When the Bough Breaks (Rose Gardner Investigations #6) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,32

out of the office and down the hall to the exit. Once we were outside, we pushed the back door closed, hoping he hadn’t noticed the sunlight filling the office, there and then gone.

We hurried into the car—well, Neely Kate hurried, and I waddled.

“Can we get out of here without him seeing us come around the building?” I asked.

“Yeah.” She turned on the engine and headed down the narrow lane to the end of the building. “Ideally we’d pull in behind the strip mall next door and keep going, but a delivery truck’s blocking the lane, so we’ll have to drive in front of the building. He probably won’t see us or put it together.”

Probably…but if he was still in front of the office, he could see us pull out. “Wait here for a minute. Mike’s mother might be stalling him, thinking we need more time.”

“Good idea.”

She veered around the building and pulled to a halt, letting the engine idle.

“Did you see anything fishy in his books?” I asked.

“No, but I wasn’t really lookin’. I was just tryin’ to download it all as quickly as possible. If I’d dillydallied even a little, we might have gotten caught.”

I nodded distractedly, and Neely Kate placed a hand on my arm. “We’re gonna find ’em, Rose.”

“Yeah. We’ve probably waited long enough for the deputy to go inside. Let’s get that flash drive back to Jed.”

The more I thought about what could be on it, the more anxious I became. It had to be helpful. Because I didn’t trust my other plans to lead anywhere.

Chapter 8

While Neely Kate called Jed to let him know we were on the way back, I got a text from Bruce Wayne.

There’s an issue with the azalea bushes at Sonder Tech and the manager wants me to come check it out. I can’t get away, is there any chance you can do it?

Bruce Wayne was working on a multiday install that had been set back a couple of days due to weather. Still, the fact that he’d asked meant he likely didn’t know the kids were missing. I considered telling him no, but I knew it would take some digging to find anything of significance in the books, and I would be worthless in that endeavor. Besides, I still needed to contact my two sources, and I suspected the one I planned to talk to first would require some advance notice.

I glanced at Neely Kate. “Bruce Wayne needs me to check on an old install, so once we get back to the garage, I’m gonna take the truck over there.”

She stared at me as though I’d announced I was going to invite my old neighbor, Miss Mildred, to move in with me. “You’re kiddin’ me.”

“No,” I said defensively. “It’s not like I can do anything while you’re searchin’ the books, and I’ll just drive everyone crazy, pacing and looking over your shoulder. The best thing I can do for everyone concerned is to get out of your hair.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re up to something.”

In a way, I was, but not at the moment. “I’m going to check some azalea bushes, Neely Kate. It’s nothing to get a bee in your bonnet about.”

She paled a little at my statement, but then she nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. Better to keep busy.”

“You’ll call me as soon as you find something, right?”

“Of course,” she said.

I pulled into the parking lot, and she put the car in park.

“You’re sure you’re gonna be okay on your own?” she asked.

“Perfectly fine,” I said, already getting out of the passenger side. “I need to do something or I’ll lose my mind.”

“Call me if you need me.”

She’d gotten out too, and I gave her a warm smile over the hood of the car. “I will. And the same goes for you.”

“Jed’s probably not gonna approve of this plan, you know,” she said.

I grinned. “Which is one of multiple reasons I’m not going in there first.”

She laughed. “Coward.”

“I prefer to think of myself as cunning.”

She gave me a boost into the driver’s side of the truck before heading into the garage, and sure enough, Jed was coming out of the garage as I was about to pull out of the parking lot. He gave me a strange look, so I waved and then turned the corner to head back into town.

I hadn’t been to Sonder Tech since I’d gone through the punch list to ensure everything had gone according to plan after the install last November. They had