He had to get her into bed to sleep, as soon as they finished this debriefing. “Anything else?”
“They’re still looking at Candy’s current boyfriend, Brett Sawyer, who’s an investment banker. He doesn’t have an alibi for the time they think Candy was taken, and supposedly a neighbor heard them arguing a few days before that.” Dana scrubbed both hands down her face. “I find his involvement doubtful. I figure this is bigger than a domestic dispute. Not that domestic disputes aren’t big, but you know what I mean.”
Wolfe nodded. “I do. This feels less personal and more businesslike, for some reason. But we should check out Brett, anyway.”
“Agreed. Let’s do that tomorrow.” She sat back, partially turning toward him. “What did you discover?”
He tapped his fingers on the Captive membership list. “I’m about a quarter through members and haven’t found much of interest, yet.” Leaning to the side, he tugged another list his way. “I’ve done a breakdown of the caterer and entertainment for the night, and we’ll research the employees and talk to the owners of the club soon. So far, I haven’t found the woman who served us the drinks, or how she relates to Frank Spanek and ultimately Albert Nelson. It has to all be connected, and my guess it all stems from Candy’s story and her disappearance. It makes more sense that way.” He’d looked up pictures of everyone he’d researched so far, using social media.
“Do you remember what the woman who drugged us looked like?” Dana asked.
“Kind of.” The woman had dark hair, blue eyes, and light skin, but the mask had covered a lot of her face. “The hair may have been a wig, but I think I’d recognize her eyes if I saw her again.” More memories were coming back to him all the time. “I’ll need another day or even two to finish researching both lists.” There were some high-up government employees on the membership list that he’d need to be careful in approaching.
“All right.” She pushed the chart out of the way and tugged the two case files closer. “There’s some good stuff in here.”
Wolfe closed his laptop. “Like what?”
“The police were investigating both Albert Nelson and Frank Spanek for distribution of heroin, but couldn’t find enough to make charges stick,” Dana said.
Wolfe went cold. His throat closed. “Heroin? When?”
“The police started investigating the two men a couple of years ago, and from these files, it looks like the investigation heated up around three months ago,” Dana said, pulling out another notebook and not catching his tension.
Three months ago. “Are you sure it was heroin? How did they know? What kind of evidence did they have?” Wolfe rapid-fired the questions at her, simultaneously reaching for the police case files.
She paused and turned toward him. “What’s going on?”
Serena pivoted. “Did you say heroin?”
“Yeah.” Wolfe’s pulse started to beat too fast, and he took a deep breath to control his body. “Why?”
Serena looked up at the ceiling as she thought. Ignoring him, she turned back to the papers, muttering under her breath and tapping her foot.
One issue at a time. Wolfe flipped open the first case file, his skin suddenly feeling too tight. The timeline fit with Rock’s drug dealings as well as his possible connection to Albert Nelson, but if the police had been investigating Nelson and Spanek for years, they probably had many enemies in the drug trade. Even so, Rock was getting closer, he could just feel it.
“Wolfe?” Dana asked, placing her hand over the page he was reading. “What is happening?”
Too much was happening. A boulder dropped into his gut with a force he felt to his toes. What had he been thinking sleeping with Dana? All of a sudden, the world came unexpectedly falling down. What if Rock had been working with Nelson and Spanek? Had he now put Dana on Rock’s radar? Although Rock would never go for a drugging. It wasn’t his style. Even so, a cold sweat broke out on Wolfe’s forehead, and his chest tightened.
“Hey.” Dana leaned toward him, somehow sounding far away. “You okay? You just got really pale.”
Was he having a heart attack? Wait a minute. No. This was a fucking panic attack. He hadn’t had one in so long that he almost didn’t recognize the signs. It was out of the blue, like usual, and he couldn’t stop it. He dropped his head into his hands, gasping for breath.
Fur instantly pressed up between his palms, and a rough tongue licked his chin.
His chest shuddered, and he pressed his face to the dog’s fur, sucking in air.Calm. Be calm. It’s all right.He ran the litany through his head, finding comfort in the animal, his legs shaking as he slowly came down. An instant headache blasted him between the eyes, and he winced, willing it away.
Roscoe sat patiently, steady next to him, offering support.
Heat roared into Wolfe’s face as reality returned, leaving him hollow. He wanted to crawl under the table with the animal, but that wasn’t how he faced life. He lifted his head, even though it weighed about fifty pounds. “I’m sorry.”
Dana reached over and kneaded the back of his neck, her eyes soft and concerned. “Take a deep breath. It’s okay.”
Her touch soothed him, easing the pain exploding through his head. Even his ears heated. Talk about losing control in front of people he’d just met. He looked over to apologize to Serena, but she was facing her board, moving back and forth, and muttering a bunch of science-sounding words to herself.
Dana leaned in, her mouth close to his ear. “She didn’t even turn around. I’m not sure she knows we’re in the same universe with her. I like how completely she focuses, don’t you?”
Yeah. Especially right now, since the woman hadn’t seen his breakdown. If only Dana hadn’t seen it either. “I haven’t had a panic attack in ages,” he whispered. “I don’t know what happened, and it definitely won’t happen again.” Well, it probably would, but hopefully he’d be alone next time. Yet another reason why he shouldn’t enter into a relationship, even if he wasn’t about to battle to the death.
