Page 151 of Renard's Deliverance

“We have a lead.” Jake walked into the room with Duncan behind him. “We’re heading out.”

“Where? I’m coming with you.”

“You can’t come with us,” Jake told him.

“I’m fucking well coming with you. This is my woman. And I am not sitting here a moment longer. So if you don’t want me following you, then you need to lock me up.”

“Fucking hell,” Saxon muttered.

“If you come and get in our way, you could ruin this case,” Jake pointed out.

“Don’t care about your fucking case! I want to find my woman.” And if they found whoever had taken her, their case wouldn’t matter because he was going to kill the bastard.

“Let us follow,” Saxon said. “I’ll keep him out of the way.”

Jake shot Saxon a look. Then he sighed. “Fine. Fuck. I’d feel the same way. Just keep him under control.”

“So where are we going?” Renard asked as he followed them out.

“To Mrs. Gingers’ house.”

* * *

They crowdedin front of the Grackle’s house. Two cop cars were pulled up at the curb with Saxon’s car a few houses away to give them all room.

Saxon had insisted on driving. Something about him not being in the right frame of mind to concentrate on his driving.

Whatever.

He hadn’t really been paying attention.

“You seriously think that old lady had something to do with Opal disappearing?” he asked Jake. “How the hell would she take Opal?”

His girl wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Unless she’d been taken by surprise. She wouldn’t expect it from an old woman.

Fuck.

How had this happened?

“Mrs. Gingers isn’t the suspect,” Jake replied. “One of the neighbors didn’t get home from his night shift until early this morning and didn’t know that Opal was missing. He just reported to us that he saw Opal and Barney rush into this house about five last night while he was driving to work.”

“Fuck. Shit. Barney?” Had Barney done something? That bumbling idiot?

Fuck! How hadn’t he seen this?

“Maybe. No one answered the door earlier when we knocked. We just got the warrant so we can go in. Wait here.” Jake shot a look at Saxon.

“We’ll wait,” Saxon told him.

“If she’s in there . . . if she was there the whole time . . .”

“Just wait,” Saxon warned, crowding him as though he thought Renard would make a run for it.

It was tempting.

They entered the house and Renard held his breath. He couldn’t take this. He couldn’t wait here any longer. What if she needed him?

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