Page 112 of Callahan

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I was on the couch, giving Conor a bottle when Brian came in through the front door. I could tell by the gentle way he pulled his keys from the lock and softly shut the door that he was trying to be quiet.

“Hey,” I said softly, hoping not to scare him. I’d thought the light of the lamp on the end table would also clue him in I was there.

He threw the lock and replied, “Oh hey. I didn’t realize you were still up.”

“Just giving Conor his bottle. Lainey and I had worked out a schedule while I was at the apartment, and I got the three a.m. feeding.”

“Drew the short straw, huh?”

“No,” I looked down at the baby contently sucking on his bottle. “I actually like it and wanted it. It’s me and him time.”

“So, when you told the O’Briens that Lainey wouldn’t sleep a wink if she were away from him, you were really talking about yourself.”

I thought about it for a second, then shrugged.

“Yeah, I think that’s a fair assessment.”

Brian’s mouth turned up in a grin. “Thought so.”

“Fill me in with what went on at the bakery so I can hit the ground running tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah, Angus said I was driving you to work tomorrow—well, later this morning, I guess.”

“Lucky you. Any cameras?”

“There was nothing close by, but a couple of businesses at the other end of Main have them, so we’ll look at their footage tomorrow and see if anyone drove by around then.”

“The bakery needs cameras in the front, too.”

“Yep. I should have thought of that when I ordered the one for her backstairs.”

“Well, now we know.”

“I placed the order last night; it’s supposed to be here by five p.m.”

“Did you get any prints off the paper wrapped around the rock?”

“No. But it looks like it came from a legal pad—same as the last letter. The DPS lab is going to analyze both and see if they can lift anything that may have been written on the pages before them, and therefore indented onto the pages underneath. Maybe that’ll provide some clues.”

“That’s someDatelineshit right there.”

“Right?”

“I can’t believe DPS is willing to do that over a rock through a window.”

“I think normally they wouldn’t, but Angus called in a favor. But even if he hadn’t, they would have come anyway. The note was pretty disturbing. Like, more than the one slipped under her door. The person is obviously unhinged.”

“Really? What’d it say?”

“I took a picture. I’ll send it to you. Angus doesn’t think we should tell Lainey about it.”

Oh, hell no. I may be dumb, but I do learn my lesson.

“We have to. She chewed my ass out earlier today for making decisions about her life without consulting her.”

“Well, read it first, and then see what you think.”

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