“I understand.” Mallory nodded. “To be honest, I am more than a little worried about Janey’s safety in particular. She is exactly what the bad guys would go after if they wanted to hurt or pressure you.”
The most terrifying aspect of what Mallory had just said was that it was true. “I know, that’s what scares me.”
“Just tell me what you need from me,” Mallory insisted. “You know I will do whatever I can.”
Relief and, at the same time, new worry plagued Brenda. But she had to do this.
“I need you to take Janey somewhere thatthis, whatever it is, can’t touch her. If you and Peter can get the time away, I will gladly pay for a vacation to someplace where Janey will be safe.”Peter was like Brenda—he worked from home so taking time away from an office wasn’t an issue.
“You don’t have to do that,” Mallory argued. “We can take her to the cabin in Gatlinburg. My mother is always complaining that no one goes there enough anymore.”
“Oh wow, that would be great.” Brenda hadn’t even thought of the cabin.
Mallory reached out, gave Brenda’s arm a squeeze. “Let’s tell Janey to pack. I’ll call Peter, and we’ll get on the road this morning.”
Brenda hugged her tightly. “Thank you. Thank you.”
Mallory drew back. “But I want to hear from you at least twice a day.”
Brenda grinned. “Yes, Mother.”
This was the best way to handle this, Brenda reminded herself when more second thoughts attempted to intrude. She could focus on finding answers and Janey would be safely away from the trouble.
Ben appeared at the door, all smiles with a tiara on his head.
Now, if she could really trust this man…she might just get through this.
Chapter Seven
11:50 a.m.
From her front door Brenda waved again as Mallory drove away.
Her chest felt so tight she could barely breathe. She hoped this had been the right decision. Having Mallory take her child a four-hour drive away was terrifying. No matter that she trusted the woman implicitly. Brenda had spent two nights in Los Angeles with Janey here under the nanny’s careful watch. Why worry about a fraction of that distance now?
Because everything was different now. Vastly more uncertain and no little bit terrifying.
Brenda wasn’t sure who or what to trust. She stared at the man standing on the sidewalk that led from his house to the street. He paced back and forth, his cell phone pressed to his ear. Could she trust him? Was the mere idea a mistake?
He’d given every indication that she could…but so had Scott. She’d been married to him for six years and hadn’t realized what he was capable of beyond the cheating until only yesterday.
She had never considered herself a fool. But she had definitely been fooled by Scott. A repeat of that mistake was not something she wanted to make—ever.
Despite understanding this reality, she also recognized that she needed help.
She could not do this alone. At least, it wouldn’t be smart to attempt an investigation of her own without help. This was serious…dangerous.
Frankly, she wasn’t entirely sure where to start. At this point, Detective Shelton was being overly secretive. He’d asked her plenty of questions about Scott and his business this morning, but he’d sidestepped her every attempt at questions of her own. Like what would Scott be doing in Los Angeles? Was he hiding there? Shelton couldn’t answer the question. Or wouldn’t, was more like it.
No matter that she and Janey were victims in this bizarre situation, she had a feeling Shelton saw her as a potential suspect. Which was ridiculous. Yes, she had lived with Scott for five years. Yes, they had a child together. But obviously that didn’t mean he shared every detail of his business life with her or that he told her the whole truth with anything he did share. In all honesty, she had no idea if anything she knew about her husband was real, much less true.
Who hadn’t seen situations like this in the movies? A wife who discovered all manner of bad things about a suddenly missing husband. The wife always ended up facing conflict. And the horrifying realities always came as a surprise.
Brenda rolled her eyes. She was a writer, for heaven’s sake. She made her living coming up with scenarios not unlike this one and still she hadn’t seen it coming. No doubt her career made her look all the more suspicious to the authorities. Shelton hadn’t said as much yet but that didn’t mean he wasn’t already considering the possibility. Sadly, it happened. Wives killed husbands…husbands killed wives.
Not only did she need to find whatever trouble Scott had gotten himself into, she needed to protect herself and Janey. That was the bottom line of her current reality.
Ben’s call ended and he headed her way. At the same time a dark four-door sedan eased to the curb in front of her house. The urge to stamp her foot and demand “What now?” proved nearly overwhelming.
