Wes straightened. “And?”
Her eyes lifted to his. “I found a message from Thayer Holt’s sister.”
“What kind of message?”
“I don’t know yet.” Rowan swallowed hard. “I haven’t opened it.”
For a second neither of them moved. Then Wes looked at the laptop screen. The unread email remained unopened in the center.
Please read. It’s about my brother.
Wes looked back at Rowan. “You think she knows something?”
“I think she’s afraid,” Rowan murmured. “And I think whatever scared Thayer may have scared her too.”
CHAPTER 38
Just as Rowansaid those words, the floorboards creaked upstairs.
The house was waking up, she realized.
There were too many people. Too many ears.
She looked back at Wes. “Can we go somewhere else to talk?”
Understanding immediately crossed his expression.
A few minutes later they sat side by side on the front porch with coffee mugs warming their hands and her laptop open between them.
Rowan stared at the email on the screen.
Finally, she drew in a breath and clicked the email open.
Hi, Rowan,
You don’t know me, but I’m Thayer’s sister, Lauren. My brother gave me your number. I’ve tried calling once or twice, but I understand why you probably aren’t answering unknown numbers right now.
I don’t think my brother’s death was an accident.
Before he died, Thayer was acting strange. Nervous. Distracted. He told me there were things happening aroundthe current production he was working on that weren’t right. He never explained everything directly, but he mentioned Vince several times. He said Vince had information on people. Things he used to control them.
A day before he died, Thayer sent me several files and told me to keep them safe. I still have them. I looked at some of them. It’s bad, Rowan. Really bad.
I’m scared to send them electronically. Maybe that sounds paranoid, but after what happened to my brother, I don’t know who to trust anymore.
If you’re willing to talk, call me.
Please be careful. If someone killed my brother, they might kill you too if they think you know too much.
Lauren Holt
Her phone number was at the bottom.
Rowan read the message twice before looking away from the screen.
“Thayer confided in someone,” she murmured.
Wes nodded once. “That’s good.”
