Page 15 of The Negotiator

“I’m sorry, your name is?” Jake asked with a frown.

“Garrett.” He admired the other man’s stalling tactic. He dodged right around the question without trouble.

“I’m Jake, Carl’s brother.” Jake turned back to Lauren. He took a step, closing the gap between them. “I needed to come over and talk with you.”

Uh-huh.Garrett doubled back to the obvious question. “Again, how did you know where to look?”

Jake barely spared Garrett a glance. “The police told me.”

Not likely.Garrett filed that information away for later.

Lauren walked Jake over to the couch. “Sit.”

“Lauren...” Jake shook his head and he propped his elbows on his knees. “What happened to Carl?”

She sat down next to him. “I have no idea.”

Garrett watched their interaction. She delivered every move and every word like she always did—clear and uncomplicated. Jake stared at her, his gaze following her as if he were hanging on each word.

“I know the two of you fought earlier.”

She shook her head. “Jake, I didn’t—”

“Oh, I know.” He sat up straighter and slipped his hand over hers where it rested on her knee. “What I really was asking about was what happened to Carl out there, during those years he was gone.”

“He didn’t tell you?” She leaned back into the cushion, sliding her hand along her thigh and out of Jake’s hold.

It was a subtle move. Impressive. Whatever Jake felt for Lauren clearly wasn’t reciprocated. That’s all that mattered to Garrett. That and the answer to how far Jake would go to feed this obvious crush. The idea that he might have taken out his own brother to grab his wife was almost Shakespearean in its sickness.

“He wouldn’t talk. It was as if he thought he could pick up his life as though nothing happened.” Jake talked with his hands. “It didn’t make any sense.”

Lauren nodded. “I got that impression from him, too.”

“What about the girlfriend?” Garrett asked, cutting through the bullshit as quickly as possible. He knew his original evening plans were over thanks to the visit, but that didn’t mean he wanted to spend the night listening to this guy.

Jake’s gaze shot to Lauren and he winced. “Maybe we should—”

Lauren waved him off. “There’s no need to hide it. It’s not as if I don’t know about her.”

“Maryanne is here.” Jake glanced at his hands then back up at Lauren. “In town.”

That was interesting in a what-the-fuck kind of way. Garrett couldn’t believe the woman hadn’t skipped town, though she might have by now. If Lauren fell under suspicion, so would the other woman. “Were they still together?”

“No, he was clear he wanted Lauren back.”

“Sounds like someone needs to talk with Maryanne.” Garrett wanted that to happen before the woman wised up and ran.

Jake frowned at Garrett. “Why?”

“Right now she might be the only one with answers.” And Garrett wanted to know them as soon as possible.

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