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“Unless they get suspicious,” Sara said.
“Or more likely that will make them come,” Jack said.
Sara and Kate looked up at him. He was wearing a shirt with a collar and black dress trousers.
“Where are you going?”
“The bank.” Jack’s face seemed to go pink.
Kate and Sara stared at him. They didn’t believe him.
Jack sighed. “Okay. No bank. I thought I’d go see Leland.”
Sara turned to Kate.
“Ten minutes,” she said. “Meet you at the MINI.”
“I don’t think—” Jack began.
Sara spoke up. “You are going to talk to Leland alone? You’re practically in competition for his wife’s favor.”
“And you’ll lose your temper,” Kate said.
“I won’t do that. I—” He gave up. “Ten minutes, then I leave without you.”
“Sure you will,” Kate said. “Good one.”
It took thirty minutes as they had to organize the boys. They couldn’t drive without an adult with them and their mother was unreachable. The hotel said she was having a deep tissue massage.
In the end, they took Kate’s car. Jack and Sara were in the front bucket seats and the boys sandwiched Kate in the back.
“Let’s drive home,” Max said as he smiled at Kate. “Only take a few hours.”
Jack made them get out near Valerie Johnson’s house. “Just give her the invitation, then leave. You have other stops to make and you can walk.”
The boys winked at Kate and waved goodbye.
“Their father needs to take them down a peg,” Jack muttered as he drove away. He acted like he didn’t hear the smothered laughter of the two women.
By the time they got to Southwest Ranches and pulled into the long drive to Charlene’s house, they weren’t laughing. Their minds were back on the murder—or murders.
The gate was open and they pulled in. No one answered at the house or Charlene’s studio. They walked around, but the place had a feeling of abandonment. No one was there.
They were about to leave when a sleek blue BMW pulled in. The man behind the wheel was Leland, Charlene’s husband. The look on his handsome face told of his misery and worry. And his fear.
He stood beside the car for a moment as he looked at them, unsurprised to see them. With a movement of his head, he motioned for them to follow him inside.
Kate thought how her first visit there had been so happy. Charlene had been laughing and talking about how wonderful her life was.
Leland sat down heavily on the couch, while the three of them sat across from him and waited in silence.
“If you need to talk to my wife, I don’t know where she is. She doesn’t have a car or credit cards or her passport. I—” He ran his hands over his face, then looked out the window for a moment. “I guess you want me to tell you what I know.”
“Yes, we would,” Sara said softly.
He nodded. “I just got back from seeing Tayla.”
Kate drew in her breath.
