Page 54 of Deny Me
Dain rubbed a thumb and forefinger into his eyes as if he could wipe away the image Elliot conjured up. Their resident troublemaker snickered.
“Besides,” Saint added, following Elliot inside and shutting the door behind him, “if you think I’m taking over all that paperwork—”
“You’ll do whatever the fuck I tell you,” Dain muttered, but there was a distinct lack of bite in his words. Instead, like the dad Elliot had named him, he looked too weary to deal with his annoying children. “I hope to God TC and Mark don’t get wind of this or my ass will be the one in the sling, not any of you.”
“Get wind of what?” Elliot asked. “Nothing to get wind of that I’ve heard.”
“Me neither.” Saint gave their team lead a cocky grin.
“I hate you all,” Dain snarled.
King figured he should make a break for it while the breaking was good. “Can we get to work now?”
They all settled around the table, Dain with a distinctly sour look. “Situation report,” he barked.
Saint cleared his throat. “Our FBI friends have gotten their feet wet in our case, although they haven’t demanded we turn Charlotte and Becky over to their protective custody.”
“Damn right,” King growled. No one could protect them as well as his team could.
“They did apprehend one of the intruders last night. Jason West. Our contact tells me not to count on him being in custody long. He lawyered up immediately, and his employers have big bucks, so they’ve got the best at their backs. More than likely he’ll be out sometime today.”
“No sign of the other one?” Elliot asked.
“No.” Saint shuffled through the reports in front of him. “They’ll probably play tag and release, see where West leads them.” He eyed King a moment. “They have asked to interview Becky and Charlotte as soon as is convenient.”
King grunted.Convenientreally meantget your ass down here. They shouldn’t hold their breath. Keeping their clients—his woman and an almost-ready-to-deliver mom-to-be—safe in that kind of environment would be impossible.
“The man who tried to grab Charlotte admitted they were after Becky’s baby,” he shared.
“I can only imagine her reaction to that.” Elliot waved a hand dismissively. “But that little tidbit won’t hold West. No need to rush into interviews.”
The looks on his teammate’s faces said they agreed.
“They have Violet in protective custody,” Saint continued, “as well as another girl who is also looking for her infant.”
“When was that baby taken?” King asked.
“Three years ago.”
Elliot’s curses accurately reflected each of their feelings on that news.
Saint tapped the screen on his phone. “Sending you all the names of the women they’re currently tracking, a couple of whom they believe ‘allegedly’ accepted money from West’s associates for their own babies.”
King felt a headache coming on.
“Have we passed along the intel on this nurse from Fulton County Memorial?” Dain asked.
“Glad you asked.” Elliot pulled out her phone and scrolled through a couple of screens. “I tracked down our nurse friend, Jessica Arnold. She recently transferred to a hospital outside of Atlanta, in Walton County.”
“Convenient, with things getting hot,” Dain said.
“My thoughts exactly.” Elliot tapped her phone screen. “I figured I’d send that information along to our FBI friends later today.” She flicked a glance at King. “Turns out dear Nurse Jessica isn’t on duty today. Might give us time to check in with her before any official visits might occur.”
King’s grin felt grim. “I can make that happen.”
“Take Saint with you,” Dain said. “I doubt our friends are gonna make another run on the house with their associate in custody. We’ll hold down the fort here.”
They nailed down some details, discussed the police report that had been filed about last night’s incident. King began to gather his papers, intent on getting back to check on Charlotte before making the trip out to Walton County. The quiet that settled over the table finally pulled his attention back to his team.
