Page 111 of Luck of the Devil

His jaw hardened. “I’ll be with you when you do.”

“You don’t trust me?” I asked, discouraged. I thought we’d come further than that.

“I don’t trust him,” he said, his eyes glittering with danger. “If he killed your mother, what’s to stop him from trying to do the same to you?”

I tried to picture a world in which my father physically harmed me and just couldn’t see it. He’d disappointed me. Betrayed me. But he’d never physically hurt me, not even spankings when we were kids. But I also knew emotions were blinding me.

I had to treat this like any other case. If the victim’s husband killed his wife, then it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that he’d hurt his daughter to protect his secrets. Or have someone else do it.

A well of despair bubbled up, but I shoved it down. We were too close to the truth for me to lose it now.

Still, I’d have to go to this meeting as his daughter, not as an impossible-to-remain-impartial investigator.

“He won’t open up if you’re there,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “I need to talk to him alone.”

His jaw set and something fierce sparked in his eyes. “Then I’ll hide, but you’re not meeting him alone.”

My stubborn side wanted to argue, but deep down I wanted him there. And not just as backup.

We were partners in this. He deserved to be there too.

“I’m torn between setting up a meeting and surprising him,” I said.

“His potential mistress saw you at the bank,” he said. “If they’re working together, then he knows you gained access to whatever your mother left behind. If you set up a meeting, he’ll come on the offensive. But if you tell him to meet you somewhere you choose, we can be ready for him.”

“We shouldn’t give him much notice.”

“Agreed. And you need to dangle a threat. Give him a reason to show up.”

My stomach twisted into a knot. “We should do it tonight. He’ll be at the office all day, and this will give us time to prepare. Where, though?”

The door to the backroom opened, and Misti called out, “Hey, James! You plannin’ to work today or you just gonna leave me high and dry again?”

James grimaced and his voice dropped as he turned to me. “Let me think on it. In the meantime, see what you can dig up on the people in those documents.” He nodded to the laptop.

“Okay.”

As he slid out of the booth, he called out to Misti, “I’m here. Quit your complainin’.”

She laughed, obviously unfazed by his tone. “Whatever.” She saw me and her face lit up. “Harper. You’re here.”

I gave her a little wave. “James and I are working on something.”

She winked. “Yeah. Okay…”

I started to tell her she had the wrong idea, but she turned away. I decided protesting too much might make her think she was right.

After I grabbed my notebook from the office, I returned to the dining room and slid into a corner booth. I preferred to be close to James and his staff as they prepared to open, though I told myself it was for convenience, not because I liked being near him.

A few minutes after I made a list of things to research, my phone rang, and I saw Carter’s name on the screen. I stared at his name for a second, caught off guard. Why was he calling me?

I glanced at James behind the bar with Misti, then answered before I could overthink why he was calling.

“Hey, Carter,” I said keeping my voice low.

“Got a minute for some updates?”

I blinked in surprise. “You’re calling me?”