Page 60 of Shattered Dreams

Baby jumps out of the truck and immediately lifts a leg against the building. Zane might not like it, but I’ll need to let her have five minutes so she can eat and gulp down some water. We’ve been gone half the day and she hasn’t complained. I should leave her here, but if we get a bead on where Jerricka’slake cabin is, we’ll hit the road, and I don’t work cases without my dog.

I use the bathroom too, brew two disposable cups of coffee while Baby chomps her kibble and attacks her water dish, and I almost forget Mallory’s watch in the safe. Feeling the tension, Baby knows we’re in a hurry, and though I know she could have used another ten minutes, she comes when I call. I approach the truck, the headlights blinding, my hands full. Zane’s impatiently tapping his fingers against the steering wheel and he leans over and opens the door.

“Thanks,” he says and shoves the cup I give him into a holder between our seats. I let Baby into the backseat and we’re racing across the parking lot before I can latch my seatbelt.

“Do you know where this guy lives?”

“I looked him up while you were inside. He’s got a nice spread in Rose Valley.”

Rose Valley is an enclave where some of the richest people of King’s Crossing like to cluster. It’s not that far from where Polly Donnelly lives.

“Is he going to be home on a Saturday night?”

“He wasn’t, but he should be by the time we get there. I called his cell and told him a druggie attempting a B & E tripped his security system and the police needed to talk to him.”

I huff a laugh. “You impersonated a cop?”

“Stella’s taught me a thing or two.”

“Nice. She gonna be mad she’s not with us?”

“She started her own digging, trying to find out where Jerricka’s lake house is located. She’ll be smart—she won’t hide Zarah on property that’s listed under her name. That’s too easy to find. Like anything the Blacks ever did, she’ll operate out of an LLC. Stella’s good on a computer. Mel taught her a lot.”

Dr. Stephen Mallory’s house is the brightest mini-mansion on the block, all the lights ablaze. Zane parks in front of a three-stall garage that’s attached to a three-story house. It’s not that much different from Zane’s own house, and I wonder if Mallory has a pool and tennis courts in his backyard like all rich people seem to think you need.

Zane pounds on the front door, his breath blowing out in a white stream illuminated by the porch light.

The door flies open and the entryway frames a harried Dr. Mallory. “It’s about time you fuckers—” He stops and gapes. “You’re not cops.”

“No, we’re not, but we need to talk to you anyway,” Zane says, pushing his way past the flustered doctor who can’t seem to find his tongue.

Baby approaches Mallory and presses her nose into his crotch. She likes him. That’s interesting. “Baby,” I admonish, and whining guiltily, she moves her nose away from the guy’s nuts. “She won’t hurt you.”Unless I want her to.The threat is implied, and he backs away, swallowing nervously.

Tearing his gaze away from my fluffy death weapon and zeroing in on Zane, Mallory spits, “Maddox, what do you want?”

“It’s not whatIwant, it’s whatyouwant. I have something that belongs to you.”

“There is nothing you have that I could possibly want. Is all this fuss and commotion warranted? Don’t we have a meeting scheduled later this week? Didyoucall me?”

“Invite us in, Mallory.”

He sniffs. “I’m sure you’ll do whatever you want. You always have.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Closing Quiet Meadows was an atrocity that did not need to happen. Simply discharging your sister would have been quite adequate.”

“Nothing will give Zarah back the five years she spent in that hellhole.” Without the invitation, Zane steps deeper into a widefoyer and I follow. There’s no indication which way could lead to a living room, a study, or a library, anywhere we can sit and have a conversation, and Mallory isn’t too keen on letting us too far inside.

We stand and drip water onto the tile.

“Hundreds of patients need care that’s unavailable to them now. What do you want? I was at a fundraiser when you called me. Unnecessarily, I might add.”

“You were engaged to Jerricka Solis,” I say to keep us on track.

“I was, yes. Is she all right?”

“She brought my sister to her lake house, and we need to know where that is.”

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