Chapter Fifteen
“What the hell is he saying?” Shelton demanded.
Ben stared at the scene playing out on the other side of the glass. Tension rifled through him, and the urge to bust into that interview room was a living, breathing need growing inside him. But he held back… If this man had information they needed, he couldn’t do anything to stop the momentum.
Suddenly, Brenda stood and walked away from the table.
Shelton had already exited the observation booth and, as soon as she opened the interview room door, was demanding to know what happened. Brenda appeared visibly shaken. Ben pushed his way between the two detectives and went to her side.
“You okay?”
She nodded. “He said—” she surveyed the two detectives “—that you’re never going to find the truth.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Shelton demanded.
Truss went into the interview room and started to rant at the man shackled inside.
“I don’t know,” Brenda insisted. “I can only assume this whole thing is some sort of bizarre game. They’ve been playing games from the beginning.”
“Who has been playing games?” Shelton roared.
Ben shut the door to the interview room with his foot and pointed a glower at the man. “You, for one. You and Agent Cummings both. Brenda has been lied to—”
“I have not lied,” Shelton argued, clearly outraged.
Good. It was about time, in Ben’s opinion, that someone besides Brenda was on the receiving end of all the doubt and accusations.
“Maybe only by omission,” Ben allowed, “but you have not been truthful with us, and this is enough. Brenda will no longer cooperate with your investigation if you’re going to leave her in the dark this way. It’s dangerous, primarily to her. Or maybe you haven’t noticed.”
Shelton held up his hands. “We’re doing all we can.”
“What about her car? Anything back from the lab? Do you have any results back on anything?” Ben demanded.
“Where are you and Cummings on the investigation into the firm? Is it true that money belonging to several clients is missing? Have you done anything at all in the effort to find Scott Devers, who—by your own admission—is still alive?”
Shelton opened his mouth to respond but then he frowned. He dug into the pocket of his rumpled jacket and retrieved his cell phone. “Shelton,” he barked to the caller.
Ben turned to Brenda, who was still standing there looking ready to run.
The man in that room had told her something—something she had not shared with Shelton.
Ben needed to get her out of here to learn what he’d said.
He also wanted to touch base with Chicago to see if there was anything back on their series of numbers.
Shelton swore and ended the call. He opened the door to the interview room. “Take him back to holding. His lawyer is signing in.”
“Can we go now?” Brenda asked, obviously wanting out of this corridor before Lanier was brought out of the room.
Shelton glared at her again. “If you think of something more he said, I’m sure you’ll let me know.”
“He didn’t say anything else.”
Ben put a hand at the small of her back and ushered her away from the detective. As they walked away, he heard Shelton ask Lanier, “How the hell did a guy like you afford an attorney like Carlisle?”
If Lanier opted to answer, they were out of earshot. The sooner Ben got Brenda out of here the better.
When the rental car had been checked and they were inside, buckled up and driving away, she said, “I lied to Detective Shelton.”
Ben glanced at her. “Do you want to tell me why?”
She exhaled a big breath and stared out the car window. “He said if I told the cops I would be sorry. So I didn’t.”
“In that case I wouldn’t have told them either.” Unless his message contained some revelation about an impending murder or attack of some sort, she wasn’t obliged to share the contents of a personal conversation with anyone.
“He said Scott is dead.” She stared forward then. “Then he warned that if I didn’t find what they needed within twenty-four hours that Janey would…” She closed her eyes.
Ben reached for her hand. “We’re not going to let them get to Janey.”
She shook her head. “How can we stop them?” She turned to look at him.
“Really, how can we possibly assume the idea is even possible? This is a huge cartel. I did some googling about them, and you’re right, they are ruthless.
Worse than any of the others. And there are literally hundreds if not thousands of them operating all over the place.
Unless I find what they want, how can I hope to keep out of their reach—much less stop them? ”
There was no arguing her conclusions. The upside was that she and her daughter would be dead already if the cartel wanted them that way.
Obviously there was something else they wanted.
Something that required allowing her to live long enough to find it.
The downside was that even if the cartel got whatever it was they wanted, that didn’t ensure Brenda’s or Janey’s safety.
“We will do whatever necessary,” he promised.
He didn’t want to bring up the idea of witness protection. The agency had its own program to help those who needed to disappear. He hoped that wouldn’t prove necessary for Brenda and her daughter, but at this point he couldn’t make promises beyond the one he’d just made.
“I feel like I should cry if what he said is true, that Scott is dead.” She sighed.
“But I think I may have cried all the tears I had for him. The truth is I’ve cried for him so many times that it seems ridiculous to cry again.
I cried so much with Janey after the explosion.
I swear there are just no more tears for him left in me.
” She shook her head. “None. Do I sound awful?”
“You sound—” he looked to her for a moment then settled his attention back on the street “—like someone who has been pushed to her limit. Trust me, anyone else would have reached that place long ago. You have been more than sufficiently forgiving and incredibly decent about all of this. Not only did he cheat multiple times, but he left you holding this enormous bag of trouble. I would throw in that he has shown no care for your or Janey’s safety if not for the fact that he reached out to the Colby Agency. ”
“That was probably just to keep from feeling guilty,” she protested.
Ben had to laugh. She was mentally exhausted and not about to give the man an inch. “I’m taking you to lunch. Pick the spot.”
“Food…? I’m not sure I care.” She gasped and turned to Ben. “I just realized something that might be important. Did you hear that detective say that Lanier had a big-deal attorney signing in?”
“I did. Do you know the attorney?”
“Only by name.” A realization dawned in her expression. “Oh my God. Carlisle is the attorney Lena Jenner hired. How’s that for a coincidence?”
Ben would bet just about anything it wasn’t a coincidence at all. “We may need to pay an impromptu visit to Ms. Jenner.”
“Definitely,” Brenda agreed.
The same car that had made every turn he had since leaving the police department popped up in his rearview mirror once more. Silver sedan. Blond driver. Sunglasses.
Well, damn.
“Hang on. We have a tail.”