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He sent me a harassed glance as he stormed down the hall. “The scrap of paper for Mad Manny—his phone number—it was on the top of the pile when we opened that box last night, wasn’t it?”
“I…” With a wince, I shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“It was,” he answered with more certainty. Then he gulped uneasily. “But I don’t think it ended up on top when we were in a rush to shove everything back inside. And if she had to get in there to retrieve Mad Manny’s number—right after we left—then she probably noticed that everything was out of order.” His gaze met mine. “And she’ll know someone was in there.”
“Shit,” I muttered, feeling doomed.
When Lana’s sparkly door came into view, we both kicked it into gear, jogging until we reached it. Hayden had his keycard out faster. He unlocked the door and pulled it open less than a second later.
Hurrying ahead, Hayden was already climbing onto the kitchen island by the time I made it to the room. He shoved up the ceiling tiles and poked his hand into the dark space above them. After feeling around for over a minute, he sent me a hopeless glance and shook his head miserably.
The box was gone.
Chapter 29
Gabby
We’d had it. We’d had the proof I’m sure we needed to put Lana away. It was in our very grasp. And we’d lost it.
The blow hit Hayden the hardest.
He took me directly home after we left Lana’s apartment, and he didn’t say a word the entire way there. When he parked at the curb, he just stared ahead, out the windshield, and methodically tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, his mind a million miles away.
“You want to come in?” I asked softly, thinking I sounded like a clingy, insecure girlfriend, but not even caring. I wanted to help him so bad; I just didn’t know how.
He glanced at me shortly. “No. Not today.”
“Hayden,” I started on a sigh. “Don’t let this get to you. It was just one little setback. We can—”
“I know.” He finally sent me the ghost of a smile, as if he was at least grateful for my attempt to cheer him up. “Don’t worry. It’s fine.”
But it wasn’t. Not to him. And I didn’t know what to say to make it better.
Seeing my concern, he tipped his head towards my building. “Seriously, it’ll be okay. Go on in, now.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You’re not going to go back there without me to look again, are you?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Then—”
“I just…” He held up a hand, wincing. “I need a bit of time to think.”
My mouth fell open. The jerk was trying to shut me out. I should’ve resisted, forced him to let me back in. But then, I also knew what it felt like to need some space and alone time, just to think and clear my head in order to tackle a situation from a new angle.
So I nodded. “Okay then. Take some time.”
I opened the door to leave, but he caught my hand. Trying not to appear too hopeful as he drew me back to him, I held my breath when he stopped just shy of kissing me.
“I’ll see you Monday m
orning?” he asked.
I blinked in confusion. “Monday?”
He nodded. “To pick you up for work?”
Seriously? He didn’t want to see me again until Monday? How the hell long did he need to think? Damn. This setback had really shaken him.
