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Oh, Jesus. Had Eddie been kidnapped because of me?
This changed everything. The person who’d broken into my house four months ago was not only in Jackson Creek, tormenting me—he’d escalated.
What the hell was happening?
I heard a pounding on the window again and saw Malcolm’s expressionless face peering down at me. He reached for the door handle and tugged, but the door was locked.
“Open the door,” he called out.
Shit. I didn’t want Malcolm knowing about this, and I didn’t have time for this meeting. I needed to go somewhere private and find out what the fuck was under my seat.
Malcolm pounded again. “Open the goddamned door!”
I stuffed the paper into my purse and opened the door with a shaky hand. “Impatient much?” He may have covered my attorney fees, but I’d never asked him to. I didn’t owe him anything. But I did need to talk to Hale, which meant Malcom would be involved. I’d make this meeting go quickly, then I’d deal with my own shit.
“What was in that note?” Malcolm demanded, staring down at me.
So he’d seen it. Of course he had. I suspected not much got past James Malcolm. “None of your fucking business,” I snarled as I got out and stood in front of him, shutting the door behind me.
“If it pertains to Eddie Johnson,” he ground out through gritted teeth, “then it pertains to me.”
He had a point, but this note made it personal to me, not him, and while he’d provided an attorney for me, he’d been quick to assure me that it was to cover his own ass, not mine.
I couldn’t trust him.
“Tell you what, James Malcolm,” I said in a snide tone, getting closer as I looked up into his angry face, “when you’re ready to share all your dirty little secrets, then I’ll consider sharing mine. So let’s get this meeting over with so we can both get on with our day.”
“I saw Eddie’s name on that note,” he spat out, fury in his eyes.
His interest in Eddie didn’t make sense. “Why do you care so much about some guy who was just a customer in your bar?” I glanced over at Hale, who looked more tense than after we’d left the interview room, then back at Malcolm. “What is going on and why are you dragging me into it?”
“Let’s go inside and discuss it,” Hale said in his amicable tone that I recognized as placating.
I took a step back from Malcolm, for the first time realizing I was alone with two men, both larger than me, one significantly so, in a back alley. “Orrr…we could discuss it out here.”
Hale released a heavy sigh. “I’ve got too much to do to deal with this bullshit. I’m going inside.”
He headed for the back door while Malcolm continued to stare me down. Perhaps he thought I’d fold if he glared at me long enough, but unless he brandished a gun, I wasn’t backing down. Sure, he could probably beat the shit out of me, but I knew enough self-defense that while he’d likely win, it would cost him. Besides, I was so full of rage that I was spoiling for a fight.
The door into the building banged shut, and Malcolm and I continued our staring contest for several more seconds before he said, “You know I could just take the note and read it for myself.”
“You could,” I conceded in a dark tone, “but I can assure you that our partnership on this will be done. And something tells me that it’s more important to you that it continue.”
A muscle on the side of his jaw ticked but he remained silent.
“What’s your connection to Eddie Johnson?” I demanded.
His brow rose slightly. “What’s up with that note?”
This was going nowhere fast.
After several more seconds, his eyes narrowed. “I’m not discussing it in the parking lot.”
“You want to go inside?” I challenged.
“That was the original plan.”
“Your original plan. I was ordered to come.”
