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“You’re right,” Brody said, taking another handful of file folders out of his box. Neither of them spoke as they worked, the only sound in the room the crackle of paper being handled.
They finished all four boxes without finding anything else incriminating. Or at least nothing obvious. As Brody set the boxes back in the corner, Lainey cleared her throat. “Once Larsen is in custody, I’ll give these boxes to Jacobs. He can go through them again and see if there’s anything else he needs.”
“I don’t think there will be,” Brody said. “But you never know.”
“No, we don’t,” Lainey said. She pulled out her phone and glanced at it. “It’s almost noon. Maybe I should call Ashley’s mother to see when we should pick Phoebe up.”
“Probably a good idea,” Brody said. He hated this stiffness between them. The formality. But it was his own fault. He drew a deep breath to tell Lainey he understood that, but she’d already typed a number into her phone.
“Hey, Karen,” she said, turning away from Brody and walking out of the office. “How’s everything going?”
Silence while Lainey listened to Karen’s reply. Then she said, “What time should we pick Phoebe up?”
Silence again. “Okay, thanks,” Lainey said. “We’ll see you then.”
She’d gone into the living room to make the call, and Brody waited for her to return to the office. After a few moments, he realized she wasn’t coming back. Her footsteps echoed on the stairs to the second floor, and a few moments later, her bedroom door closed with a click that sounded far too final.
Brody closed his eyes and inhaled. Then he turned and headed for Brett’s house. He needed to fill his foreman in on what had happened last night, and what he and Lainey had found this morning. Set up a plan to keep watch at the ranch.
As he walked out the front door, he glanced up the stairs toward Lainey’s room. He wondered what she was doing. What she was thinking.
And he wondered if he’d lost the right to know.
* * *
Up in her room, Lainey picked up her Kindle and sat in the chair. Opened it to the book she’d been reading, but after a couple of pages, she had no idea what she’d read. Couldn’t even remember the character’s names.
Sighing, she closed her Kindle and set it on the desk. Stood and began pacing the room. It was a generous-sized bedroom, but it felt tiny and confining when she wanted to move. To take long strides and walk off her hurt. Her anger. Her desolation.
Any other time, she’d walk outside. But she couldn’t do that today. Couldn’t leave the house, in case Art Larsen was watching. Looking for an opportunity to take a hostage to exchange for those damning photographs.
Finally, she slid onto the floor and leaned against the bed. Rested her head against the mattress, rehashing the harsh words she and Brody had exchanged earlier.
Her heart was still bruised after absorbing the blow from Brody’s words. She’d bared her soul to him, but he’d told her nothing about his earlier life. Yeah, he’d said he’d been married. But even when he’d said it, she’d seen that it hadn’t left any long-term scars. It had been a brief, misguided marriage. Nothing more.
But he’d said nothing about his time with DCFS, even though it had been the most life-changing two years of his life. Not even after they’d talked about contacting the agency about Phoebe. He’d dismissed his mistaken, short-lived marriage, but he’d never mentioned the deep wounds inflicted in a DCFS group home.
Part of her understood. She had no desire to dig into her marriage and lay bare all the mistakes she’d made. All the times when she should have walked away but didn’t. But she’d done it anyway, because she wanted Brody to know everything about her, even the ugly, unflattering parts.
Maybe she’d taken this relationship far more seriously than Brody had.
Lainey dug the heels of her hands into her eyes, trying to stop the tears from falling. But they leaked out anyway, dripping down her face in a steady stream of regret and sorrow.
She’d thought Brody was the one. That they’d have their happily ever after.
Now she wasn’t so sure.
After what felt like hours, Lainey struggled to her feet, stiff and sore from sitting on the floor for too long. She stumbled into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face until it didn’t feel so swollen, then reached for a towel and blotted it dry. Stared at herself in the mirror.
She looked like she’d just had her heart handed to her in pieces, the edges ragged and sharp.
Drawing a deep, shuddery breath, she let it out slowly. Took another. Three more, until she felt steadier. Like she’d put on her armor and was ready to face Brody again.
Glancing at the bedside clock, she realized they’d need to get going soon to pick up Phoebe. If he still wanted to go with her.
Taking one more steadying breath, she collected her purse and headed down the stairs.
Brody stepped out of his office as she reached the first floor. He searched her gaze, but during her marriage, Lainey had become an expert at hiding her emotions. She stared back at Brody, and he finally sighed. Looked at his hands, then asked, “Time to go get Phoebe?”
