Page 40 of The Woman with the Handcuffs

I took it, shook out a pill, and put it into her hand after she finished trying to shake the life back into it.

“What do you want to talk about?” she asked, leaning down to sip the straw of the cup I took off the nightstand and held out for her.

“Your father’s disappearance.”

“Are you going to tell me where he is?”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know where he is.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“That’s your prerogative. But I think we’d both get a lot further if we worked together on this.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“I still haven’t hurt you.”

“My wrist hurts,” she grumbled, shooting me a hard look.

“Because you climbed me like a tree in your sleep and got it wedged under your body.”

Her cheeks blazed.

“I brought you your meds.”

“That was kind of nice.”

“And I gave you a book to read so you didn’t get bored while I slept.”

“Fine. That was kind of nice too.”

“I taught you how to throw a proper punch. And made you go get your wrist looked at.”

“Fine. You’re not a bad guy.”

“And I didn’t do anything to your father. He worked for me. But then I got the news that his semi was found on the side of a road, and he was gone. That is all I know.”

“You weren’t worried about him?”

“I don’t really do worry.”

“That must be nice,” she said, sighing. “Alright. Say I believe you. What do you want from me?”

“I want us to work together to find out what happened to your father.”

CHAPTER TEN

Caitlin

If you’d told me I would be sitting in the backseat of a mafia capo’s car on the way to the garage where I kept my car parked, I would have laughed in your face.

Then again, if you’d told past me that I would get a fake gun, paint it, then use it to hold the same mafia capo hostage, I would have thought you needed to be committed.

And if you’d told me that during these events, I would throw up, have panic attacks, break my wrist, and fall asleep… all to learn he let himself be held captive, well, I don’t know what I would have done with that information. It was just too much.