Page 158 of Wild Card

“Jesus fuck.” I massage the back of my neck. “How’d she leave without being detected.”

“I went over today to do a walk-through. Willow in the habit of leaving her windows unlocked?” Max asks.

“No.”

“Didn’t think so. The living room window was unlocked and the screen tampered with.”

“We have her for the break-in.”

“Except she had a key.”

“Shit, the place belongs to Willow’s grandparents. It’s likely they all have a key, even though Willow lives there full-time.”

“There’s more. Received and reviewed the labs. Willow and Wolf had two different brands of peanut butter in their system. The contents of Willow’s stomach showed high volumes of aloe, psyllium husk, castor oil, mineral oil, and salt.”

“The contents of laxatives?” I vaguely remember the staff asking her about her medications and vitamins.

“Yeah, but they can be disguised as probiotics, natural or over-the-counter. They aren’t generally a red flag.”

“And Wolf?”

“Wolf’s labs showed all the same with the inclusion of macadamia nuts, cinnamon, and a sleeping agent. Which can be lethal to dogs. It’s enough to make him sick and pass out.”

“We weren’t in this place when Willow got sick. Her brother mentioned her craving peanut butter in the hospital. Likely her family knows, too. Meaning fucking months ago, Rylee broke in and contaminated Willow’s favorite food in an effort to make her sick. This time she came back to trash her place, steal a few things, destroy most of Willow’s wardrobe, and went after Wolf?”

“Her phone records show she’s in touch with resale sites online. She’s desperate to get cash. She’s also begging for Wynn to rethink his decision about their engagement, promising to pay him back.”

“She hawks some designer handbags and trinkets she steals from her sister, she had to know she’d get caught. What the fuck is her angle?”

“Working on that. We can always turn this over to your department and let them work through the details.”

While what we have is solid, there is a process. Pulling her in for questioning will tip her off and she’ll likely lawyer up. We need leverage.

I spear him with a glare that has the motherfucker gloating. “So, we don’t have shit to go on right now until she peddles Willow’s stolen stuff online?”

“We have the peanut butter.”

Ace’s search at Willow’s for any peanut butter came up empty. Rylee was smart enough not to leave anything behind. If they have something, it means they likely found it unlawfully. “Do I want to know how?”

“Not yet. It’s in processing.” Finn hands me a piece of paper. “Our independent lab is doing a comparison and collecting prints. Once the results match, we’ll reconvene.”

“How long?”

“Few hours, tops.”

My phone rings, Willow’s name popping up. “Babe?—”

“TAAAALLLLLLOOONNNN,” she wails, and every man goes on alert, hearing her through the line.

“Talk to me.” I switch to speaker.

“You aren’t… I can’t… It was awful…. He… She…“

“Lo, calm the fuck down and talk to me. What happened?”

“W-Wyatt begged me to pick him up after school so he could swim.”

“I know.” My blood goes glacial. If something happened to that little boy, someone will pay.

---