Page 58 of The Agent
Now, that panic arose when he imagined leaving Marley. He wanted to stay here with her. To help her renovate her house andgo to Sunday barbecues at her dad’s place. To make love to her every night and wake up next to her every morning.
“We shouldn’t talk about it right now.” Marley’s soft voice pulled him out of his disconcerting thoughts. “I don’t have the energy for it. I just want Patrick to be caught.”
Sliding open the steamed-up door, Marley got out of the shower, her body slick and rosy pink. Caleb quickly rinsed, then turned off the faucet. He was just getting out when Marley let out a squeak followed by an irritated curse.
“You okay?” he asked.
She hopped on one foot, holding the other one with a wet hand and rubbing her big toe. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just stubbed my toe on that loose tile again.”
He looked at the floor. One of the tiles had popped out of place, thanks to Marley’s foot.
“I definitely need to retile,” she grumbled, moving to the door and swiping a terry-cloth robe from the hook there.
Caleb continued to stare at the tile. Why had a tile in the middle of the floor come loose? Something wasn’t right. “I think…” Getting out of the shower, he bent down to the floor, dripping water all over the place. “There’s something here.”
He lifted the tile, squinting into the space beneath. Instead of the plywood that should have been there, someone had sawed out a jagged square, revealing the cavity beneath the sub-floor. A dark little hiding place. Slowly, Caleb stuck his hand in, feeling around until his fingers made contact with plastic. He gripped what felt like an envelope, using only his thumb and forefinger to pull it out.
“What is that?” Marley asked.
Caleb studied the envelope, which was enclosed in a clear plastic bag. It felt bulky, and when he gingerly removed it from the bag and lifted the flap, his breath caught in his throat.
Marley stepped closer, peering down at the envelope in his hands. She gasped. “Is that…money?”
He stared at the thick stacks of bills, four of them individually wrapped with elastic bands. All hundreds, and each stack had to contain at least fifty grand.
Dropping the flap, Caleb tucked the envelope back in the bag and stood up. “Well, I think we know why Patrick’s still in town,” he remarked with a sigh.
CHAPTER 14
MARLEY STOOD IN FRONTof the sliding door leading to her backyard and stared at the sparrows pecking at the seeds in her bird feeder. Male voices drifted in from the living room—Caleb was in there with Jamison and D’Amato, the two DEA agents who’d been posted outside during the night. They were discussing the money Caleb had discovered in the bathroom, and she preferred not to be there for that.
She still couldn’t believe it. Patrick had stashed two hundred thousand dollars under her floor. She’d probably walked over that spot hundreds of times in the past few months, completely oblivious to what lay below. The thought that her bathroom floor had been housing Patrick’s drug money for so long made her want to cry.
Caleb was certain Patrick would come back for the money. It was probably the only reason he hadn’t fled the city earlier. He had to know by now that their bank account had been frozen. Caleb told her that the bank wouldn’t authorize any transfersoutof the account.
Patrick must be pretty desperate by now, she thought, her stomach churning. She grew even more uneasy when her cell phone vibrated in her purse, which sat on the kitchen counter. It was probably Gwen, or maybe her brother or her dad, whose calls she’d been avoiding since last night. Her best friend and family had no idea what had happened yesterday—finding Lydia White tied up in her bedroom, discovering Patrick’s drug money.
She hadn’t called because she didn’t want to scare them any further. Patrick’s stunt at the hospital already had everyone on edge.
She fished the phone out of her bag, sighing when she saw her dad’s number flashing on the screen. This was his third call in the past hour. If she continued to not pick up, he and Sam would probably drive over in a panic. That was one scene she wouldn’t mind avoiding.
“Hey, Dad,” she said as she pressed the talk button.
“Hey, sweet pea.”
Shock slammed into her like a baseball bat, sucking the oxygen right out of her lungs.
“Don’t say my name,” Patrick added swiftly. “Are you alone?”
Her fingers shook against the phone. “Y-yes.”
“Good. If anyone comes in, you’re talking to your father.”
She choked down the hard lump of terror obstructing her throat. “Why are you calling from this number?”
“Because I’m having a nice little visit with your father,” Patrick answered in a pleasant voice. “Sammy’s here, too, but I’m afraid I had to knock him out. He was being very difficult.”
A chill rushed over her. “Don’t you dare hurt either one of them.”
