Page 68 of On the Chase
“Kaylee?” Noah sounded startled. “Is that really you? Where are you? Are you okay?”
“Yes, it’s me.” Her voice shook a little. Now that her indignation had faded, reality had returned and so had the tremor in her voice. Maybe she should ask the FBI agent to give her a wet willy or something so she could be startled into regaining her composure again. Rather than helping, the thought just made inappropriate giggles start to build in her lungs.
“Are you okay?” he asked again. “Where have you been? We all thought you were d— that something bad had happened to you. The cops have been here a bunch of times, asking about you. Why didn’t you call? Forget that, why didn’t you tell me you were leaving that night? Did I say something wrong? Did something happen?”
“I’m okay.” Noah’s babble eased a few of Grace’s nerves. He was normally so self-confident, so composed, and his flood of anxious questions made her hopeful that he wasn’t a bad guy—or at least not as bad as his uncle. “Something did happen that night.”
“What was it?”
Grace took a deep breath and flicked an unsure glance at Shankle, who gave her an encouraging nod. “How much do you know about Martin’s business?”
“What?” Noah sounded completely confused. “Uncle Martin’s business? What does that have to do with anything?”
“I’ll explain. I just need to know if you’re part of…” Grace attempted to think of a noninflammatory way to saytorture, but quickly gave up and rephrased the question. “Do you work for Martin?”
“No.” His answer was immediate. “You know that. I’m a mortgage broker.”
She did know that. He’d told her on their first date. What she didn’t know was if she believed him or not. “Do you know what Martin’s business involves?”
“Not really.” Noah sounded as if he was getting frustrated. “I know the basics, but his business is pretty diverse. He owns a couple of restaurants, some laundromats, a few apartment buildings. That’s all I can think of right now.” He made an impatient sound. “Why are we talking about Uncle Martin right now? Where have youbeen? I’ve been worried about you! And poor Penny…”
Grace stopped breathing. “What about Penny?”
“What?”
“You said ‘poor Penny.’ What did you mean? What’s happened to her?” As she spoke, her voice rose higher and higher until it broke on the last word.
“Nothing!” Noah said harshly, and then dragged in an audible breath. When he continued, he sounded more subdued. “Nothing happened to Penny, except that you disappeared and scared us both out of our minds. Penny’s fine. Worried, but fine. Whereareyou? Do you need me to come and get you?”
Despite the fact that his tone was filled with concern, his last question made Grace physically recoil. “No! I mean, no. I’m safe for now.” She gave Shankle a questioning look. He frowned and then held out his hand, turning it side to side.What does that mean?Grace wondered, staring at him. Widening her eyes, she made awhat-do-I-doface, and he lifted one shoulder in a shrug. Nice. It looked like it was up to her whether she spilled the beans to Noah. The more she talked to him, the more she thought he was telling the truth. He was too concerned about her, and his worry—even his frustration—seemed honest.
“Kaylee? Are you still there?”
“Yes.” Her fingers tapped on the table as she tried to think, to decide. For the hundredth time, she wished Hugh was there for moral support. She shook off the thought. With or without Hugh, she needed to get this done. If Noah really wasn’t connected with Martin’s business, he could help the FBI, give them information that might help convict the senior Jovanovic. If Noah was playing her, though, he already knew what she’d witnessed. Martin would’ve told him that she let those men out of that terrible room. She wouldn’t be giving away anything that he didn’t know.
There was a pause before Noah spoke again. “Talk to me, Kaylee. I’ve been so worried about you. I haven’t slept since you disappeared.”
The concern in his voice confirmed her decision. “I got lost on the way to the bathroom,” she blurted.
“O-kay,” he said slowly.
“I just started opening doors, trying to find the right one. One led down some stairs, and I was just about to shut the door when I heard someone call for help. I went down there, and… It was awful, Noah. There were three guys, tied to chairs, and they’d been tortured.” Her voice caught. Somehow, it was worse telling the story to the nephew of the torturer than it had been to share it with Hugh or Agent Shankle. “One was unconscious, and there was another who’d been beaten so badly that he didn’t even look human. Then there was one whose eye…” She couldn’t finish the thought. “It was awful. I cut them free, and they went one direction, and I left out a back door.”
“Kaylee.” There was so much horror and disbelief in that one word that tears sprang to her eyes. Was this going to be when he told her he didn’t believe her? That she was crazy? After all, the only witnesses were the men who’d escaped, and she didn’t even know their names. She’d asked Shankle about them, but he’d said the FBI didn’t have any information about their identity. “You think that Uncle Martin was involved in something like that? He’s a good man, Kaylee. I can’t believe you’d think that.”
“He grabbed me. When I was trying to leave, he grabbed me and dragged me back toward the house.” She didn’t need to see Shankle’s frown to know that she was telling the story all wrong. It was hard to stay reasonable and orderly when Noah sounded as if his uncle would never do anything wrong.
“I’m sure he was just trying to talk to you.” Noah’s soothing, patronizing tone put Grace’s teeth on edge. Oddly enough, though, the shot of irritation helped calm her slightly. Taking a breath, she let it out slowly and silently, using the pause to get her thoughts in order.
“No, Noah.” Her voice wasn’t even shaking anymore. In the back of her mind, she was proud about that. “He wasn’t. He isn’t a good guy. Do you know that he’s being investigated by the FBI?” Belatedly, she checked in with Shankle, unsure if she should’ve shared that information with Noah. The agent rolled his eyes, and she made an apologetic face, but he just made a “keep going” gesture. Grace hoped that meant she hadn’t just ruined years of the FBI’s work.
Noah was sputtering on the other end of the line. “What are you talking about? Uncle Martin? What kind of investigation? Is it because of those guys you saw? Because I’m sure you were mistaken. I can’t even conceive of my uncletorturingpeople.”
It was Grace’s turn to roll her eyes as she wondered what she’d ever found so entrancing about Noah Jovanovic. If he was telling the truth, then he had to be the most unobservant, naive person ever to walk the earth. If he was lying, if he was perfectly aware of all the bad things that Martin Jovanovic had done, and Noah had just accepted them, helped hide them… Grace’s stomach turned. It was hard to believe that she’d dated a monster. She hoped that Noah just had a huge blind spot when it came to his family.
“Noah, I saw it. I sawthem.” She tried to keep her tone even, but the tremor was back in her voice. The image of the men’s injuries, of the bloody, empty spot where the one’s eye had been, rose as vivid and clear as if she was back there, seeing them for the first time. Shankle reached over and gave her hand a quick squeeze before retreating to his side of the table. That contact, as short as it was, returned her to the present. “There’s no way to innocently explain this away. Martin is not a good guy. He’s never been a good guy. That FBI investigation started a long time before the dinner party. I tried to report what I saw, but Martin sent Logan Jovanovic after me at the police station.”
“Logan?” Disbelief was still thick in Noah’s voice, but she took slight comfort in the fact that he hadn’t hung up on her yet. After all, if he truly didn’t believe her, didn’t think in his heart of hearts that his uncle could do those terrible things, then he would’ve ended the call by now. “My weird cousin Logan? Are you sure? He’s kind of…awkward socially. He might have been trying to ask you out, and you just misunderstood.”
