Chapter Sixteen
Back in the hotel room, JJ hadher laptop and Baz’s set up on the desk.She had a search running on his for any information on Juliet Prince’s adoption.Someone hadn’t wanted that information to be found based on how deep she had to dig.The fact that Holly had gotten as much information as she had proved that she was coming along in her training.
It made JJ proud.
But it wasn’t enough to acknowledge that Martin Calloway and Shawna had a child and gave her up for adoption.They needed to know more.Like who Shawna was and what happened to her.If they could find her, she would likely have a wealth of information to share.And if she was still a prostitute—probably old and withered at this point—it would likely only take money to get her to spill.
Unfortunately, JJ was having no luck finding the woman who had birthed that child.She’d found a social security number, but it appeared someone had stolen her identity at some point, so what she was finding didn’t appear to belong to Shawna at all.
Which meant she needed to dig deeper into Martin Calloway.
But not yet.
At the moment, she was manually sifting through the life of one Walter Gallagher, director of the Gallagher-Hightower Funeral Home.
It was an exciting life from what she could tell.Walter was divorced from wife #1—had been for six years—and in the process of getting a divorce from wife #2, whom he’d been married to for less than three.At seventy-two, it appeared good ol’ Walter had another future Mrs.Gallagher already picked out if his social media was anything to go by.
“You dog, you,” she muttered, tapping some keys to get into the really interesting part of his life: his finances.
It took a bit of creativity to cut through some firewalls, but JJ managed, as she usually did.And when she reached her final destination, she sat back and grinned.
“Pay dirt!”JJ thrummed her fingers on the desk.“Man oh man, Walter.You’re not only rollin’ in it—which explains the thirty-year-old girlfriend—but you’ve got your hand in some yucky, yucky pies.”
Grabbing her phone, JJ pulled up Baz’s number and dialed.
“Tell me you found something,” he said in greeting.
“I found something.”
“Is it gonna make this conversation enjoyable?”
JJ smiled.“I’d like to think so.”
She rattled off the details she’d unearthed as quickly as she could, not wanting to keep Baz from talking to the man.They only had so much time before visiting hours, and she knew he wanted to spend as much time with the babies as she did.
“That works,” Baz told her when she finished.“I’m gonna head in now and insist he talk to me.”
“Good luck.Call me when you’re done.”
“You can count on it.”
When the call disconnected, she stared at the screen, wondering how the hell so many crooked people could exist in the world.
“Once we’ve found Kylie, I think I might revisit you, Mr.Gallagher.You and Dr.Weaver.It’s high time you both made a considerable contribution to a worthy charity.”
Stretching her fingers, JJ settled in to do a little more digging.This time, she was going to go right for the devil himself.
When he disconnected the call with JJ, Baz got out of his truck and looked around.The parking lot of the funeral home was large enough to cater to big groups.There were a few spots up near the building marked for family, and a few that didn’t have a designation.He had opted for one of them.Based on how empty it was, he didn’t think it would be a problem.
He considered going in and pretending to be interested in a funeral package.But if he did that, he would likely have to talk to a salesperson, and he was interested in going directly to the top.A quick call a short while ago had told him that Walter Gallagher was in, so he hoped he didn’t get the run around.
Opening the door, he was greeted by soft music and a large open space.In front of him, at the far back of the building, he could see floor-to-ceiling, stained-glass windows through a set of large wood doors that were propped open.The room also had rows of pews sitting in front of a podium.
On his side of those doors was an enormous lobby with a few decorative chairs and tables on each side for people to sit should they need to.Off to the left, there was a desk currently occupied by a blonde with big blue eyes and a wide, friendly grin.
She got up from her seat and started toward him.“Good morning.My name’s Lacey.Can I help you?”
“I’m here to speak to Mr.Gallagher.”
