“So, if you’re hiding anything from me…”
“How did you become a cop?” Jeffrey asked.
“For the last, god-damn time!” I growled. “I didn’t rape your daughter. I’m sick of your shit and hers. If you want to know the truth, go talk to Ellie. Other than that, you and I have nothing to say to each other unless it has to do with this case.”
I rose and headed for the door then stopped. Rummaging through my pocket, I walked over to the small desk in the room and set my business card beside a water glass. “If you think of anything that could help get this guy off the streets, give me a call.”
“About you and Ellie…”
“Talk to your daughter.” I grunted and stepped out of the room.
By then, the officer had been back and Grim was in deep conversation with the uniformed officer. Once I stepped through, Grim bid the man goodbye and jogged to catch up with me.
“So? What did you find out?’ Grim asked.
“The drugs Otis is after?”
“Yeah?”
“May no longer exist.”
“The hell you say!” Grim gripped my shoulder to stop my retreat. “What do you mean?”
“According to Jeffrey, there was an accident and the car went up in flames.” I reported.
“For his sake, I hope that’s not true.” He frowned as we continued out the door. “Because we at least need that shit to coax Otis out of hiding. If not, he’s going to keep coming unless we find some other way of getting his attention.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
We left the hospital, no closer to finding out where Otis was hiding. At the station, we checked the all person’s bulletin we had out on him. There were a few leads but nothing credible. The airports were on notice, but I had no faith they’d be able to stop Otis from leaving the country. There were a number of private jets in the state and it was impossible to cover them all.
I gave in and called Swede.
“What’s up?” Swede asked.
“You have a minute?”
Swede arched a brow. “Of course.”
I sat with Grim and together we went over the entire thing with Swede. By the end of the story, I was exhausted. Swede tapped away at his keys while all three of us threw clues and thoughts around about where Otis could be. Swede reached out to a contact in Colombia. According to Swede’s contact, Otis was still out of the country.
That was good and bad news.
At that point, Otis Valentina could be anywhere.
Someone knocked on my front door and I arched a brow. It was almost dinner time and I wasn’t expecting anyone. My brothers or parents would have called first, even if they called from the driveway. Grim tossed me a gun and I caught it then held it behind me as I went to the peephole. Ellie stood on the front porch while Maia leaned against the side of her Jeep, with her sunglasses on and ankles crossed. I rubbed my nose with my free hand as Ellie knocked again.
Irritation surged through me, but I put the gun away in the holster strapped around my thigh and opened the door.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I wanted to talk to you.” Ellie straightened her spine. “And since you’re not returning my calls, I figured this was the next best thing.”
“Does the doctors know you’re out?”
“I’m an adult—I signed out against doctor’s advice.”
I groaned. “Fine—come in. But I’m taking you back to the hospital. Maia, are you coming in?”
