Minutes to Kill (Scarlet Falls #2)(58)

“Skiing in winter. Kayaking in summer. Nice thing about living in the country is the proximity to outdoor sports.”

“I haven’t used my skis in years. Maybe I’ll drag them down from the attic this year.”

So they had something in common.

“Are you still trying to find that girl?” he asked.

She nodded. “I’m waiting to hear about the fingerprints from the Vegas cop. He said it could take a while.”

Brody nodded. “Different regions and states use different AFIS software. The FBI maintains a national database, but every print doesn’t make it into the national system.”

“Seems inefficient.”

“Sometimes it is, but persistence can pay off,” Brody said. “Maybe Chet can help you.”

“Why would he want to help me?”

“He needs a distraction, and after spending the last three years searching for Teresa, he knows all about looking for lost teenagers.”

“I guess he does.” Hannah collected their dishes and moved them to the sink. “Are you sure this wouldn’t be the worst thing for him? Seems too close to home, if you know what I mean.”

“I know Chet. Not being involved with the case is killing him. He’s a take-action sort of person.” Not unlike Hannah, thought Brody.

“In that case, I’d appreciate his help.”

Brody separated his car key from the rest. “Besides, I doubt he’ll want to see me today. I just ratted on him and ended the career he loves more than life.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” She pointed at him. Anger flared in her blue eyes. “You can’t take the blame for his dangerous behavior. You’re doing everything you can to help him.”

“How long will it take you to get ready?”

“Give me ten minutes.” She headed for the hallway. “Does he like dogs? I don’t want to leave AnnaBelle alone all day again.”

“Yeah. Chet likes animals. Bring her along. I’ll need a statement from you about last night, too.”

“All right.” True to her word, she was ready in minutes.

Brody walked her to the truck. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“You have to work, right?” Hannah opened the passenger door of her brother’s pickup. The dog jumped up into the cab.

“I have to testify in court this afternoon.” He had a robbery case to work, and the chief would likely assign him Chet’s open cases as well.

“And you’d like me to keep an eye on Chet?”

“I would greatly appreciate it. But he’ll get defensive if he suspects I asked you to babysit him.” Brody walked to the door of his sedan, parked behind the truck. “You’ll really need to act genuinely serious about finding Jewel.”

“I am genuinely serious about finding her.” Hannah’s eyes softened. “According to those e-mails, whatever was going to happen to her is done, but I’d still like to keep trying.”

He glanced at her profile, and the determined set of her brow. “Then we have no worries. Chet can sense sincerity, or the lack of it, as fast as a narc dog sniffs out dope.”

As he climbed into the sedan, nerves raised the hairs on the back of his neck. Brody paused, one foot inside the vehicle, and scanned the surroundings. His gaze swept over trees, roadside grass, and meadow, but he saw nothing unusual.

So why did he feel like they were in imminent danger?



Mick drove past the house. Big and white, the house looked like something from a movie set, the picture of domestic bliss. A big pickup truck and sedan occupied the driveway.

The sedan was an unmarked cop car.

Fuck. He sped up and drove down the road. When he was sure he was out of sight, he turned around and doubled back, easing behind the patch of evergreens from the other side.

What he wouldn’t give to be stalking this bitch in an urban neighborhood.

He rolled down the window and listened. Nothing.

Mick tapped a finger on the steering wheel. The house sat on a big rectangle of open ground, but woods surrounded the cleared area. With a cop in the house, he wouldn’t risk going to his favorite observation post. Maybe she’d called the police. Had she sensed his presence outside the night before?

“What do you want to do?” Sam asked.

He took his binoculars from the glove box, got out of the car, and went to the edge of the foliage. Putting the binoculars to his eyes, he peered through the pine needles and scanned the front of the house.

Nothing.

The windows along the front of the house were dark, and he didn’t see any movement behind the glass. But someone was inside, including a cop.

A few minutes later, the front door opened. The blond and a tall man in a suit and tie, obviously the cop, walked out onto the porch, their bodies close in an intimately acquainted way. Mick hadn’t gotten a good look at the man who’d been at the house the night before, but he bet it was the same man. The blond held the golden retriever on a leash. Mick increased the magnification, focusing in on a bulge on the woman’s hip. He expected the cop to carry a gun, but a lawyer? They got into the two separate vehicles.

Mick lowered the binoculars. Time to go. He’d have preferred to avoid the cop, but Mick would follow the woman. He wanted to know where she was at all times.