Page 63 of Betrayed in Blood
“Oh.” She glanced down at her hands then gave him and Sergi a nod. “Thank you for taking me seriously.”
He studied her. Her gaze was still glassy, but she’d put away her sass. “Go ahead and respond. Let’s see how quickly they answer.”
“Okay.” She stared at the phone. “I think the first message should be to ask who they are, right?”
Ginger nodded. “Absolutely. It’s what we all immediately wanted to know. It only makes sense.”
When Sergi nodded, Cressa spoke as she typed. “Who is this?”
It wasn’t more than thirty seconds when a ping came back.
“It says ‘a friend’.” She snorted. “That narrows it down.” She typed a response. “I need more than that.”
This time the return message took a full minute. Cressa read, “We’ll get back to you.”
“That’s interesting,” Sergi said.
“How so?” Cressa asked.
“For two reasons. They seem to be testing you or their plan. Perhaps they were expecting you to respond a different way. Their first response said they were a friend. Their next response was that we would get back to you. Emphasis on the we. There’s more than one person involved.”
Devon rubbed Cressa’s arm. “We’ve got it started. Now, I’m going to ask you to do something with your newfound patience.” He gave her a warm smile, and the defiant expression she’d been building up faded. She nodded. “Keep the phone. Sergi has what needs from it.” He glanced at Sergi, who nodded. “But you need to contact either me or Sergi the minute you get another text. No responding, regardless of the message, until we have a chance to see it and discuss options. Okay?”
She nodded. “Should I call my mother?”
“No. If this is April, she might become suspicious that you immediately reached out to her.”
“But this is about my father. Wouldn’t that be natural?”
“Perhaps. But your mother also said she would contact you. We have to make the assumption that she’s being heavily monitored.” When her face fell into disappointment, another thought occurred to him.
“When you first reached out to your mother a few months ago before Underwood was killed, you said she was strict about her appointments.”
She sat up. “Yes, her spa and her salon appointments. We could see if she’s still going to those.”
“That would be a start. What days were those?”
“Hair on Wednesdays, followed by lunch with her friends. The spa is on Thursdays.”
“Hair day is tomorrow.” Devon took a moment to consider their options. “There’s been enough time for mourning that she should be back to her normal activities. Bella and Jacques will know if anyone leaves the house, but they probably won’t know who’s in the vehicles. Either way, let’s see if Willa is getting out of the house. Sergi, I’d like you and a full security detail to take Cressa to see if Willa shows up for her appointments.”
He turned back to Cressa. “Absolutely no contact with your mother. This is critical. Surveillance only at this point.”
Cressa nodded vigorously. “I promise. I’ll play by the rules.”
“Alright.” Devon breathed out a sigh. While this was an added problem they didn’t need, at least Cressa was being agreeable. “Is there anything else?”
“Yeah,” Cressa said. “The two of you can leave. We have a happy hour to get back to.”
Devon returnedto his office while Sergi made a quick stop in his to set up a trace on the phone number from the mysterious text. When he dropped into his office chair and turned to look out the window, he considered Cressa. He wasn’t sure how to read her responses. While she was intoxicated, she was still respectful and had thought things through, most likely with guidance from Ginger and Lyra.
Once she had time to come down from the adrenaline rush from the incident at the safe house and the alcohol was flushed from her system, how would she really feel about the text message? It wasn’t lost on him that they’d both been dancing around his untimely release of her debt. He’d played that all wrong. But it was done. Should he attempt to fix it or wait for Cressa to work through it?
He wasn’t sure there was anything more for him to say, and he needed to be patient. Give her time. If he pestered her, it wasn’t really giving her a choice, and she had to come to him with her heart. Maybe that was asking too much.
The slight rap broke his musing as Bella strode in with Jacques two steps behind her.
“I wasn’t expecting you. How did the clean-up go at the safe house?” Devon asked.
