The Perfect Couple (Last Stand #4)(84)
Author: Brenda Novak

"I can’t say I’d miss him." She adjusted her blouse again. "You won’t tell him I said that, though, will you?"

"Of course not."

A door opened down the hall, and a gentleman in his mid-fifties stepped out. Colin exited immediately afterward, looking so angry Jonathan suspected the meeting hadn’t gone well for him.

"Misty, has FedEx come by this morning?" the older man asked.

"That’s the boss," Misty whispered, pointing a finger she shielded from the man’s sight with her body. "Not yet, Mr. Scovil," she replied, her smile bright and professional once she turned to face him. "Are you expecting a package?"

"I am. And I need it right away."

"I’ll make sure you get it as soon as it arrives."

"Thanks." The man nodded in Jonathan’s direction. "You waiting for me?"

"Actually, I was hoping for a word with Colin."

Mr. Scovil waved one hand in a manner that suggested he’d rather not even hear the name. "There you go," he grumbled and went back into his office. The bang of his door made Misty jump, but Colin seemed to ignore it.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I was hoping to speak with you," Jonathan said.

"And you couldn’t wait until I got home?"

"If it’s a problem, I can meet you at your place later."

He hesitated, glanced at the closed door of his boss and motioned for Jonathan to follow him. "No, you’re here now. Come on back."

"Thank you."

"What are you looking at," Colin barked at the receptionist.

She sank into her seat and avoided eye contact with him, but after they started down the hall, Jonathan could feel her gaze trailing after them.

"I have no idea what Misty was telling you, but that fat bitch doesn’t know squat," Colin said as they entered his office.

Jonathan was grateful they were out of the poor woman’s earshot. "So I shouldn’t believe her when she says you’d never harm a child?"

"Wait a second." His step faltered, but Jonathan noticed that he wasted no time in closing the door. "You don’t think–" his voice shifted up an octave "–you don’t think I took Sam."

"I’m not sure who took her. But something happened the night Zoe had dinner with you. I want to know what it was."

Colin rounded his desk, loosened his tie and undid the top button of his shirt, but he didn’t sit down. "My God, are you for real? First, I get some crap from my boss about being put on ‘probation’–" he used his fingers to make quotation marks in the air "–and now you’re accusing me of harming someone I care about? Am I having some sort of nightmare?"

"When you state it like that, it sounds more like a persecution complex to me."

"Screw you!"

Jonathan took a chair and stretched out his legs. "Zoe said she and Sam didn’t really know you before this happened."

"So Zoe’s behind this? She’s pointing a finger at me? How could she do that? Who was it stayed up with her all night making those flyers, huh?

Who took the heat from her sugar daddy when he was waiting for us the next morning? Who’s been considering putting up the reward money? Me, that’s who!"

Jonathan refrained from pointing out that he hadn’t actually put any money on the line. What did thinking about it prove? "You didn’t answer the question," he said calmly.

"Shit!" He slammed the chair into the desk, then threw up his hands.

"I’ve got enough going wrong in my life. I don’t need this. Zoe and I were neighbors, okay? Neighbors come together in the face of tragedy. But you’re making me regret I ever tried to help. It just goes to show that no good deed goes unpunished."

"Are you doing good deeds, Colin?" Jonathan asked.

A vein stood out on his forehead. "Where is this coming from?"

"Zoe’s clothes were askew when I found her in that motel room."

"So?"

"She was passed out on the bed. I can’t imagine she’d undress herself, then put her clothes back on so haphazardly."

"I didn’t even know she passed out."

"It was right after she’d been with you."

Incredulous, Colin shook his head. "And Tiffany. You’re forgetting that part. How could I rape someone with my wife in the room?"

"Maybe she’s not unfriendly to the idea. Or maybe she’s afraid to stop you. Or maybe she just lets you get away with too much."

"You think you’re so smart, don’t you?" He kicked a small metal file cabinet, causing another resounding bang. "What’s the matter, Mr. Stivers?

You can’t solve the mystery so you…you make some pathetic attempt to blame the closest bystander?"

Jonathan felt a muscle twitch in his cheek. Colin’s volatility made it difficult to tell whether or not he was lying. But now that the conversation had gone in such a negative direction, Jonathan could only hope that if Colin knew anything about Sam, he’d get flustered enough to trip himself up.

"What did you say to Zoe on the phone yesterday?" he asked, trying a different tack.

"When?"

"When you called her on her cell."

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

He couldn’t have forgotten already. "Yes, you do. You made a strange comment, yelled at her. I could tell from her reaction."

He pressed his lips together so tightly they turned white.

"Colin?"

"It was you, wasn’t it." His voice and eyes were now deadpan, but instead of giving the impression that he’d regained control of his emotions, his behaviour suggested deeper feelings. Jonathan had just crossed a line that angered Colin even more.

"It was me what?"

"You were with her at barely eight in the morning. You’ve been sleeping with her! Her daughter’s missing and you’re offering her a shoulder to cry on just so you can get in her pants. That’s rich, isn’t it? And you’re worried about my deeds!"

Jonathan battled the impulse to let his hands curl into fists. "Watch it…" he warned.

Colin’s face jutted forward. "Oh, you can sling accusations, but I can’t? Is that it?"

"Whether or not I’m sexually involved with Zoe has nothing to do with Sam’s abduction."

Spittle shot from his mouth as he spoke. "Well, I don’t have anything to do with it, either. So I suggest you get the hell out of here and do your f**king job!"

Jonathan knew if he stayed any longer he’d climb over Colin’s desk and break his nose. But he wasn’t done quite yet. Studying him, he got slowly to his feet. "If you’ve hurt Sam, I’ll make you very, very sorry," he said and left.