Ruben glanced from him to me. And then he focused on Jacob.
“We need the address. I’ll send a couple of guys to check it out ahead of time. And then the two of you,” he said, gesturing to me as well as Jacob, “will go at ten, and we’ll watch.”
“Okay,” I said almost eagerly.
“Don’t try anything,” Ruben said, pushing my shoulder as I started to turn. And then he was in my face. “If anything happens to Adrienne because you weren’t completely honest with me, you will suffer.”
His voice sort of squeaked on the last syllable. There was so much emotion in his voice. It was more than clear how deeply he felt about his daughter. But, the thing was, I felt the same way. If anything happened to Adrienne, I would never forgive myself.
I followed Jacob out of the office. The moment we were clear of prying eyes, Jacob grabbed my arm and dragged me into his office.
“There’s something wrong with all this.”
“I know.”
“Why would something between Lynn and I—”
“Because Lynn’s involved.”
Jacob’s face became a thundercloud. “What do you mean?”
“It was Lynn on the camera.”
“What camera?”
“Adrienne put a camera in my office to see if she could prove that someone’s been messing around with my computer. And she caught Lynn in there just after midnight.”
“Lynn was in your office? How the hell did she get into the building?”
“She’s your wife, Jacob,” I said, stepping back slightly and glancing over my shoulder, hoping Ruben was standing just outside the door. “The guards all know her; they all know her relationship to you. They would let her in.”
“What did she do in your office?”
I shrugged. “She left something on the desk.”
“What?”
I shook my head. “A note, I think. But it was gone.”
“Gone?”
“Jaime took it.” I straightened up even as I said it. “It was on the video. Jaime came into my office before dawn this morning, did something on the computer, and then took the note.”
Jacob turned away and dragged his fingers through his hair, pacing as he considered what I’d said.
“How do we know that Lynn being here has anything to do with what’s happening, then? Maybe the note was just that. A note.”
I nodded slowly. “But Adrienne saw something on the video—”
“Maybe Adrienne misunderstood what Lynn was doing.”
“I don’t think so. Adrienne knows her stuff.”
Jacob glanced at me. “I think you might be letting your feelings cloud your thinking.”
I shook my head. “Adrienne knows this case in and out. She would know if there was something relevant.”
I turned and checked the alcove outside our offices, looking for Ruben and his men. But they were all still in my office. I crossed to Jaime’s desk and began searching through it for whatever it was she’d taken. There was nothing obvious at first. But then, tucked into the back of a drawer, I found a small envelope with my name written across the outside in Lynn’s handwriting. I took it back to Jacob’s office and quickly tore it open.
Lucien, it began, I wanted to apologize for my behavior the other night. I never should have shown up at that restaurant the way I did. I don’t know what I was thinking. But I guess that I wasn’t thinking. I miss you and Jacob and everyone else, and I just… Well, there are no words for what I did. Thank you for your grace in handling the situation, and I apologize if I caused any trouble for you and your new girl.
It was signed simply with a large, cursive L.
I handed it to Jacob, who read it quickly and handed it back.
“Why didn’t she just leave it at the front desk or send it with a messenger?”
Jacob shrugged. “That’s not the way Lynn does things. She wants the personal touch. Maybe she was hoping the security guards would tell you she was here.”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t make sense. Lynn is sneaking around, Jaime’s hiding the note. And then Adrienne—”
“Whoever took Adrienne had to have known you were in San Antonio. That person had to have followed you there.”
“Then it couldn’t have been either Lynn or Jaime, because we left my place at a little after ten.”
“Did anyone else know you were going?”
“Just Adrienne and me. It was a last minute decision.”
“Then somebody was watching the house. Or followed you from Dad’s.”
I hadn’t thought of that. “I didn’t see anyone.”
“Doesn’t mean much.”
“The house is behind a gate. If someone had been sitting outside the gate, or if they had gone through the gate, the security guard would have noted them.”
Jacob began to nod enthusiastically. “He would have. Call him.”
I tugged my cellphone out of my pocket and dialed the security gate outside my housing community. When the phone was picked up, I simply asked if a strange car had been noted outside last night or if anyone had come through the gate between the time Adrienne and I arrived and when we left.
No one. Nothing.
So much for that.