Executive Protection(48)

Just then, his cell rang.

“There goes that moment,” Avery muttered. She knew as much as he did what his ringing cell phone meant at this hour of night.

“Jenkins.”

“It’s me, Darcy.”

“Thad?” He shared a perplexed look with Avery.

“I think Wade Thomas had something to do with my mother’s shooting.”

“What?” Darcy struggled to remove cash from his wallet. He always had a lot of cash on hand in case he had to pay and run.

Avery took the wallet from him and removed the correct amount. He almost didn’t hear what Thad told him about the kidnapping of a young girl. She was behaving as though she were already his wife. And she didn’t even know it. He vowed to make her that, and he’d use love to his advantage.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Thad met him at Avery’s apartment. She had to get ready for work and his day was about to begin at the same time. While she went into the bedroom to change, Darcy headed for the kitchen, where Thad sat on an island stool.

“You look tired. Coffee?” Darcy went into the kitchen.

“Sure.” Thad explained in detail everything that had occurred.

Darcy started the coffee brewing. “Why Wade Thomas?”

He went to stand opposite of Thad at the island. “It’s a gut feeling. The way he keeps us off the investigation. The way he always finds out what we’re doing. It’s almost as though someone were keeping him informed.” Thad told him about the man taking pictures.

Okay, that made sense. It explained how the chief could be keeping tabs on Thad, and even Darcy.

Thad ran his fingers through his hair, elbows on the table. He knew the danger of implicating the chief of police. If they were wrong...

“Why would he send someone to kidnap Sophie?” Darcy asked.

“To stop me.”

“He can order you to do that.” He already had. Maybe that’s why he’d taken it to the next level. He was getting worried Thad would find out too much—assuming Wade was behind any of this. It seemed like a stretch to Darcy. Until he recalled the pictures of Thad and Lucy returning Sophie.

“Sophie means that much to you, huh?”

“Don’t give me a hard time about that right now,” Thad snapped.

Darcy held one hand up. “Hey. You know you’re thinking it, too.”

Thad met his look and didn’t argue. He couldn’t. No one would have used that child against him if it hadn’t been obvious she was important to Thad.

“You want to catch your mother’s shooter. I get that,” Darcy said. “But I think you should hang back. Be an observer for a while. See what the police get on Layne. Maybe he’ll feel like talking.”

“He claims he doesn’t know who paid him.”

Darcy could see Thad believed him. And he agreed it seemed as though the shooter wasn’t working alone. But the chief of police?

Thad lowered his arms and met Darcy’s gaze. This was the most frustrating part of investigative work. The dead ends were growing more numerous and it seemed as if they’d never solve the case.

“What do you want to do?” Darcy asked.

“Talk to Wade.”

That bold? He’d go straight to the chief and start asking questions? Darcy admired his smart friend. That wasn’t something Darcy would try. He’d take a more conservative approach, gather evidence first and then confront.

“Be careful,” Darcy said.

“Careful about what?” Avery appeared, dressed in her uniform and tennis shoes. She leaned in for a kiss, and he held her head for a longer one than she’d have given, enough to get him by until he could see her again tonight.

“I thought you didn’t have to work today.” He deliberately avoided answering her.

“I had a message asking if I could cover for someone. I figured you’d be working today anyway.” She glanced at Thad.

“I might be.”

She kissed him again. “Thanks for breakfast.”

He grinned because he knew she wasn’t talking about the diner or the food. “I’ll call you.”

She gave him one more peck on the mouth. “Okay.”

When she left, he noticed Thad looking at him as though he couldn’t believe what he’d seen. Love was surrounding him and it was beginning to have an effect on his friend. Good. It was about time. If there was one thing Thad needed, it was love, the kind that would never fade away. And it seemed to Darcy that love had found him, not just with Lucy, but a little girl named Sophie.


* * *

Thad knocked on Wade Thomas’s open office door. Wade looked up and his head jerked back a fraction. He hadn’t expected Thad to come see him. He waved for Thad to enter.

Thad did.

“I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”

“Something’s come up.”

The chief stared at him for a while, making his own deductions. “I thought we had an understanding.”

Thad wasn’t supposed to be investigating his mother’s shooting. “That was before I rescued a seven-year-old girl from Layne Bridger.” He watched Wade’s face closely.

Chief Thomas didn’t alter his expression. “Who?”

“The girl’s foster dad. He kidnapped her and said someone paid him to in order to teach me some kind of a lesson.” He went into detail of all that had occurred.