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Derrick liked her less and less every minute. Did the woman not have a loving bone in her body? He could see why some men might have been entranced with her D cups and young face, but to Derrick she looked as plastic and phony as she sounded.
He escorted her back to her room, the manager waiting at the door while he searched it.
Her suitcase was open on the luggage rack, a complimentary basket of fresh fruit, Perrier, cucumber water, bath products and lotions on the credenza. Champagne sat in an ice bucket chilling, ready to be uncorked beside a charcuterie board.
Judging from the fact that Autumn worked at Haints, which was not a high-end establishment, Derrick guessed the woman had another income source. Maybe another business or even a sugar daddy.
Spotting her laptop on the floor, he picked it up.
“You won’t find anything,” she shouted. “I don’t care enough about Jasper to do what you think.” Her eyes lit up.
Disgust filled Derrick. She certainly didn’t seem concerned about Ava or her family. Which meant if she didn’t care, she wouldn’t risk kidnapping charges just to hurt Jasper. She’d simply move onto greener pastures.
“Why are you doing this to me?” she asked, voice raised. “This is my vacation!”
“A little girl is missing,” Derrick said, his anger mounting. “Her parents are frantic to find her and if you had nothing to do with it, then I can eliminate you and move on. Now be quiet or I’m going to charge you with impeding a felony investigation.”
“You can’t do that,” she stuttered.
“I can and I will.” He pinned her with his dark eyes. “I know how you feel about kids, that when you got pregnant you talked about selling the baby. Is that what you did with Ava? Took her and sold her to support your expensive lifestyle?”
Forty-Six
“What are you talking about? And what are you doing with my computer?” Autumn asked.
“Confiscating it,” Derrick replied. “I need your phone, too.”
She planted her hands on her hips, angry. “Why? There’s nothing on there that’s illegal.”
“It’s procedure in a kidnapping case to review everything and everyone that might be connected to the missing child.” He took secret pleasure in the discomfort on her face. “Now, your phone?”
Her hand shook as she clutched it to her chest. “You can’t take that. It’s the latest iPhone.”
He bit back a chuckle at her entitled attitude, then removed the warrant from his pocket and handed it to her. “This says I can.”
She blinked rapidly, then skimmed the warrant, and clamped her mouth shut.
“I need to call a lawyer.”
“Do you?” he gave her a questioning look. “Because if you don’t have anything to hide and want to help us find your boyfriend’s little girl, you should be eager to cooperate.”
She bit her lip. “I’m not hiding anything,” she said. “But this is a violation of my rights.”
He ignored her, then held out his hand for the phone. “You’ll get it back when we’re finished. Now I’d appreciate it if you’d come with me.”
Fear flitted through her eyes. “Do I have to?”
“You can come willingly or I can arrest you,” he said. “Either way, you’re coming.”
She stared at him for a long minute, then huffed and stood. “At least let me collect my things and tell the desk so I can reschedule my spa treatments.” She paused, hands on her hips. “And if they charge me extra, then it’s coming out of your pocket.”
Derrick bit back a curse. For God’s sake, she was so selfish he wanted to lock her up for just being a bad human. If she had something to do with Ava’s disappearance, he’d make sure the only massage she’d be receiving in the near future would be from a cell mate.
Forty-Seven
Crooked Creek
Ellie looked up from her desk when she heard a commotion in the bullpen. Derrick was escorting an irate Autumn inside.
