Page 76 of Forbidden Need

Deliberately dropping her purse at the doorjamb, she wandered in without invitation. Wasn’t a big space. A control desk, a few screens and a TV on the left-hand wall. How many security infractions could there be while the guard was watching the game instead of doing their job?

“We’re all sorry about Henry; he was a good guy. No one wanted him hurt.”

“Someone did.” She landed another smile on him. “Were you working that night?”

A question she already knew the answer to, a control question, if you will. A chance for him to tell the truth first.

“No, not me.”

“Who was on?”

“Sneddon.”

“Is he on today?”

“No, he hasn’t been back. A PTSD thing.”

She nodded like she understood, but seriously? What had the guy seen that traumatized him? Nothing if she trusted his statement to the police, which she didn’t.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Is he okay? Have you spoken to him?”

“Me and him weren’t that tight, he seemed kinda…”

Her brows rose, hoping to encourage him. “Kind of what?”

“He hadn’t been around long, wasn’t sure he was cut out for the gig.”

“What makes you say that?” Backing up, she perched herself on the control desk. Sensing his reluctance, she laughed. “You know who I’m seeing, right? Who I sleep next to every night?” Immediately, a flash of panicked fear crossed his face. Leaning over, she rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I keep bigger secrets than your casual opinion on a colleague’s character. Sometimes there are things the cops don’t need to know. If you made that judgment, I support you. Nothing you say here will get you in trouble with the cops.”

“Cocky, without the goods to back it up. Sometimes Sneddon was… flashy, you know, with cash. I don’t know his past or anything, but a guy who sits in this chair all night isn’t doing it ‘cause he likes staying up in the dark.”

“Why is he doing it?”

“Because he needs the regular paycheck and he has professional pride, means a lot to me, this job…” He faltered. “Or it did.”

“Did Sneddon come from a rich family?”

“I don’t know.” Horton shrugged. “But he wasn’t always flush with cash. Some days he was flashing it around, next day he’d be bumming smokes and sweet-talking Lupe into giving him food.”

“Lupe?”

“Housekeeper. She was with Henry a decade or something. This hit her really hard.”

“Yeah, I think I remember her.”

God, it was disgraceful, how little they knew about each other’s day-to-day lives. Did she remember Lupe? Someone served coffee whenever she was over. Would she recognize the person? Was it the same person every time? Shit, she had no idea. The McLeods only ventured into each other’s homes for a reason. Any big event, they reserved a table and ate out. Who were her family? They didn’t know each other at all. She’d hidden a relationship, her brother lost one with a woman she barely knew, and her father was cavorting with gangsters… Okay, so she could be tarred with that brush too, but her cavorting didn’t hurt anyone… not as such.

“She hasn’t come back since that first day after. She was just broken up.”

“Were they close?”

Another shrug. “Dunno. We spend most of our time down here. No cameras in Henry’s room or in hers.”

That raised her chin. “Her room? She has a room here?”

“Yeah, but only stayed in it sometimes. If there was something happening or she had to be around in the night. Henry said he had all this space and nothing to do with it, so… Woman spent more time here than anyone.”

Huh.

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