“How?” My entire body tensed. That wasn’t possible. What was I saying? With her it seemed everything was a possibility.
“The doors were locked, but one of the men noticed her racing from the backyard.” Jarvis was enjoying himself at my expense. Tolerating disrespect was something I couldn’t endure. Yet he was a friend, someone who’d stayed by my side when I’d decided to venture out on my own. That didn’t mean his insolence didn’t piss me off more than usual. Why?
Because I’d managed even in my carefulness to allow a beautiful woman to get to me. In the brief time I’d known her, she’d found an unfathomable way of prickling my conscience, something not even my parents had caused me to do.
“Looks like you have your hands full.” Sinclair was also highly amused. It would appear everyone was enjoying my hardship at the hands of a woman.
“Find out what you can about Catherine Devereaux. I need to know what she’s made of.” I headed for the door. “And find out what our associates have to say about my arrest and our father’s murder.”
Orders had been given. Before I made it out the door, they were already preparing to leave.
I’d know many women in my life, but Catherine took the cake.
My warning hadn’t been powerful enough. She needed a stronger version of the sense of consequences.
“I’ll handle it.” After thumping down my drink, I yanked off my jacket, loosened my tie, and rolled up my sleeves.
If she wanted to play games, then we’d play.
I never lost.
“Before you go.” Jarvis stopped me. “You should know something else.”
“Be quick with whatever the hell it is.”
“Remember Randy?”
“The little thief. Yeah, what about him?”
Jarvis lifted a single eyebrow. “He found Bobby for us.” He took out his cellphone, pulling up a picture. “Take a look at this.”
While the photograph had been taken in a dingy shithole with nothing but a fluorescent bulb stuck in the ceiling, I could still make out the needle stuck in his arm.
“Goddamn drugs.”
“Take a close look.”
“Need I remind you that there’s a woman I just kidnapped seeking assistance in trying to convict my ass all the way to the electric chair.”
“Testy today,” he teased. “Take another look. I know a staged event when I see one. Besides, if what Randy says is true, Bobby came from the right side of the tracks.”
He was right in that the scene appeared a little too perfect, as if preparing for a scene in a movie. “Kids OD.”
“I’m just saying it’s another coincidence.”
“Maybe so. Right now, it’s last on my list.” Although it would stick in the back of my mind. If the Russos knew the kid had said anything, they’d ensure he didn’t talk again.
I rushed into the library with Jarvis and two other men following me. She hadn’t broken a window, nor had she managed to unlock the set of doors leading out to the patio. The glass was bullet- and tamper-proof in panes of the French doors, the lock impenetrable as the majority of the house was given the recent renovations.
But not all.
I’d yet to tackle windows that would have nearly impossible ingress and egress possibilities. I took the spiral steps two at a time, eyeing the loft space before my eyes settled on how she’d accomplished the feat. She’d moved the table toward one of the windows, obviously crawling on top. Given she wasn’t very tall, her fingers would have barely touched the windowsill. That meant she’d needed to climb to the ledge, crawling outside from there.
The evidence was clear with the window still being open. Who the hell was this woman? A gymnast on top of being a world class prosecutor?
“Jesus, boss. That took agility,” Jarvis said as he peered up at the open space.
“And guts. Have the men go through the property. If you find her, let me know. I’ll handle her from there.” I was pissed, but Ialso admired her spunk. Her defiance made my balls tighten just thinking about her refusal to obey my command.
