I gave a slow nod. “Have you heard anything from the people watching Natalie? Does she have anything?”
He shook his head. “They say they haven’t heard her take any calls out of the ordinary. Of course, she could have emailed or texted.”
“We can’t hold out hope that she’ll come through.”
“No,” he said, his tone heavy. “We’ll need to figure out another way. I’ve been wracking my brain, but I haven’t come up with anything yet.” He paused. “Did you get any new information from your visit to the dancer?”
“She said she was going to get the video after work last night.”
“Do you think she’ll come through?”
I pushed out a sigh. “I think she’ll try. She’s legitimately concerned I won’t be able to get her charges dropped.” I held his gaze. “Are you sure you can do it?”
His gaze was steady. “If she comes through, and the guy in the footage is connected to someone in Knox’s organization, then they’ll be dropped.”
I wanted to ask more, but he looked beyond exhausted. I lifted a hand to his face, my fingertip tracing the dark circle under his left eye. “You need sleep, James.”
His gaze scanned over my face, settling on my lips. “I can sleep when this is over.”
“Bullshit. Are you forgetting our conversation last night about how your concussion could make you a liability?”
Fire filled his eyes, and he held my gaze. “I was just fine last night.”
“Maybe so, and I’m glad to hear it, but you still need rest. Even without a concussion.”
I knew he wanted to protest, but instead, he tugged me tighter. “I’ll take a nap. Then we’ll figure out what to do next.”
I planned to have him sleep longer than a nap but knew better than to tell him so. Instead, I snuggled into his side, his arm wrapped around me, and soon his breathing became slow and shallow. I drifted off to sleep soon afterward, wondering when I’d become a cuddler.
Chapter 26
I woke up around ten. James was still sound asleep, so I carefully slid out of bed and headed for the bathroom, taking my phone with me. I checked to see if I had any messages, hoping Dani had tried to contact me, but my only message was a text from Carter, sent around 5:30, letting me know James was headed back to the hotel.
I studied the text for a moment as it hit me that James had checked in with Carter but not me.
I wanted to be butt hurt over it, but they’d been working together for years. James and I had worked our first case together a little less than two months ago. Of course James would check in with him. They probably had a protocol.
I texted back:
James sent you the address for the girls’ house. Can you send it to me, along with anything you found?
About a minute later, he sent back:
Sent in an email. Maybe you’ll both let ME sleep now.
As I left the bathroom, I cast a glance at James, grateful he was still asleep. We’d left the curtains open, and even though the windows faced north, I was worried the light would disturb him, but thankfully, he was turned toward the wall.
I sat on the sofa with the laptop and saw an email from Carter titled Address. Emily and the other girls had been kept at a house in Little Rock. The house had been purchased three years ago by Harlan Properties, LLC. Harlan Properties was owned by Miles P. Harlan.
It didn’t come as a surprise that Knox didn’t directly own the house. The question was whether this Miles Harlan, if, indeed, he existed, was clueless or complicit.
His name seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place it. I hoped it would come to me as I continued my search.
It didn’t take me long to discover Miles Harlan likely wasn’t an upright citizen. He’d had numerous civil suits brought against him claiming deception and fraud, one of which was by an insurance company. But it was his criminal case that grabbed my attention.
Five years ago, the state of Arkansas had brought business fraud charges against Harlan Properties, LLC. But the charges had been dropped ten days later.
I pulled his arrest report and discovered he’d been investigated by the LRPD Financial Crimes division. The two investigating detectives were Mark Ellison and Roger Nelson.
