When the Bough Breaks (Rose Gardner Investigations #6) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,38
into the Burger Shack parking lot, recognizing the building after the many times I’d taken her with me through the drive-thru to feed my bacon cheeseburger craving. After I placed my order for a bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a mini hamburger for Muffy, I tried calling Joe. When he didn’t answer, I left him a message asking him to call me when he got a chance. I’d just gotten my food when a text from Mason popped up on my phone.
Can you meet me at your farm in a half hour?
I answered right away. Yes
I headed straight out to the farm, feeding Muffy pieces of the hamburger. I only ate a few bites of my own food before I was full. There wasn’t much room left for it to go.
Mason’s car was parked in front of the house when I pulled up, and he was sitting on the front porch in a dress shirt and tie, eating a sandwich. For a moment, it felt like time had gone and rewound itself, and Mason and I still lived at the farmhouse together. But so much had changed since then—everything, really—and the thought crumbled into dust.
He stood as I got out of the truck, and Muffy jumped down after me, her tail wagging when she saw Mason moving to meet me at the top of the porch. He bent down to pick her up. The bag that was slung over his shoulder slid forward, but he adjusted it as he stood, his eyes glued to my stomach.
“Yeah, I know,” I said. “I’m huge.”
He grimaced, then smiled, rubbing Muffy behind the ear. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to stare. It’s just that I haven’t seen you since before Christmas.”
I couldn’t help wondering if he was thinking about the pregnancy scare we’d had when we were together. We’d had so many plans back then. Before I became the Lady in Black.
“That’s okay,” I said, lumbering up the steps. “I’m due in two weeks, so I’m supposed to be this big. Let’s go inside.” I unlocked the front door and headed to the back of the house to turn off the alarm. Mason set Muffy down and followed me inside.
“Want to sit at the table or in the living room?” I asked.
“Whichever is more comfortable for you.”
“Want a cup of tea?” I asked, grabbing the kettle and filling it with water.
“Sure. When I spoke to Mom earlier, she said Muffy was with her.”
“Neely Kate and I had to run a few errands, and it didn’t seem wise to bring her. I picked her up before heading out here to meet you.”
He tilted his head. “And did those errands have anything to do with your text?”
“As a matter of fact they did.” I gestured to the table. “We can sit while the water boils.”
He sat in a chair and set his bag on the floor next to him, while I took a seat at the head of the table. “Ashley and Mikey are missing.”
Mason sat up so quickly it looked like someone had held a lit match to his butt. “What? When?”
“Joe made it official this morning,” I said, surprisingly matter-of-fact. “But we both knew something was wrong last night.” I told him everything, except, of course, the bit about Neely Kate and I making off with copied information from Mike’s office. “I was wondering if you ever found out anything about Mike being involved in any illegal activity?”
His gaze dipped to my stomach for a brief second, then lifted to mine. “I did find something, but I never reached out because it’s all part of an investigation and nothing has been confirmed. But first I’d like to ask you some questions about Mike.”
He hadn’t guaranteed that he’d tell me anything, but if he was going after Mike, I was willing to help. “Sure.”
He pulled a legal pad and pen out of his messenger bag. “When Mike went to Houston to see Violet, did he ever mention making any stops in Dallas?”
My breath caught. Was Mike involved with Hardshaw?
“No. But he’d stopped talking to me by the time Violet left for Houston. After everything came out about me being involved with taking down J.R.”
He shifted uncomfortably. That was when he’d abandoned me too.
Glancing down at the table, he nodded, tapping his pen on the blank page. “So he never told you that he’d gotten a contract for a Dallas-based company opening an office here in Henryetta?”
“Do you mean Sonder Tech?” I asked. Did this mean they were