Big Easy Temptation (The Perfect Gentlemen #3)(43)

The door opened and a slight woman entered, hauled in by a burly guard. Sue Carlyle’s face was the after photo on a poster of why not to try meth. Lined and wrinkled, cheeks sagging, she had aged far beyond her forty-eight years. The few teeth she had were black. According to the information Holland had obtained, this woman hadn’t lived an easy life. But what the hell had happened to her in the months since her daughter had become the center of a huge case?

“You going to be all right?” the guard asked Holland.

Sue shook almost uncontrollably as she sat.

Yes, she could handle the drug addict. She looked like she weighed all of ninety pounds. “I’ll be fine. Thank you.”

The door closed and she was left with one of the only people alive who could tell her anything about what had happened the night Admiral Spencer had fallen from grace.

“They said you wanted to see me. What’s this about?” Her gaze didn’t meet Holland’s but darted around as though scanning furiously for some kind of threat.

“I need to talk to you about your daughter.”

“She’s gone. Ain’t coming back. Ain’t none of us coming back.”

“She ran away from home.”

A snort came out of Sue’s mouth. “Sure. She ran away. Is that what you want? I already told everyone she ran.”

“Who did you tell?”

“Everyone I was supposed to, damn it. I’m tired of this shit. You got everything you wanted. Everything! But you keep sending in people to make sure you get more.”

A chill cut through Holland, clear to her bones. “Ms. Carlyle, I’m not who you think I am. I’m here to help you. I want to help find your daughter.”

A brittle laugh erupted from her chest, and she coughed as though the action hurt her in some way. “Bastards. You can’t find my daughter. Unless you remember where you buried her.”

Sue’s words shocked her. Holland leaned in. “You believe your daughter is dead?”

“I know it. Am I not supposed to say that, either? Is this some kind of test? I’m tired of you people fucking with me. I did what you asked. I took the money, and you know what? It wasn’t enough. Not even close. Do you know what that girl was worth? She could have worked and made more than that measly five thousand.”

Holland froze. She and the woman were having a definite misunderstanding and she wasn’t exactly sure how to calm Amber’s mother down enough to get a coherent story. Holland had to talk her off the ledge, convince Sue she was here to help, and hope she didn’t clam up.

“You took the money,” Holland reminded in a cold, factual tone. “You could have negotiated for more.”

Sue’s eyes narrowed before she shook her head and looked away. “I’m not talking anymore, especially to your kind. I saw what you people did to my girl. My baby. She did you a favor.”

A favor? Holland went with her gut on this hunch. “Yes, she set up the admiral nicely.”

“Don’t know nothing about that.” Sue’s lips formed a grim line. “Nothing at all. All I know now is my girl’s gone and you people sent me here.”

How did she get Sue to explain who “you people” were?

“Perhaps we could also get you out of here if you cooperate with us.”

“I don’t do nothing but cooperate.”

Holland knew she was walking a thin line now. She tried to sound as reasonable and non-threatening as possible. “I’m trying to clean up a few issues within the organization I work for. Some overly enthusiastic associates worked the front end of this operation. I need to make sure I have all the facts. Who was your contact?”

Sue stared blankly for a moment before her eyes came back into focus. Then she shook her head. “I ain’t saying nothing. I ain’t got no contact.” Tears started running down her face. “I hate you Russians. I hate you all.”

Russians? “I’m going to have to insist that we have this debrief, Carlyle. My boss wants to know all the facts before he makes a decision.”

“About what?”

“About whether or not to help you get out of this prison.” Guilt twisted her gut, but she had to have the information. “Who was your contact?”

Her gaze glazed over. “What does it matter now? I hate you all for what you did to my girl. Especially the Navy man. I hate that fucking Navy man.”

“The admiral?”

“Short little shit. Hate him.” Suddenly, she pounded her fists on the table. “Hate you all!”

She screamed then, a sound that seemed to come from deep in her soul. Then she burst into tears.

The door flew open and the guard hurried in. Sue Carlyle struggled, her eyes wild as she spewed curses, looking both angry and terrified.

The guard had her cuffed in record time. “Look who gets to visit the SHU. You’re a regular guest there, Carlyle.” The guard looked up. “Sorry. She’s very unstable. I hope you got what you wanted because she’ll be like this for days.”

A female guard came in and hauled the prisoner out.

“What’s wrong with her? Besides the obvious?”

The guard frowned. They could hear Carlyle shouting all the way down the hall. “She’s delusional. Likely due to the insane amount of drugs she’s done. She’s here for dealing, but that woman was way too interested in her own product.”