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“Don’t test me. I’ve had a bad couple of days.” Brett drew his handcuffs from his pocket as he crossed the distance. Grabbing one arm, he slapped on a cuff, then he guided the other down and secured it. He quickly patted their arms and legs, searching for a hidden weapon. When he finished, he turned the intruder around and yanked off the ski mask.
Long hair tumbled over the face of a woman.
A woman—he glanced down at her protruding belly—who was pregnant?
Brett stepped back. “What’s wrong with you? You shouldn’t be breaking into homes in your condition.” Anger surged through him that she’d take such a risk. “What’s your name?”
She shuddered and said nothing.
This was going nowhere fast. He put his gun in his holster. A pregnant perp was so far out of his wheelhouse. Olivia would know what to do. Or Char. Or BB.
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
And now she was crying. This was obviously not the man who had killed Matt. But then Brett paused, remembering a case in LA where a pregnant woman had killed four people at the command of her boyfriend, who was serving time in prison. No one had suspected her either. And she probably hadn’t been expecting three years ago.
Maybe this woman had nothing to do with Dania but something to do with an old case he’d worked on, some lowlife he’d put in jail who had sent his girlfriend to get even with him. Hoping to take advantage of her rattled emotions, Brett calmly asked, “Who sent you?”
She acted like she didn’t understand him.
“Look. If you don’t talk to me, I don’t care if you’re expecting. I’ll put you in jail.”
She said nothing.
“Fine by me.” He guided her around the house to his Pathfinder. Securing her in the back seat by handcuffing her to the grip handle, he hurried to Rex’s to let Dania know what had happened before he hauled the woman away.
Dania met him at the door. “Who was it?” She peered around him at his car.
“A woman. She won’t talk to me, so I’m taking her in. BB or Char might be able to get her to open up.”
“Wait a minute.” Dania squinted as she peered through the darkness. She skirted around him, heading for his car.
“What the... ?” He tried to stop her. “You’ll blow your cover.”
Dania didn’t slow down. “I think I might know her.” She wrenched open the back door of his SUV and stopped short as she stared at the female, who stared back at her. “Hayley? Hayley Reece?”
The woman, who evidently was named Hayley, burst into new tears.
Dania stepped back, close to him. “Give me a second alone with her, and I’ll find out what she’s doing here.”
Brett moved away, giving the two women some privacy, but even so, he strained to hear what they were saying. Unfortunately, all he heard were muffled voices, and he couldn’t make out a single word.
Dania motion him over. “She says she came to see your grandmother.”
Brett gave a tight-lipped huff. “Wearing a ski mask? And Gran’s been dead for several years.” Annoyed, he added, “Did she come to talk to her ghost?”
Dania lifted a shoulder and nodded. “Exactly.”
“What?” This was not going how he’d believed it would. And he didn’t like that they were outside, exposed to anyone who happened by. He glanced around the area, checking to see if someone approached. The street was quiet.
“She said she misses your grandmother and needed to feel her spirit because she’s about to give birth.” She looked back at Hayley and smiled.
“Is she in labor?” Brett didn’t want any part of helping to birth a baby.
Dania studied her. “No, but I think she’s close.”
“Gran did a lot of volunteer work for the church and rehab center, but I didn’t think much about it. You do know how ridiculous it sounds that she came here to talk to Gran’s spirit, don’t you?”
“Yes, but evidently, your gran made quite an impression.” Dania glanced at Hayley. “Tell Brett what you told me. He can help.”
