Page 81 of No Headlines Please

He laughed. "Oh, so that got your attention."

Asshole. "And you called, because…?" As if I didn't know.

Right on cue, he replied, "As if you didn't know."

I knew plenty. And that was the problem. I was still considering how much I should tell Ryder when he asked, "So? Have your people found her?"

My people.

He meant Cal and the team of security experts I kept on retainer. I paused for half a beat. "No. My people haven't."

But I had.

I planned to tell Ryder all about it, just not right now, when who-knows-what was happening downstairs.

On the phone, he said, "I guess I'm not surprised. The way it sounds, she's been missing for almost a year."

Bullshit.

Delaney hadn't been missing. Until just this week, her address in West Haven hadn't even changed. But the way Ryder talked, she'd vanished off the face of the earth.

Was he lying?

Or was Delaney's sister lying?

They could be simply wrong. But that would be one hell of a mistake, because the facts weren't lining up.

I knew Ryder. Lying wasn't his style.

As for the sister, I didn't know her at all.

But I knew Delaney. She was honest to a fault.

Still, somebody was almost certainly lying – including me if you counted lying by omission, which I'd been doing ever since Delaney had walked through that lobby door.

Ryder asked, "So, what about Carver? You still have eyes on him, right?"

Evan Carver. The guy was a world-class douche.

A few days ago, Ryder had asked me to keep tabs on Carver and make sure he wasn't headed for Mackinac Island. He wasn't. If the team watching him had gotten even a whiff, I would've heard about it straight away.

For now, the guy's ass was planted firmly here in Chicago, where he'd been spending his time gambling, womanizing, and keeping several drug-dealers hopping. If Carver so much as sneezed in the direction of northern Michigan, I'd hear about it pronto.

Ryder, meanwhile, was already on Mackinac Island.

I wasn't sure what was going on with him and Delaney's sister, but Ryder's interest was obviously personal.

I could relate. Even now, my thoughts kept straying to the other sister, Delaney, wondering what she was hearing a few stories below.

Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

33

Thirty Bucks for What?

Delaney

At the sound of footsteps behind me, I glanced over my shoulder. Sure enough, Mrs. Stelter had gotten off on the same floor, apparently leaving the elevator just a few moments after I had.