it seemed like it would be easier for the Collards to just snatch me. Shoot, they’d successfully kidnapped me twice before.

“I only said I’d get you to the kids. I never said I’d help you escape.”

And she’d killed or grievously injured the people who could have helped me do just that.

“You brought me here close to sundown,” I said in disbelief. “Why didn’t you bring me here sooner?”

Her voice broke. “You’re lucky I brought you here at all!”

“Why did you come to see me those other times?” I asked. “Why did you come to the nursery?”

“’Cause Mark wasn’t in so deep back then,” she said, looking a little embarrassed. “I thought maybe I could scratch your back and you could scratch mine.”

“What was he involved in, Vera?”

“Hardshaw.”

“And Mike too. That’s why you said you could help me.” I took her silence as confirmation.

“Him and Mike and Pat. They were a trio. That woman at Sonder Tech was their contact.”

“What did they do for Hardshaw?”

She turned away from me. “I don’t know.”

“Bullshit.”

Anger flared in her eyes as she turned back to look at me. “Mark wouldn’t tell me. He got his orders from Beauregard. I told him not to do it, but Beauregard told him they needed an electrician—one who had access to restricted areas—and he said they’d pay good money for it.”

“What restricted areas?”

“The courthouse.”

I sucked in a deep breath. The courthouse. Hardshaw could want any number of things there, but I couldn’t help thinking they’d be most interested in access to Mason’s investigation on them.

“What were they after?”

She shook her head. “I ain’t got no idea. He’d just tell me not to worry about it, but Mark started actin’ all nervous a few weeks ago, and then Collard took them kids last weekend. Mark told me he was gonna meet with Mike on Tuesday night. He said I should be ready to run when he got back.” Then she seemed to think twice and added, “He said if he didn’t come back, I needed to tell you where the kids were, then run.”

“So why didn’t you just tell me?” I asked. “I could have come on my own! Dermot could have brought an army of men!”

“Or you would have told your sheriff deputy boyfriend. Then you’d track me down and take my kids. This gives me time to get away. I’m running far, far away.”

I held my breath, releasing it slowly. It hadn’t sounded judgmental, but I was properly chastised. Why hadn’t telling Joe been the first thing that popped into my head? Now there was a good chance I was going to get myself, the baby, and Ashley and Mikey killed. But I took comfort at the thought of the four of us together. If I could get to them, I’d figure the rest as we went.

“The whys don’t matter anymore,” she said with a weariness I hadn’t heard from her before. “Denny Carmichael caught wind that Mark was involved and started puttin’ pressure on him, wantin’ to know what Hardshaw was up to.” She gave me a quick look. “He