Total pages in book: 183
Estimated words: 174715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 874(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 174715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 874(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
“Coffee. And I don’t know—croissants? That’s easy, right?”
“Is there a reason Jerome needs counsel?” Adam asks, ignoring our conversation about food.
“Not at present, but he just hired me to make sure that doesn’t change.”
“Room service,” a woman says into my ear.
“Croissants. Lots of them. Coffee for two. Cream.” I glance at Lori remembering her order on the plane. “Lots of Splenda.” She smiles, and I add, “Bacon. Random pastries. All as soon as possible with a good tip attached if soon is soon enough.”
“Yes, sir. Anything else?”
“That will do it.” I hang up and answer Adam’s question. “Jerome Knight says that if they try to use his daughter against him, they will fail. There is nothing dirty to find and he won’t lie to protect her.” I look at Lori. “There’s tension between the two of them, which means we need a good handle on where that’s leading before we walk into the police station later today.”
“Where is her mother in all of this?” Lori asks. “Is she a problem?”
“She hates Jerome,” I say, impressed with the question many wouldn’t ask, which would be a mistake. “A money dispute in the divorce, but she’s been out of his life too long to be a problem.”
Adam chimes in then. “Royce has his brother back in New York City working on this, and let me tell you, Blake is one of the best of the best at electronic tracking and hacking. If there’s something to be found, he’ll find it and fast. For my part, I’m done here, and I’m headed downstairs to clear your rooms. I’ll let you know if I find any devices.”
“Don’t you need our keys?” I ask.
This time Adam arches a brow at me. “Would it make you feel better if I said I did?”
“It would me,” Lori says. “If you can get into our rooms on your own, anyone can get in. How do we know new bugs won’t be put in the room once you leave?”
“You don’t,” Adam says. “Not unless you hire us to make sure they don’t.”
This is exactly why I didn’t want Lori to stay. “We’re going to leave tonight if we can,” I say. “If that changes, I’ll let you know.”
Adam gives me a two-finger wave. “Later, man.” He exits the room and I stand there a few beats, then follow. I catch him before he turns the corner. “Adam.”
He turns to face me. “What’s up?”
“I will double the Walker fee if your team gets me something on this detective to shut this down before tomorrow at noon.”
“You don’t need to pay us double to shut down a dirty cop,” Adam says, before he turns and leaves.
I rotate and find Lori waiting on me in the doorway to the dining room. “We’re leaving tonight?”
I walk to stand in front of her. “If I get my way, this will be a lesson in how to shut down bullshit and move on to what you really want. And what I want is you out of the line of fire and back in New York in my bed.”
Chapter thirty-eight
Lori
Cole and I sit side-by-side at the desk of the hotel suite’s office reviewing our questions for Tara Knight while stuffing our faces with croissants, bacon and coffee. What I notice about Cole during this encounter, and really all of our work interactions, is how eager he is for debate. He doesn’t want agreement, which is a good thing because on several points we don’t agree.
“I think you should ask her about her mother,” I say.
“Asking about her mother was smart,” he replies. “But ultimately at this stage of the game, the mother is wasted energy. She has nothing to do with this. We need to expend energy on what matters.”
“A mother is a key figure in anyone’s life,” I agree. “She’s feeding something into her daughter’s head and that will influence her behavior, especially as it relates to her ex-husband who is Tara’s father.”
“We don’t know how close she is to her mother.”
“We should,” I argue. “You are the one who told me that the things I’ve been through in my life give me an edge. Mothers influence daughters, and anger at a father influences a daughter. I’m your prime example.” I breathe out. “He affects me.”
The way his eyes narrow I can read his thoughts, and I know that he won’t speak them, not now, not in the middle of a word debate. He, my father, he affects us, too. “The point is that the mother is always relevant. Was she an issue at all during Jerome’s problems?”
“She was in Thailand and irrelevant at the time.”
“Her daughter’s in trouble. Most parents, aside from Jerome, who is being instructed by you to stay where he is, would come back or at least be talking to their daughter with that in mind. And that parent would say: Save yourself. And my experience is that a wife knows things about her husband. I know you trust Jerome, but if anyone can cause trouble, it’s the ex.”