Trusting Danger (Danger, #2)(69)

Grayson shook his head and turned out the lights, deciding to head to bed. Other than the one night with Claire, he was still getting barely any sleep.

Maybe if he focused on resting, that would take the pressure off of trying to get some sleep. Rest was supposed to be better for the body anyway.





Chapter Fifty-Six





When Claire and Alex entered her condo after her classes the next day, she was surprised to find her mother seated on the sofa.

“Darling.” Eva stood and kissed the air on either side of Claire’s face. “I’m on my way to the club for lunch. Come with me.”

“I can’t. I have work to do.”

“You’ve been locked up here for days. You need an outing.”

“I just had an outing.”

Her mother gave her an exasperated look. “School doesn’t count.”

“I’m sorry, Mother. I can’t.”

Eva’s features drew into a frown. “Next time, you’re going. That’s all there is to it.” She glanced at Alex as if she’d just noticed him and turned back to Claire. “If I have to, I’ll have the muscle drag you there.”

“Next time. I promise.” Claire walked her mother to the elevator, relieved that Eva hadn’t put up more of a fight.

Speaking of a fight, it’s probably time to ask Mother for her key. Or better yet . . .

Maybe it was time to have her own place, one that hadn’t been bought and paid for by her parents. Claire had money of her own that her grandparents had left her, money she’d never touched. It wouldn’t buy an outrageously expensive place like this one, but it would give her enough to rent a decent apartment all on her own, and a cushion to pay her expenses until she graduated in the spring and got a job.

And maybe, just maybe, it would buy me some freedom.





Chapter Fifty-Seven





After yet another night with only a few hours’ sleep, Grayson walked into his office Friday morning to find a message waiting from the forensics lab. As he listened to it, a thought clicked into place. He hung up the phone and sat at his computer to pull up a map of Virginia, and then headed for Eli’s office.

The boss looked up from the paperwork he was signing. “How’s it going, Gray?”

“The lab left a message. They found soil in the treads of Roy King’s tires, a type of red clay that puts his car in the Blue Ridge mountains recently.”

“Is that significant?”

“I think so.” Grayson described what had clicked into place—the photo he’d seen in Claire’s kitchen that was taken at her family’s mountain property. “The type of soil the lab found is specific to the Shenandoah Valley area. The Parkers own a cabin on mountain acreage near Front Royal, at the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley. And Claire said her dad’s press secretary goes out there all the time with him to hunt. I want to check it out.”

Eli’s gaze narrowed. “Will you involve Claire?”

“No.” I’m the last person she wants to see. “Can we get someone to start looking into the press secretary? His name is Nick Papadakos.”

“But what would be his motive?”

“Money. I went over the list of Gabe’s investors and found some familiar names. It wasn’t just Claire’s father who lost money investing with Gabe Rogers. Several of the senator’s staffers did, including Papadakos.”

Eli reached for his phone. “I’ll have his background check expedited. Let me know when you get there, and keep me posted.”

“I will.”

Grayson walked back to his desk, happy to have a good lead to follow. While they hadn’t eliminated Eric Sewell as a suspect, they still hadn’t found anything to link him to the plot against Claire, and he’d had no word yet on the facial recognition search on the video surveillance. Pursuing Roy King was their best bet at the moment.

It might be a long shot, but if he could obtain a sample of the soil from the Parkers’ mountain property for the lab to compare against the soil found in King’s tire treads, it could strengthen the case they were building against him. And it could give them another clue as to who put out the contract on Claire in the first place.

Based on the map he’d seen, the drive from DC to Front Royal was mostly interstate, so it wouldn’t take more than an hour and a half to get there. It was worth checking into.





Chapter Fifty-Eight





As Claire and Alex were making lunch in her kitchen, her cell phone rang. The caller ID was blocked, so her tone was wary as she answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Is Gray with you?” asked a familiar deep voice.

Surprised that Eli was calling her, Claire glanced at Alex. “I haven’t seen him since last week. Why do you ask?”

“He was supposed to report in and I can’t get ahold of him. Please let me know if you hear from him.”

“Wait!”

She took in a breath of relief when he stayed on the line. Had Grayson’s boss really thought he could worry her like that and then just hang up? Something had to be very wrong if Grayson was out of touch with his teammates.

She swallowed hard. “What’s Gray working on?”