I knew from interrogating suspects that responding with silence made people want to fill it. It felt strange being on the other side. It only took five seconds for me to cave. “Hear me out.”
He lifted the fork in his hand like a warning. “I’m listening.”
“I want to reach out to some of my old contacts and see if they know anything.”
His face stayed hard. “What kind of contacts?”
“People who keep their eyes and ears open.”
“You think they know something about the Knoxes?”
“Maybe,” I said. “Maybe not. But it’s a good place to start. My internet searches have been useless, not that I’m surprised.”
He studied me for a moment. “So, why do you want to go without me?”
“For one, you’re still not one hundred percent, but for another, some of them won’t talk if you’re there.”
“You think they’d shut their mouths because of me?”
I snorted. “Maybe one or two of them, but the others won’t talk to anyone but me.”
“You’re not going to Little Rock alone.”
“Are you planning to have one of Carter’s hired guys babysit me?” Like hell that was going to happen, but I planned to hear him out.
“Hell no,” he said derisively. “I’m going with you.”
I wasn’t surprised, but I shook my head. “No.”
His brows lifted. “No?” he asked incredulously.
“Hanging out in the car for twelve hours gave you a headache. And you want to do another three hours, round trip?”
“We won’t come back,” he said, turning back to the stove like that settled it.
“You mean we ditch this safe house? We just got here.”
“We should be in Little Rock anyway. The Knoxes won’t be looking for us there. Not yet.”
“You have a safe house in Little Rock?”
“No, we’ll stay in a hotel. Somewhere they won’t think to look.”
“Where?” I asked, skeptical.
He reached for the phone in his pocket. “Let me handle it. But don’t unpack anything. We’ll eat, then head out.”
I wasn’t sure he was ready, or that his plan was as solid as he thought, but at least we were finally doing something. And if I were honest, I was grateful I wasn’t doing it alone.
Chapter 5
I was sitting at the kitchen table, so I wasn’t eavesdropping. It was just impossible not to hear James’s side of the call. Carter clearly didn’t approve, and I half expected him to call me the second James hung up. Especially after James told him to get us a room in a nice hotel downtown for at least four nights, then followed it up with I’m the boss, saying he’d do it himself if Carter didn’t comply.
“Nice hotel?” I asked dubiously once James hung up after biting Carter’s head off. “Does he call this place nice?”
James scowled as he pierced one of the steaks in the skillet with his fork and slid it onto a plate. “I know what you’re thinkin’, but he knows I mean something with room service.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “We’re just gonna waltz into the lobby of someplace like The Capital Hotel?”
