She recites her number and then pushes open the door and climbs out.
I briefly consider grabbing her arm, pulling her back in to taste the last of the whiskey and Coke in her mouth, but I resist because I know where that’ll lead and I do need to go. “Get some sleep. I’ll come back in the morning,” I call out, watching her saunter up to the house with her duffel bag slung over her shoulder. The door opens and a pretty woman with long dark hair and tan skin appears in nothing but a nightshirt. She’s smiling wide, like she’s not at all bothered by the late arrival.
I wait until the door is closed, send her a quick generic “sleep well” text so she has my number, and then pull away.
Bentley answers the phone with a gruff, “Yeah?”
“You sent those fuckers into her house!”
There’s a pause and then I hear rustling on the other end, followed by a muffled, “It’s not even five in the morning, John. Who’s calling?”
“It’s okay. It’s work.”
“What phone is that? That’s not your iPhone, is it?”
“Go back to sleep, Tuuli.” He heaves a sigh. Footfalls sound, and I can picture him trudging down the long hall to his office. Not until a door shuts does he speak again. “I warned you, didn’t I?”
“You said tomorrow, and you didn’t say anything about going into her house.”
“I changed my mind and had them go in to do a final sweep tonight. Figured we had to be sure.”
“That wasn’t a sweep, John. They ransacked it.”
“So the police will file a report and she’ll claim insurance. Not a big deal.”
I grit my teeth against the urge to yell. “You also said they’d stay away from me. One of those assholes was ten feet away from me tonight. He followed her to the club.”
“Did he approach you?”
“No, but—”
“Then he followed orders and there’s nothing to discuss here, so stand down!” Bentley doesn’t like being questioned, and he’s not used to it coming from me.
“Don’t you think turning over a recently murdered man’s house will raise suspicions?”
“Maybe, but no one will have anything to go on and it’ll die down soon enough. It’s worth it, if it means finding that tape.”
“And did they?” I already know the answer, because I already searched the fucking house!
A long pause. “No.”
“Keep them away from me. And her. If she has the tape, she doesn’t know.”
“How do you—”
“Because I’m good at what I do. I can read people, and I know that she had no fucking clue why anyone would want to bust into her place tonight. If she were hiding a tape that got her uncle killed, she’d be freaking out and running. And now the cops have turned their attention to her, and they’re already starting to ask questions that tie back to her uncle.”
A quiet “shit” slips out of Bentley’s mouth.
Seriously, what did he think was going to happen when he told those guys to tail us? They’d already acted beyond the scope of his orders before. Stupid amateur move, Bentley.
“Just . . .” He sighs. “Keep an eye on her. You’re right. We don’t want her turning up dead right now.”
“Or ever.”
“Right.”
“And your guys?”
“They’ll stay away from you.” He’s awful quick to say that.
“If I see them again—”
“Just find that fucking video and everyone will be happy and safe,” Bentley snaps.