They’d come to the familiar restaurant to fill the black hole of lost time.
Jayson approached the manager, a bawdy woman with burgundy hair and eyebrows tattooed to match. She could have easily been his mother, or maybe even grandmother, but when Jayson flashed his dimples and pearly whites, she melted immediately.
Charlotte stood by the hostess stand while he openly flirted with her and then surreptitiously flashed her his badge. This only increased the lecherous look in her eyes. In horror, wedged between a dusty cardboard cutout of Santa Claus that had seen better days and a rotating display of cellophane covered desserts, Charlotte watched the woman lead Jayson to a back room.
What the hell is he doing?
Seconds ticked by agonizingly slow until the woman reappeared followed by Jayson a moment after. Scanning the room until he spotted her, Jayson signaled for Charlotte.
In the back of the restaurant, Charlotte found Jayson in a room doubling as a storeroom and, if the ancient PC and desk were to be believed, an o ce. Pushing himself o the stack of boxed toilet paper and napkins, Jayson leapt forward to capture her in a hug.
“I’ve missed you so much,” Charlotte said before he had a chance to speak.
He kissed the top of her head. “Me too.”
If only she could stay in the comforting warmth of his hug. Charlotte shut her eyes tight to keep emotion at bay.
There was no way she could get through this charade while looking at him, much less touching him.
Pulling away, she tried to recite the lines she’d been practicing since she bought the burner phone. “Listen, Jay. I can’t do this anymore. There’s nothing to find on her and I’m just wasting—”
Jayson breathed an exaggerated sigh of relief as he clutched his chest. “Is that what this is about? You’re tired of playing Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ?” He leaned against the desk. “You don’t have to worry about that. Shit, I thought you were going to give me bad news.”
Confusion throttled Charlotte’s brain function. “What do you mean? How is it not bad news that we wasted all this time and have nothing to show for it?”
Jayson smiled, a sight she usually loved, but now it made her queasy. “This is what I’ve been debating telling you, but you were in Spain and —”
“What is it?” Charlotte’s racing heart was blurring her vision. He was too relaxed. It couldn’t be good. Well, not good for Alex anyway.
“It arrived on our laps wrapped in a big red bow on Christmas morning,” he started with dramatic flair.
Charlotte resisted the urge to beg him to hurry. She couldn’t look panicked. Not when she had no idea how she was going to play things. She wasn’t expecting to be on this end of the information gap.
“This dude shows up at the station wanting to talk to someone. Luckily Jimmy was there and he called me.”
As Jayson detailed what he was doing the night before and how much eggnog he’d consumed at a colleague’s family celebration, Charlotte willed him to go faster. What guy? What does he have to do with Alex?
“Apparently this dude’s wife discovered his expensive treatments at Alexandra Leon’s place, and he folded quick.”
Jayson laughed as he shook his head. While Charlotte’s heart crumbled. “He said he didn’t have sex with anybody, which one, no one believed, and two, probably only made the wife more pissed. This sucker doesn’t have a prenup, so if the wife goes for divorce, he stands to lose millions. According to him, the only way he could assuage her was by reporting the jerk joint to the cops.”
A combination of intense nausea and terror ripped through Charlotte. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe.
She could barely swallow the bile burning her throat.
> “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Charlie.” His voice was soft and his expression gentle. “This is really great news. You’ve done a great job. We all knew putting you in there was a long shot. Nobody really expected a miracle.”
Charlotte nodded. She needed to stay engaged, to get whatever information she could. “I guess the important
thing is you got something to work with.” She didn’t need to look down to know that her cuticles had started bleeding.
She knew when she’d picked at them too hard.
“I think we have enough to arrest, but it might be early days. Listen.” He reached out and touched her arm. “The chief isn’t going to forget what you did. I bet he’ll still put in a good word, and now you’re not at risk of getting murdered by the mob.” He smiled as if willing her to cheer up. “It’s a win-win, right?”
She couldn’t smile. The best she could do was nod again.
“When? Should I quit? Is there going to be a raid or something?”