He studied her for a minute, then ran a finger along the side of his nose. “I dabble in real estate.”
“Beyond radio stations?”
“Yes. I have interests in various properties.”
“In Providence?”
“No. They’re kind of scattered.”
“Then you have to travel.”
“No. I have people to do the traveling. I keep in touch with them by phone.”
“It sounds like you do a little more than dabble.”
His answer was a negligible shrug.
She took that in. On the one hand, he had such a rugged, woodsy look that it was hard to imagine him as a real-estate mogul. On the other hand, he exuded power, and in that sense, she believed he could rival Donald Trump.
“When do you sleep?” she asked.
“When I’m tired.”
“Aren’t you now? You couldn’t have slept much after work.”
“I don’t need more than a few hours at a time. I’ll sleep later.” He nodded toward the papers he had brought. “Want me to go through one envelope while you do the other? It would save you some time.”
Savannah felt a rush of pleasure. With Jared wading through half the records, she would be done in half the time. More importantly, if he helped, he would stay with her a bit longer. She wasn’t sure of the long-range wisdom of that, but in the short run, it was appealing. He was a stimulating companion. Everything about him, from his sandy hair to the solid breadth of his chest, from the way his jeans fit in the vicinity of his hips to the faint scent of leather that clung to him—everything about him absorbed her. She knew it was an absurd time to be excited by a man, but the excitement was an antidote to all else she was feeling. He was her talisman, warding off headaches and chills, and in that sense, he was helping far more than he knew.
The phone rang again. This time it was Janie saying that Susan was on the line. Savannah immediately took the call.
“Suse?”
“I think you should come back here, Savvy. Will is on the verge of breaking. He’s convinced, absolutely convinced, that Megan’s been mistreated. He’s talking about taking a gun when he goes to drop off the money tonight.”
“But he won’t be seeing anyone. He’ll be dropping the money and leaving.”
“He says he’s going to stay.”
“He can’t do that. He’ll either get himself killed or blow the whole thing.”
“I’ve told him that, Sam has told him that, Hank has told him that, but he doesn’t believe us. I think you should get over here, and bring Paul.”
“Paul’s out of state. But I’ll be over. Keep Will calm until I get there.”
Heart pounding, she hung up the phone. She was so lost in thoughts of Will and Megan that Jared’s deep voice startled her.
“You heard from the kidnappers, I take it.”
Her head came up fast. “This morning.” It never once occurred to her not to tell him. “The exchange is set for tonight, but Will’s having a rough time of it. He’s sure that Megan’s been hurt. Susan thinks I should go over, and I will, but I’m not sure what good I can do. I can’t assure him Megan hasn’t been hurt. All any of us can do is to pray she’s all right.” She looked down at the papers Jared had brought. “I’ll have to go through these later.”
“I’ll go through them.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know I don’t have to, but I’d like to. It’s my radio station that may have something to do with your kidnapping.”
“It’s such a long shot—”
