Murder and Mistletoe by Barb Han

Author:Barb Han [Han, Barb]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488033636
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-08-13T19:51:33+00:00

Chapter Ten

“Hello?” A beat passed and Leanne’s body tensed. Her face muscles pulled taut, tension written in the lines of her forehead. “I’m not telling you where she is, Gary.”

He’d made his one mandatory phone call last night. Unless Dalton was missing something, the man must’ve been released.

“She doesn’t have her phone right now.” Leanne’s voice was a study in simmering anger.

Dalton sipped his coffee, listening to one side of the conversation.

“No, I won’t go get her. I didn’t say we were in the same place,” she said tersely. And then seemed to realize she might be making things worse for her sister when she added, “She just lost her daughter. She needs a little time. Surely, you can underst—”

He must’ve cut her off and said something to offend her because her shoulders flew back and her posture became rigid.

“I’m sorry if you can’t understand what’s happening. All I can tell you is that she’s safe and—”

Leanne blew out a frustrated-sounding breath. “No, the best place for her isn’t home.” She paused. “The reporters are one thing—” Another beat passed. “Maybe if you’d listen instead of flying off—”

She set her phone down in her lap. Dalton could hear the yelling even though the words were difficult to make out.

After taking a sip of her coffee, she picked up the phone. “You do realize that you just threatened a law enforcement officer. That’s a felony offense in case you were unclear, and I won’t care who you’re married to when I file a complaint against you.”

Now the line was quiet.

“Not exactly your brightest move, considering you’re still under suspicion for my niece’s murder. And I will testify against you to get the truth, Gary. Harass my sister and I’ll haul you in myself,” she bit out. “If you ever hurt her again, you won’t make it that far.”

Gary seemed to be taking in that last comment based on the silence that followed. That was the funny thing about bullies. They usually knew when they’d met their match and it didn’t take long to buckle. Dalton felt nothing but pride for Leanne standing up for her sister, for herself. His chest swelled with it.

Leanne ended the call and looked at Dalton with defeat. “She might not be answering now because she’s asleep, but the minute she realizes he’s out, she’ll go home.”

“Maybe not.”

“Past behavior is always the best predictor. She always jumps as soon as he snaps his fingers. That’s what Clara told me,” she said.

“I wish they’d held him longer, given us more time.” He couldn’t argue her point, so he didn’t. But he hoped recent events had caused Bethany to rethink her home situation. And maybe make a better choice moving forward.

“Seventy-two hours was the maximum. I’m not surprised he’s out. We should speak to the sheriff and do some damage control,” she said and he agreed.

She pulled up his direct line on her smartphone, tapped the name and then put the call on speaker.

“I have Dalton Butler here and he’s on the call with us,” she informed the sheriff after the perfunctory greetings.

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