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Alex was in complete bafflement as he followed Timothy back to Janey’s bathroom. The other man tapped, listened, pressed, and moved until he was squeezing himself into the narrow space between the wall and the claw-foot bathtub. And there he found it. He tapped the wall, pressed down on one of the tub’s clawed feet, and Alex watched as the end of the bathtub slid to the side and the entrance in the floor slid seamlessly open.
“Damned ingenious. ” Timothy stood staring at the narrow staircase that led downstairs. “It goes straight down. Think and tell me where this will end. ”
Alex moved to gaze into the darkened interior. “The other side of the restaurant, away from the office.
The banquet room. Janey’s been wanting to open it for seating. ”
“Anyone fighting her over it?” Timothy asked him quietly.
“Tabitha, one of the young waitresses. She works as hostess when Janey’s dealing with other things. ”
“Not her. ” Timothy shook his head. “Tabitha Cooke is a kid. A little flighty, low grades but social. She doesn’t have the intelligence. Anyone else?”
Alex shook his head. He bet Timothy had files on every damned citizen in the county memorized from the investigations he had run in the past two years.
“Everyone else seems excited by the prospect,” Alex told him. “Why didn’t I find this? Natches and I both went over this room and the other bedroom. ”
“Some of the ways they do it would amaze you. ” Timothy shook his balding head as he backed away and slid the tub back in place. “There’s a locking lever on the foot of the tub. ” He pressed it with his foot.
“Not easy to accidentally activate. I saw something similar at another place. The whole shower stall slid out like this. This one just slides around, leaving all the pipes intact. Very good. ”
“Someone had access to her all along. ” Alex could feel the adrenaline racing through him now, fury igniting in his head. “Son of a bitch, it’s a wonder they didn’t kill her in her sleep. ”
Timothy shrugged, the wrinkled sleeves of his gray suit jacket shifting around him.
“Stalkers are odd creatures,” Timothy said. “From the report the sheriff sent me, it’s only started escalating since you showed up. The pictures, this attack. Natches told the sheriff the stalker was upset, crying, because you were, ummm, getting a little nasty. She was corrupting you. Making you unnatural. ”
Timothy’s brows wagged. “Really, Alex. Anal sex?”
Alex refused to blush. Dammit to hell. It was bad enough Zeke saw those pictures and knew just how fucking hot Janey was; having Timothy know was damned uncomfortable.
“Timothy, don’t make me murder you,” Alex sneered.
The special agent in charge of making Alex crazy snickered.
“Come on, let’s go see Natches and Chaya, then. ” Timothy hitched the band of his pants and moved through the bathroom. “And let’s keep that little passageway our secret for the time being, at least until we’re away from the restaurant. ”
Alex followed, more anxious to check on Janey than he was letting on. After letting Mark and Tyrell know they were heading to the restaurant, he and Timothy had left the apartment and were headed down the stairs when they heard Janey, obviously arguing.
“I don’t care if you do burn it to the ground. As long as it’s standing and open, I’ll do what the hell I want to do. ”
“Are you trying to die?” Natches was leaning over her desk, his hands flat on the surface, tension filling the air as Janey held the identical stance, her hands on the desk, almost nose to nose with him.
“I’m not shutting down. If I shut down, I’ll never regain momentum. It doesn’t work that way. ”
“You stay open and someone’s going to kill you. ” Natches’s voice rose in anger as Chaya sat on the leather couch with her legs propped on the table, staring up at the ceiling as Alex followed Timothy into the office.
Chaya took one look at Timothy, lowered her jean-clad legs, and stared back at her former boss dismally. “Oh hell,” she muttered. “What are you doing here?”
Janey’s gaze jerked from her brother’s furious one to see Alex walk in behind a short, squat little man.
He looked like someone’s favorite uncle or grandpa. His face was lined, there were traces of sorrow in his eyes, and his thinning hair looked as though he ran worried fingers through it much too often.
The bright smile on his face was forced, and the mockery in his eyes was brittle, hiding things, she was certain, he didn’t want others to see.
“What the fuck do you want?” Natches snarled at the little man as Janey came from around her desk.
“Natches!” She stared at him, shocked. “That’s rude. ”
