“Let’s just go,” he urged. “I want this over with.”
There was a condition coming. She could feel it.
“I’ll show you where they are,” he continued. “Then I’m getting the hell out of there. You tell Wyatt that bastard contacted you. The phone I used to text you was one of those throwaways. I pitched it in the river. Wyatt don’t have to know I was involved in this at all.”
“I’ll have to think about that one.” She reached for her cell.
“Wait,” he wailed. “First, you see for yourself that I’m right, then you call your people and I’m out of there, deal? I don’t want to be nowhere around when you call him. I’ll walk back to my truck. I don’t care if it takes all night.”
Adeline didn’t like playing by anyone else’s rules. Clay was a piece of shit, that was for sure. But he wasn’t a killer. At least not yet.
“We’ll play this your way for a few more minutes,” she relented. “But if I get the first hint that you’re bullshitting me or that anything at all is off, I’m shooting your ass. Got it?”
Clay nodded. “Got it. Trust me, I want this freaky shit over.”
Stay away from your kin, Detective. You can’t trust him.
Adeline stole a glance at her cousin.
A lump of dread settled in her gut.
She knew better than to trust him ... no matter the excuses he gave or the assurances he offered.
Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel.
But she couldn’t ignore the possibility that he might be telling the truth. Or that Nichols had been talking about Jamison.
Either way, she hoped like hell she wasn’t going to have to be responsible for the death of Cyrus’s only other son.
And if she survived this, Wyatt was going to kill her.
The important thing here was saving Cherry Prescott and Penny Arnold and, if Adeline was really lucky, Danny Jamison.
Maybe, just maybe, Wyatt would get it through his thick head that Adeline could take care of herself.
44
Laurel, Mississippi; 11:00 p.m.
It was past Danny’s bedtime. He was sleepy. He rubbed his eyes. He never stayed up this late.
He wished his daddy would come back.
Danny cuddled up to the new puppy his daddy had given him. He’d opened all the presents his mom had hidden for him and the ones Santa had left.
Danny smiled. He’d gotten lots of good stuff. But the puppy was the best. He couldn’t wait to show his puppy to his friends.
He frowned. He might not get to do that. His dad had said they would have to leave Laurel, or the police would never stop bothering him. Danny’s grandma and grandpa had poisoned their minds. He didn’t know what that meant exactly, except that it was bad. His daddy said Danny would make new friends.
Danny was glad to be back in his own bed. His daddy had said no one would come looking for him here. But Danny had to stay in his room, and he couldn’t turn on any lights except his little flashlight. The windows were covered with blankets just to make sure no light got out if he forgot. The police might drive by or something.
There was food and water for the puppy. Food and water for Danny. And all the presents. His dad had even brought a bucket to theroom and said that Danny should pee-pee in it. He wasn’t to leave his room for anything.
Danny smiled again. That meant he didn’t have to take a bath!
Wouldn’t be for long, though. His daddy was coming for him before the sun was up in the morning, he’d said. They would pick up his mommy and then they would go far away. Danny got to pick the place.
He liked that.