Page 41 of The Husband's Secret
Waking this morning after a night of lovemaking with Ben had prevented that nightmare from following her through the day so far. To say she felt immensely less stressed would be an understatement. What she felt—she smiled—was something more than simply relaxed. She felt good. Really good. Happy. As happy as anyone could feel considering her cheating, supposedly dead husband was actually alive and on the run and a drug cartel was threatening her. And that her sweet little girl was in hiding.
They had to find answers soon. Brenda didn’t want to be apart from Janey longer than absolutely necessary.
At the door of the final location on their list, Ben pressed the button for the doorbell. It wasn’t the usual old-fashioned doorbell. It was one of those with a camera built-in and the capability for communicating with the person or persons who lived in the house even if they weren’t home.
“What do you want?”
The harsh words echoed from the little metal box attached to the wall next to the door.
Ben removed his credentials case and held it in front of the camera. “I’m Ben Clark from the Colby Agency—a private investigations firm out of Chicago. This is Brenda Devers. We’re here to speak with—”
“Devers?” the man’s voice snapped. “Any relation to Scott Devers?”
Brenda exchanged a look with Ben, then nodded. “Yes.”
“Why are you here?” he demanded, his tone as much resigned now as angry.
“I’m trying to find someone who can help me figure out what my husband did to have people threatening me and my daughter. We have no idea what’s going on, but our lives are in danger.” Tears burned her eyes, but she blinked them back. She would not cry, damn it.
“I can’t invite you in,” Mr. Holland explained, his tone calmer, “because I’m not home. But I can tell you that at least two people I know who invested with J&D are now dead.”
Brenda pressed a hand to her mouth. Dear God, this was real. There was no option for coincidence and no accidental or maybe even natural events to blame.
“Mr. Holland,” Ben said, “my agency was hired to protect Ms. Devers and her daughter and to try and figure out what’s going on here. Any insights you are willing to share could be immensely helpful.”
“I can’t help you because I only know two things. I have five million dollars missing and people are dropping like flies. Go into hiding, Ms. Devers, and let someone else figure this out. I suspect it’s way, way over our heads.”
“Thank you, Mr. Holland,” Ben said. He held up a business card in view of the camera. “This is my contact information. If you recall anything you want to pass along please call me.”
The man said nothing further.
Brenda walked alongside Ben as they retraced their steps to his car. Since they had been in view of the car the entire time there was no need to check it for trouble. She settled into the passenger seat and waited for Ben to get behind the wheel.
“What do we do now?” She was so tired of dead ends. They so desperately needed a break.
“Now we’re going back to your place. Have some lunch and check in with my colleague to see where he is with his research.”
She collapsed against the headrest and watched the landscape go by. She wondered if Tate’s wife knew about any of this. Probably not. Brenda certainly had not. Then again, she and Scott had lived separately for a year. Maybe she’d missed all the dirty details because of that. She should just go to the woman’s house and demand to know whatever she knew. Except she had a big-deal lawyer.
Her cell phone rang, and Brenda dug it from her handbag. Maybe it was Mallory. Brenda had called this morning to talk to Janey, but the call had gone to voicemail. She checked the screen. Not Mallory or one of Brenda’s contacts, but she recognized the number.
“It’s Detective Shelton.”
“Cummings has likely told him about our trespassing on a crime scene last evening.”
With a sigh of dread, she accepted the call. “Brenda Devers.”
“Ms. Devers,” the detective said, “can you come to my office? We’ve found the intruder who broke into your home, and he won’t answer any of our questions. He says he will talk only to you. I realize this request is unusual, but we could really use your help.”
Stunned but definitely game for the opportunity, she assured him, “We’ll be there in ten minutes.”
The detective thanked her and ended the call.
“You’re never going to believe this.”
Ben shot her a look. “Try me.”
“Shelton says they have the intruder in custody, but he won’t talk to anyone but me.” They had just turned onto her street.
