When the Bough Breaks (Rose Gardner Investigations #6) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,47

back.

Who was right? James? Me? A combination of both?

“What do you want?” I asked, deciding to be blunt. It was a terrible negotiation tactic, but I wasn’t in the mood for this dance.

He laughed as he pushed off the fireplace and sauntered into the kitchen—and then out into the garage.

I hesitated for a moment before following him to the doorway.

James grabbed the step stool and moved it to the center of the garage.

“Should you be climbing up on things in your condition?” he asked in a curious tone lacking the previous animosity.

“No,” I conceded. Then because I’d decided to throw games out the window, I added, “But I needed the element of surprise and it seemed the best course.”

“Force me through the front door,” he said approvingly as he reached up, his arm long enough to easily plug it back in. “Good plan.”

“If I hadn’t fallen asleep.”

“And that is what likely saved your life,” he said, his breath a bit shaky as he climbed down the short ladder. “I walked in, gun drawn, ready to shoot to kill.”

“So you knew someone tampered with the opener?” I asked, trying not to think about what could have happened.

Putting the step stool back in place, he said, “Whenever anything goes wrong, I always presume someone has worked things to their advantage.”

“That’s no way to live, James,” I said softly, in disbelief that I was standing here, talking to him in a civil tone.

He finally turned to look at me, his face void of any expression. “It’s too late to turn back time, Lady.”

Lady. He was talking about his criminal doings, not our relationship. Because we had no relationship. He’d thrown that away last year.

I backed up, keeping my gaze on him as he headed back into the kitchen.

His smile was genuine as he said, “Good girl. You remembered what I said about never turning your back on an adversary.”

“Are we adversaries, James?” I asked, the small of my back hitting the edge of the counter in front of the sink.

He closed the distance between us. “You made sure of that last October.”

I would have expected some heat behind those words, but the only heat I sensed was of a sexual nature.

My breath caught. I was as huge as a barn. Surely I was imagining things.

“When I decided to keep the baby?”

His eyes hardened. “When Lady took a stance against me by turning half the county against me with those meetin’s.”

“You’re working with Hardshaw. We had to figure out how to take a stand,” I countered, remembering why I was here, and it wasn’t for a trip down memory lane. While I still wanted to ask him why, I doubted he’d tell me. And the time for explanations had passed. “Did you bring Hardshaw to Fenton County?”

“Hardshaw was comin’ here with or without me,” he said, taking two steps back before turning to walk to the fridge. He opened the door and pulled out a beer.

“I thought you weren’t supposed to turn your back to your enemy,” I said harshly.

He kept his back to me as he twisted off the cap.

“Are you my enemy, Rose?” he asked softly. Then he took a long pull from the bottle. I would have thought he was handling our discussion as though we were two friends who’d had a spat over a borrowed muffin tin, but the fact that he downed nearly half the bottle made it clear I’d caught him off guard.

I didn’t answer, deciding to wait to see if he’d offer any information.

Lowering the bottle, he turned to face me. “So this is what it takes for you to show up at my doorstep. More damn kids.”

My anger rose again, but I stuffed it back down. For one, he didn’t sound angry, more like a child who had been caught doing something naughty and responded by pointing out that his brother had done something worse. And two, I wasn’t going to waste my time on petty arguing. I was here for information to help me find my niece and nephew.

“You have control over Mike,” I said, presenting what I knew in a logical tone. “Or at least you did. I’m guessing things might have changed based on what you said about wishing you knew where he was now.”

A grin tilted the corners of his mouth up, lighting his eyes too, as he pulled out a barstool and took a seat.

“You told me not to worry, that I’d still be able to see the kids after Violet