Page 412 of A Matter of Time

“Okay, well, I was just at the Reid place, and Gwen was there, so she let me look around, and then we left and came into town to check Susan’s office.”

“You’re at her office?”

“I was.”

“Where,” he growled, “are you right now?” He finished with a yell.

“Don’t be loud on the phone,” I reminded him.

His huff was filled with frustration.

“Jory.” Dane’s soothing voice was like velvet. “Wherever you are right this second, stop.”

“But I gotta find out what this key is for.”

“What key?”

“The key I found in the safety-deposit box.”

“You found a key in whose safety-deposit box? Susan’s?”

“Yeah.”

“And you—oh, Jory, I—what? Sure.”

“Jory.” Sam was back on the phone, his voice low and full of gravel.

“Hey.”

“I have to warn you about something.”

“What’s that?”

“The Dallas PD is on the lookout for you. If they pick you up, they’re gonna take you in on a psych eval, and that’s⁠—”

“What? Why would they think I’m crazy?”

“They don’t think you’re crazy, they think you’re a danger to others.”

“You told them that?” I couldn’t even breathe.

“Of course I didn’t tell them that,” he barked at me. “Calhoun told them that.”

And that fast, everything was better. “Calhoun?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yes, better,” I murmured. “I was scared for a second that you betrayed my trust, but you wouldn’t, would you. I know better.”

“I just want you back,” he told me. “Calhoun’s the one who wants you in restraints.”

“Because he thinks I’m crazy.”

“He’s just mad, and his clout works everywhere because he’s a fed, and even more so because he works out of Dallas.”