Page 19 of Bad Mother

“The victim’s.”

“There was a tennis ball at the victim’s house?”

She looked distracted as she nodded, picked up her phone, and punched in a number. Her knee started up again as she obviously listened to it ring, and Gavin watched her, his lip twitching, wanting to smile. She was clearly in her element, and an onslaught of something he wasn’t sure what to call rushed through him: joy, relief,rightness, the knowledge that the terrible thing he’d done so long ago that had caused them both to suffer had been for good. He was sitting front and center, watching the result in real time.

He continued to observe her, living simultaneously in two separate decades—equal parts a boy and a man. Yes, what he was feeling contained joy, but there was sadness too. It had come at a price.

“Dammit, Kat,” she muttered. She dropped her phone in her briefcase. “I have to go back to that apartment,” she said. “I need to go get that tennis ball.”

He handed her the copies from in front of him, and she dropped them into her briefcase before leaning over to zip it closed. “I’ll come with you,” he said.

“No. You’ve been very, very helpful, and I’m grateful. But this is police business.”

“What if there’s something at that apartment I can help with? Whoever this person is, he’s obviously one step ahead. I’m not onlyan ex–professional card player, but I’m in security. Maybe I can spot something you wouldn’t. Also, if this does have something to do with me personally...”

Sienna hesitated, obviously considering. “This might be a wild-goose chase. The zip code thing could be a coincidence, and the Anna Kournikova line might be nothing.” But he could tell by the shine in her eyes that she didn’t believe that.

“It might be.” He paused. “And it might not be.”

She hesitated a moment more, then stood. “Fine. Come with me and take a look around. See if you spot anything out of the ordinary. But you can’t touch anything unless I say it’s okay.”

He stood too. “Yes, ma’am.”

Gavin caught her small eye roll and grinned. “I mean it,” she mumbled.

“I’ll do whatever you tell me to do, Sienna. You lead, and I’ll follow.” And he showed her he meant it by walking behind her out the door.

CHAPTER TEN

Sienna dialed Kat’s phone number, but again, it went to voice mail. She and Kat had split up so Kat could meet with the computer tech guys looking at Reva’s phone while Sienna met with Gavin. She must still be with them. She shot her partner a text letting her know Gavin had spotted something in the note and they were headed to the victim’s apartment. Luckily, she still had the key they’d gotten from the landlord. She’d used it to collect some clothes and accessories for Trevor once they’d secured a spot at the group home where she’d dropped him.

At the passing thought of Trevor, her heart gave a sudden pinch. She pictured him now, sitting in some strange place where nothing was familiar, little was comforting or safe, trying to process the knowledge that he’d never see his grandmother again, after he’d already lost—in some form or another—both his mother and his father.

Her grip tightened on the steering wheel. But she had to remind herself that it was better than sitting alone in an apartment waiting for someone who’d never show.

Yes, the knowing was better. Then you could move on. And she had to hope and pray that the adults who were now tasked to care for him would take their job to heart.

“How’d you end up in security anyway?” Sienna asked Gavin in an attempt to move her mind away from obsessive thoughts about children she’d done all she could for in her role and now must entrust to others.

He glanced at her, seeming surprised by her question. They hadn’t spoken much on the ride, which was fine with Sienna as it had allowed her mind to go over what she hoped—believed—were intentional clues, but it hadn’t been strange or awkward, either, Gavin using his phone to answer messages or send texts or whatever he was doing as he stared down at it, punching keys.

She was grateful to him and glad she’d put her pride aside and asked for his assistance. The Anna Kournikova thing... she never would have caught that in a million years, and it could have easily flown under the radar of even someone who knew card games well. And she had thisfeelingit was going to bear fruit.

“When I moved back to Reno, I needed a real job. I spotted the ad at the Emerald, and with my military background, it made sense,” he answered her.

Interesting.She had some idea of how much he’d won in the tournaments he’d played. She’d heard passing numbers anyway. If he’d been wise with his earnings, he was rich.Beyondrich. She doubted heneededa job at all, “real” or otherwise. “I’d think you could retire early,” she said. “Live the life of luxury. Sleeping in until all hours, lunches at posh clubs, afternoons at the spa, and swanky, caviar-laden parties until the break of dawn.”

He groaned. “God, that sounds miserable.”

She couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips. It did sound miserable. Plus, Gavin had always been a hard worker. She didn’t remember a time when he hadn’t done odd jobs, even as a young kid—small repairs to neighbors’ trailers, pet sitting, dog walking—and then later he’d worked delivering pizzas, anything to bring in a few extra dollars to take the burden off Mirabelle.

“What do you know about swanky, caviar-laden parties anyway?” he asked teasingly.

“Absolutely nothing,” she said. “The crème de la crème of New York City don’t consider public servants part of the elite.” She stretchedher neck out and delivered the last part of the sentence in her best hoity-toity voice.

Gavin laughed but then went serious. “You love it, though, don’t you? Being a detective.”

He’d posed it as a statement, not a question, but she nodded as she turned in to the parking lot of the complex where Reva Keeling had lived.Past tense.“I do.”

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