Which meant, when he got home, he got to work.
It was later when he got himself an electrolyte water, folded into a chair in his kitchen, his dog settling beside him, and he called Lee.
Fortunately, PIs didn’t keep normal business hours.
Unfortunately, Lee answered with, “Pick another marker.”
Every muscle in Hutch’s body tensed.
“Say again?”he demanded.
“Unless you’re gonna tell me you’re about to put a ring on this woman’s finger and protect her until the end of your days, you’re gonna have to pick another marker.”
If he thought Rus’s start was bad, this was inarguably worse.
“She’s a friend,” Hutch semi-lied.
“Not good enough.”
“And a neighbor.”
“Again, not good enough.”
Fuck.
Fuck!
Mabel had something to hide.
Or someone to hide from.
“And she means something to me.I’ve had her,” Hutch admitted.“The thing is, she lives down the road, next to an outfit that calls themselves The Lion and The Lamb.She got on their radar.And, Lee, the women who go into that compound never come out.Mabel’s gorgeous.She’s young.A woman with zero past, according to the Internet, would be a perfect candidate for a setup like that to make her disappear so she can cook their dinners and give them babies, neither at her will.”
“You got her back?”Lee asked.
The hell with that.
“Remember who you’re talking to,” Hutch growled.
There was silence.
Loaded silence.
“You don’t do it, Lee, I’ll find someone who will,” Hutch warned.“You know where I live, so I think you can envision where she does.She’s got a dog.I’m training her.She’s got motion lights on her house now and two Ring cameras that do not cover all her three acres.We’ve done what we can, but she’s exposed.She’s not a woman I can sit on.I gotta have everything I can get to keep her safe.”
“Mabel Adams is her fourth name.Legally.”
Hutch’s chin jerked back in shock at this news.
“She was born Calypso Rainbow Groove,” Lee told him.
“The fuck?”Hutch asked.
“You heard of Frank Groove?”
Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ.
