Page 220 of Cowboys & Navy SEALs

“Great! We’re no closer to finding out who’s behind this than we were before,” Addie spouted.

“Not necessarily. While John Wilson didn’t know the identity of the person who contacted him, he was paid half his fee up front. Get this, the payment was deposited electronically into his bank account.”

“That was stupid. I thought most criminals demanded their money in cash, so it couldn’t be traced.”

He grunted a laugh. “Yeah, you’d think so. I guess Wilson never expected to get caught, and he certainly didn’t anticipate being interrogated by Sutton’s …” he hesitated “… experts.”

“You mean torture specialists,” she said dourly.

“I don’t know what kind of sordid picture you’re conjuring up in your mind, but there are various ways to extract information other than torture, such as truth serum, emotional threats…” a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth “…being dropped in the middle of a foreign country with no money or ID.”

She chuckled dryly. “Call it what you will, but it’s still a version of torture.”

“Hey, don’t knock it. Sutton got us the info we need. Before it landed in Wilson’s account, the money ran through a series of accounts, but Sutton’s IT guys were able to track it to an offshore account owned by Barrett Medical.”

She pursed her lips. “That fits with what Piper said.”

“Yes, it does.”

She flashed a chipper smile. “I told you Piper was on the up-and-up.”

“So far.”

She stuck out her tongue.

“Careful, or I might have to kiss you again,” he murmured, quite pleased with himself when her face turned scarlet. He couldn’t get that kiss they’d had this morning off his mind. After they got back to the cabin this evening, he hoped to finagle another one.

“You really are a moron,” she muttered.

“But a very lovable moron, right?” He gave her a goofy grin.

She laughed and shook her head. “Yeah, sometimes.”

“Okay, back to the serious stuff. The jewelry came up clean.”

“I guess we can check that off the list.” Addie lifted a finger from the steering wheel. “There’s still the bracelet, but if the other jewelry came up clean?—”

“Chances are the bracelet will too,” Maddox finished.

“Exactly.” She hesitated, her lips forming a grim line. “Now for the million-dollar-question. Did Wilson kill Jordan?”

“He claims he didn’t.”

“Does Sutton believe him?”

He tried to think of a way to respond delicately to her question. “Sutton’s interrogators are thorough. I think it’s safe to say that we can bank on the information they gave us.”

“All right,” she finally said, but he could tell from her tight expression that the idea of interrogation didn’t sit well with her. It didn’t sit well with him either, but it was a hard fact of life. Better to interrogate the guilty than to let the innocent suffer.

“Sutton sent a team of investigators to New Jersey to check out Piper and Jordan’s facility. They’ll interview the employees, see if anything unusual turns up.”

She frowned. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”

“No stone unturned, remember?”

Disapproval coated her voice. “Need I remind you that Piper’s my closest friend? I don’t want her to think I’m checking up on her.”

He tensed. “Need I remind you that my job is to protect you? To do that effectively, I need to know all the angles.”

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