Don't Back Down by Sharon Sala

Author:Sharon Sala
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2022-12-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Jay Howard was at his desk going through morning email when Rusty’s call came through.

“Good morning, Agent Caldwell. Thank you for letting me know your relocation went smoothly. What’s up?”

“Maybe the missing hostess, Emily Payne, being a connection to the trafficking gang, or maybe not. But Cameron and I both agree this goes way beyond the percentage of coincidence. I’m sending you a spreadsheet you need to look at. All of the info will be included in the email. If you can find footage from security cameras to back this up, you might hit the jackpot. And regarding the new suspect, she’s about to get raked over the coals by my uncle today, but I asked him not to fire her. We need to be able to pick her up for questioning without having to put out a BOLO on her to do it.”

“Excellent work,” Howard said.

“I have a photo of Emily Payne from her personnel file. I’ll include it in the file I’m emailing to you. I’ll be in touch if we find anything else,” Rusty said.

“Caldwell.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Are you getting along okay with Pope?”

“Of course,” Rusty said. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I hear he’s got a dog the size of a bear.”

“Yes. Ghost. He’s not quite that big, but I like dogs. We’re all one big happy family here, so butt out…sir.”

Howard laughed, and he was still laughing when she hung up in his ear.

Rusty rolled her eyes. They knew. They all knew. Whatever. If things went the way she hoped, this was going to be her last case. Finding Cameron had made her realize her life was worth more than the money they paid her to put it at risk. She gathered up the files she’d created, attached them to the email, and hit Send.

She went to the kitchen to refill her coffee cup, then came back to the sofa, opened up the file on Sheriff Woodley, and started to read.

***

Liz and Michael were having lunch at the Hotel Devon in the penthouse where Michael lived with his father, Marshall. Marshall came into the residence long enough to greet Liz and remind Michael of a two o’clock meeting later, and then he was gone.

Michael seated Liz, kissed the side of her cheek, and then took the chair opposite her.

“You look beautiful, Liz.”

“Thank you,” Liz said.

She couldn’t help but preen a little at the compliment, but she wasn’t going to make this easy. He’d put his hands around her neck. He was lucky she hadn’t gone for his balls.

As soon as they were both seated, the waiter served their food, left dessert on the sideboard, and exited the penthouse.

“Looks good,” Liz said, eyeing the cold shrimp salad and white wine, then put her napkin in her lap and picked up her fork.

“I’ve missed you,” Michael said. “I miss us.”

Liz swallowed the bite she was chewing and pointed at him with her fork.

“You miss the sex,” she said.

He shrugged. “Well, yes…that’s part of it. Don’t you?”

“I’m still dealing with the ugly threats you made to me,” she said, and popped a shrimp in her mouth.

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