When the Bough Breaks (Rose Gardner Investigations #6) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,85

of the games, James Malcolm,” I snapped. “Why do you want forty-eight hours?”

“Why not?” he said with a short laugh.

“Do you know how difficult it would be for me to get away for that long with everything else going on and my baby due in two weeks?” When he remained silent, I realized he had thought about it. He knew I’d likely have to lie to get away from Joe and Jed and Neely Kate, and that they would never accept whatever excuse I offered, not to mention Neely Kate had seen the list and would know exactly what I was up to.

He was purposely trying to hurt me. To rip at my relationships with the people who had stuck with me when he’d turned his back.

Tears stung my eyes. The man I’d known was truly gone. There would be no playing on his emotions or his supposed affection for me. This was part of his punishment for my betrayal.

“And if I refuse?”

“Well, I guess it’s pretty simple. I won’t be signing those papers.”

“So you can hold them over my head?” I asked, my voice cold. “While I raise my baby, waiting for you to initiate some vindictive scheme?”

“Vindictive scheme,” he scoffed, sounding ten times colder than he had the night before. “It’s business, Lady, pure and simple.”

“I’ll buy the stolen evidence as a business matter,” I said. “But the forty-eight hours… that one seems personal.”

“Guess you’ll find out.”

“I’m not spendin’ forty-eight hours with you, James. I’ll be happy to meet with you somewhere to discuss whatever you like, but not two days.”

“I made the conditions clear,” he said in a hard tone. “All or nothing.” And he hung up.

I stared at the phone, so ticked I almost threw it across the room.

I got up and paced around the office, trying to expel some angry energy before I called Dermot, but another contraction took hold, and I had to breathe through it, long slow breaths. When it passed, the baby got another round of hiccups.

I rubbed my belly. “I’ll protect you, sweet baby. No matter what it takes.”

The question was whether it would mean spending forty-eight hours with James.

Chapter 23

I sent Dermot a text. We need to talk.

It was no surprise when he called less than a minute later.

I didn’t waste time on pleasantries. “I have more information.”

I started with the Sonder Tech angle. I told him about Calista’s boyfriend, the fact that Calista had been a no-show at work today, and my talk with Stewart in the coffee shop.

“I’d bet money it was Denny Carmichael who confronted him,” I said. “It sounded like him, although I was surprised he paid a personal visit off his property.”

“It’s a rare occurrence,” Dermot said. “He usually brings people to him. Gives him more power. But it sounds like it was the first time he’d met the Sonder Tech manager. Did the guy seem on the up and up when he told you his story?”

“Yeah. He was terrified. When I suggested he tell his story to a sheriff deputy, he freaked out. He said the man who’d confronted him would kill him.”

“He has good reason to fear for his life,” Dermot said flatly. “Two bodies were found in a ditch off Highway 83 outside of town about an hour ago.”

I gasped. “That must be what Joe was workin’ on earlier. He wouldn’t tell me what was goin’ on, but he seemed pretty preoccupied when I called to tell him about Stewart.”

“Rose, the bodies are of a man and a woman, both young, likely in their twenties.”

I sat down in my office chair, feeling like I was gonna throw up. “Calista and Pat.”

“That’s my best guess.”

“I just saw her yesterday,” I said in a small voice. “I had that vision of her.”

“I hear they were tortured.”

I knew better than to question how he knew these things. James used to have someone on the inside at the sheriff’s department to feed him information (arranged by Jed). It made sense that Dermot would have the same arrangement.

“Someone wanted information from them,” I said flatly.

“And I suspect we both know who did it.”

“Denny Carmichael.”

Panic raced through my blood. “Oh God. Oh God. They worked for Hardshaw and Mike’s missing.” I started to cry. “Denny must have killed him too.”

“We don’t know that,” Dermot said in a firm voice. “For all we know, Carmichael tortured them to get to Beauregard.”

I nodded, tears streaming down my face. But what if Denny Carmichael had kidnapped the kids to get Mike