Page 24 of The Negotiator

“And the part about you being in on the lie about Carl’s death?” Garrett asked.

“That’s a fucking lie.” Bob looked from Garrett then up at Matthias. “It is.”

She was more convinced than ever that Maryanne had told the truth, at least on that point. “Maryanne confirmed it.”

“The chick Carl ran away with?” Bob snorted. “She’s a—”

“Careful.” Lauren knew some insulting word was going to come out of his stupid mouth and she shut that down. She hated that argument trick. The game where people went after a woman’s looks or sexual activity to score points. It was derailing and insulting. Neither of those things were Bob’s business and neither had any relationship to Maryanne’s ability to tell the truth about the fraud.

Bob made an odd choking sound. “What, she’s your friend now?”

“You can describe her, talk about her, without calling her names.” That was Lauren’s one rule. She likely had others, but she absolutely lived by that one.

Garrett winked at her. “Nice.”

“Wait.” Jake held up both hands. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”

“Bob knew Carl planned to leave, knew he planned to engage in fraud.” Matthias kept his arms crossed in front of him and he launched into the explanation. “Maryanne knew and likely would have stayed with Carl, but he dumped her. Because clearly that’s his MO. He uses a woman and moves on. Maybe Maryanne got too old for him. Who knows.”

The chair scraped against the weathered hardwood floor as Bob pushed it back and stood up. His furious scowl never left her. “And someone killed him in your locked house on your floor.”

“Just say it, Bob.” She dared him to call her a name this time. Garrett would likely jump across the table at him, but she’d bet she’d get there first.

But Bob didn’t go there. “No one would blame you. He treated you like crap. He deserved it.”

“Then why did you help him to disappear?” Garrett asked in a deadly cold voice.

“Never happened. That woman is lying.”

Garrett shook his head. “We’ll be able to trace the paperwork. Now that we know where to look, it’s only a matter of time.”

“There is nothing to find.” He stepped away from the table and around Matthias, who hadn’t moved an inch to get out of the way. “And I’m done here.”

Bob stormed out without a glance. He’d fallen back on his anger. Lauren had looked for signs of something else—guilt or fear—but saw nothing. His nerves either ran ice-cold or Maryanne had spun a believable tale and Lauren got trapped in it.

The door still shook from the force of Bob’s slamming it. No one else in the room moved. Boats bobbed in the marina and the constant clanking of boat lines and metal provided the only sounds around them.

It was another few seconds before Garrett spoke up. “That went well.”

His voice seemed to snap Jake out of whatever haze he’d fallen into. He glanced at Lauren. “May I talk with you for a second? Outside.”

When Garrett started to get up, she gestured for him to sit again. She could handle this. Hell, she wanted to handle this. Her life kept spinning around her, preventing her from moving forward. It was time for her to take back control, and that started right now.

Garrett watched Jake and Lauren go. He didn’t like her wandering out of his sight. Not that he didn’t trust her. He did. She was smart and could handle herself, but Garrett knew that sometimes mere seconds were the difference between a rescue and a horror.

“Sounds like Lauren believes Maryanne. Do you?” Matthias pulled out the chair Jake just left and sat down. As was his practice, he wore an outward calm while he constantly scanned the area for threats.

Matthias lived his whole life that way. The man was paranoid, but with good reason. He ran a security company that supplied forces to everyone from wealthy businessmen to political leaders. He’d seen shit that was even worse than Garrett had experienced during his black ops days, and that was saying something.

“Not really, but I’m not sure I trust many people.” Garrett ignored how hardass that sounded and continued his thought. “Maryanne had a reason to want Carl dead—revenge, jilted lover and who knows what he did to her while they were away. Bob clearly was in on all of this and might have killed Carl to cover his tracks. And Jake.”

Matthias’s eyebrow lifted. “What about him?”

“Unrequited love.”

“Excuse me?”

“He has a thing for Lauren.” Garrett didn’t find the sentiment any less punch-worthy now than he had before.

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