When the Bough Breaks (Rose Gardner Investigations #6) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,80

world. I’m a helluva lot smarter.”

He made a face. “One could argue against that given your current state.”

My anger boiled. “And one could argue it’s not very smart to insult a very pregnant woman who has pepper spray, a Taser, and a gun in her purse. But since I’m feelin’ agreeable, how about I let you pick which one I use on you?”

“Rose…” he drawled, lifting his hands from the desk in surrender, even though he was clearly not concerned. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Too bad for you that I did. Now give me the number to his burner, because I know he’s got one and more to spare, and you won’t need to worry about anything being traced because I’ve got a burner too.” When he didn’t move, I shouted, “Now.”

Startled, he jumped in his seat, then reached for a sticky note. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a mean pregnant woman?”

“My niece and nephew have been kidnapped. My dog was run over by a car and is in critical condition, and my asshole ex has information that might help me find those kids but instead wants to play games. That would be enough to piss anyone off, pregnant or not.”

“Fair enough,” he said, writing down a number on the blue paper square, “but he wasn’t in a good mood when he dropped by, so don’t expect him to share anything with you.”

I stood and snatched the Post-it from him. “I never expect anything when it comes to Skeeter Malcolm.”

I marched out and headed across the street toward my office. I was exhausted, likely from my lack of sleep the night before and the fact I was carrying a tiny person in my body, so I headed to the coffee shop to get a latte to hopefully perk me up as I came up with a plan.

There was no way I was going to spend forty-eight hours with James, but I’d agree to that stipulation before I’d give up looking for whatever James had stolen from the safe. With any luck, I wouldn’t have to make any concessions. I couldn’t think of a single reason he’d want to spend that much time with me unless he was trying to rekindle our romance. That was never going to happen, but if he still cared about me, maybe he could be convinced to help me find the kids. In hindsight, I should have pressed him harder the previous night, but seeing him had thrown me more than I’d thought it would.

Once I got my coffee, I was headed out the door when something caught my eye to the right.

To my surprise, the now-familiar station wagon was parked several spots down, closer to the opposite end of the street.

What should I do? Run after it? Let it go? I could call Joe, but I doubted he’d be able to get someone here in time to detain the driver. I could at least see if Vera was sitting in it.

But as I took a few steps in that direction, the car suddenly jerked in reverse and then pulled forward, tires squealing as it sped away too fast for me to see who was driving.

“Some people need to be more careful,” a familiar voice said, and I turned in surprise to see Stewart on the sidewalk several feet away from me.

I took an involuntary step backward, sloshing coffee on my hand. “Stewart, what are you doin’ here?”

“I was just at your office, but it was locked up. I was looking for you.”

“Uh…” I pulled out my phone and checked the screen. “Did I miss a call from you?”

He didn’t seem sick, but he had a wild look in his eyes. “No. I decided to come see you at your office.”

Meeting with Stewart in my office seemed like a terrible idea, especially given his crazed look. For all I knew he was in this thing up to his neck.

“Actually, I was just on my way to an appointment.” I half-heartedly pointed to my truck.

“This will just take a moment,” he said. “It’s important.”

I gestured to the coffee shop behind me. “How about we go inside and chat here?”

He glanced toward the office. “I was hoping to talk to you alone.”

I gave him a hard look. “I’m gonna be frank with you, Stewart. It’s the coffee shop or nothin’.”

He stared at me with a blank look. “Okay. The coffee shop it is.”

I spun around and headed inside the nearly empty dining space, leaving Stewart