Page 99 of Fatal Betrayal

"I'm fine with that. Right now, I just want to get us off the street. Our car is shot up. If we pass a police car, that won't look good. And while you can probably talk your way out of that kind of trouble, it will take time."

"Time we don't have," she agreed, her gut tightening as he got off the exit near their old neighborhood. "Fine. But we're only going to stay long enough to figure out our next move."

Ten minutes later, they pulled up in front of her old house. The day before, when she'd had lunch at his house, she'd tried very hard not to look at her former home, but now she had no choice. She got out of the car and went up to the porch. On the farthest side from the front door was a loose board under the rail. She squatted down, pulled it up, and was not surprised to find the spare key that her father had kept there forever. She took it out and opened the front door. Cooper followed her into the house.

"We need to get the car into the garage," he said.

They headed into the kitchen and down the steps to the garage. There was one vehicle in the garage, but the second spot was open. She hit the remote while Cooper got the car and drove it inside. Once the garage door was closed, they both returned to the kitchen.

She drew in a breath as she looked around the room. It had definitely changed over time. Her father's latest girlfriend clearly liked a modern look. Where there had once been cherry cabinets and warm stone-colored counters were white cabinets and white marble countertops. There was a fake bowl of fruit on the kitchen table, that felt absolutely perfect for a house with no soul.

"What are you thinking?" Cooper asked, studying her face.

"That I miss the old kitchen, where my mom and I used to do my homework. But then, there were also a lot of fights at that kitchen table. I think my parents were happy when I was really little, like four or five, but by the time I was eleven, my life was a war zone. I hated dinnertime. I was relieved when my father worked late. I preferred when only one of them was in the house. Now, neither of them is here, but I am, which feels weird. I don't think my father would be happy about it."

"He wanted you to come and get your boxes."

"That's true. I wonder where they are."

"Maybe your old room. Shall we see?"

"Not yet." She wasn't ready to go down that road. "I need to check in with Flynn, find out what's going on and let him know what we've learned."

As she spoke, Cooper opened the refrigerator, which was pretty bare, save for some condiments and drinks. However, the freezer was full.

"Food," Cooper said, a happy note in his voice, reminding her of how hungry he'd always been when he was a teenager. Apparently, that hadn't changed. "Do you mind if I heat up some pizzas? We never ate lunch, and it's almost four now."

"We said we were going to make this quick."

"We will, but we have to eat, and we have free food."

"Fine. Go for it." She sat down at the kitchen table and called Flynn while Cooper pulled things out of the freezer and preheated the oven.

It felt more than a little strange to be in her old house, her father's house, not hers, she reminded herself. But that was just semantics, because this was the home of her childhood and there were a lot of memories here, both good and bad.

Flynn answered, and she straightened in her chair, putting the phone on speaker so she wouldn’t have to recap for Cooper. "Did Kristine survive?" she asked first.

"She's alive, but she's in a coma. We haven't been able to talk to her. We have security on her room."

"Damn. I was hoping she told you something."

"I'm hoping you have something to tell me. There were reports of a shooting at an attorney's office with a man and a woman getting shot at as they ran to their car."

"That was us. When we were at the Baby Time Boutique earlier in the day, a woman told me about an adoption attorney they worked with, Sergio Molina. We went to his office. His admin, Ivy Sloan, said he'd left abruptly, and people were calling in upset about something. It turns out Ivy is dating Daniel Guerrero."

Flynn let out a whistle. "I didn’t see that coming."

"Before I could get more information out of her, Cooper spotted a van pulling up to the building. Two shooters came after us, probably the same ones who were at the safe house. We obviously managed to get away, but I don't know how they keep finding us so quickly."

"Your life is getting exciting," Flynn said dryly.

"Yes, but the clues are starting to come together, Flynn. The boutique, the attorney, Daniel, and Kristine. Those are at least some of the players. I think Agent Burnett had a role, too."

"But he's out of the operation. Someone else is calling the shots. The boutique is owned by Baby Time Enterprises, LLC. We're digging through the levels of paperwork to find the actual owner. Caitlyn and Nick canvassed the neighborhood and were told that two women ran the store: Veronica and Renee. They didn't know the last names. They said there were at least three or four other employees."

"Did anyone mention a girl named Natasha?"

"No. Her name didn't come up. Do you think she's involved?"

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