Page 61 of Wicked and Ruthless

“Did Caitlyn mention seeing the janitor that night?”

“She did. When she came out of the bathroom, the hallway was roped off to traffic from the stragglers in the food court. As soon as she walked out, he disappeared inside the ladies’ room, leaving her alone in the hall.”

“So the janitor couldn’t have seen anything?” Haisley frowned. “But does that mean he didn’t know anything?”

“Great question. Since we haven’t talked to him, I don’t know, but my assumption is he must have some idea what’s going on. How much is the question. Him disappearing into the women’s room gives him plausible deniability, but with the frequency of women sighting him just before someone grabs them from behind? I’m not buying it.”

“I’m not sure I do, either. In fact, it seems to me that he could have been the one to clean up after Caitlyn’s failed abduction. Who else could it be?”

“Right. It was almost closing time, and not that many other people were around. It’s possible someone else was waiting to mop up, but Caitlyn didn’t remember seeing another mall employee in the area.”

“So what are our next steps?”

“Is Benedict here?”

Haisley sent him a reluctant nod. “He’s been holed up in his office all afternoon. But something pissed him off earlier today, because I’ve heard him shouting way more than usual. I can’t tell what he’s saying, even when I tried to loiter outside his office. But whatever’s going on, he’s furious.”

“I only know of him what I can glean from a few brief interactions. What does your gut say?”

“You mean, is he involved? We talked about this once, but I’m thinking it’s a strong maybe. I’m a little worried I’m biased because he’s such a dick to work for, but logically, I can’t rule out him being involved.”

“I’m wondering if he’s knee-deep in it, too.”

What a crazy, tangled mess. “Where do we go from here?”

“We’re only seeing part of the picture. Yesterday, Ethan said he snagged a new lead and wanted to follow— Hey!”

Haisley looked up to find Ethan Garrison in the doorway with mussed dark hair, a five o’clock shadow, and ink strategically placed to drive women wild. Oddly, she wasn’t affected, but she knew that everywhere he went, women flocked to him.

“Hey.” Ethan entered and shut the door behind him, then settled into the seat next to her, bumping her shoulder. “Hey, beautiful.”

“Back the fuck off,” Nash growled, his posture threatening to come across the table.

Was he jealous? Of Ethan? He didn’t need to be, but if he was…

Hiding a grin, she bumped his shoulder back. “Hey, yourself. What’s up?”

He looked down at his lap, then back up with a sly grin. “You wanna see?”

Nash slammed his fist on the table. “This is a fucking office building, and we’re here to do a job. Haisley asked for professionalism, and we’re going to give it to her or I’ll smash in your fucking face.”

Whoa. He wasn’t even trying to hide his pissed-off. Maybe she should downshift on the fake flirting.

“Sure you will,” Ethan tossed back with a sparkle in his eye. “But if you want professional, beautiful, I got you. Besides, we have a lot to cover.”

“Tell us,” she insisted, glad he’d backed down.

“Well, I had a gym buddy who’s also a Lafayette PD officer. He was trickling information my way…until he suddenly clammed up. Apparently top brass threatened anyone who leaked a word. So that’s interesting and noteworthy.”

Yes, and probably Mr. Benedict’s doing somehow. He had money, and he had influence. He’d proven he had no trouble using it to protect his interests.

“Damn it,” Nash muttered.

“Exactly, so I bailed to Plan B. I started chatting up the mall manager’s assistant yesterday. Well, former mall manager. Cute little thing named Julia. I flirted, and she wasn’t paying attention when I slipped her boss’s office key off her desk and into my pocket.”

“How did she miss that?” Haisley couldn’t picture a scenario in which the assistant had been flirting so hard that she’d completely failed to notice Ethan swiping something important.

Garrison grinned. “She was too busy screaming into my shirt because I had my hand in her little black panties.”

---