“I’m sorry,” she said, meaning it. She saw that he was staring at Brick with the same questioning look she’d given the brunette. “This is Brick Savage. A...friend.”
Thomas seemed to turn the name over in his mouth as if trying to place it. Brick’s name was unusual enough that she knew he was bound to eventually tie it to Natalie since the deputy’s name had been in all the news as the man who’d rescued the distraught woman in the middle of the night. Once Thomas did figure out who Brick was, he’d know what she was up to. Unless he’d already heard about Natalie being in the hospital here before making her daring escape.
But now he merely lifted a brow at her before he stuck out his hand to shake Brick’s. “I’m also a friend of Mo’s,” he said, making her feel worse, if that was possible. He’d made his position clear after the funeral, the last time they’d talked.
“I really don’t care what happens to Natalie Berkshire,” he’d said. “I never want to hear her name again.”
“You don’t want justice?” Mo had demanded.
“Justice? My son is dead, my wife is dead. Tracking down Natalie won’t bring either of them back.”
“But she’ll kill again, she’ll destroy other families, she’ll—”
“I can’t do anything about that.”
“Well, I can,” Mo had snapped. “And I will.”
Thomas had begun to cry. “Please, for my sake, if not your own, let it go, Maureen. I can’t bear anymore. I’m begging you. Let your sister and the rest of us find some peace.”
Had he found that peace? She sure hadn’t.
“We really should get going,” Quinn said, dragging Mo back from the past. “We’re already running late for the seminar.” She gave Mo an apologetic shrug and held out a flyer. “I don’t know if you’re familiar with Palmer’s seminars. They’re enlightening.”
Mo took the sheet of paper without looking at it.
“It was nice to meet you,” Quinn said. She really was pretty. And young. The word fresh came to mind.
“You, too,” Mo said automatically as she wished she hadn’t run into them now of all times. As the two walked away, she saw Thomas turn to Quinn and say something. The brunette’s soft laugh filtered back, making Mo uncomfortable. She thought about Tricia. Something had been wrong in that house. Natalie had tried to tell her, but Mo hadn’t wanted to hear. Now she regretted it.
“You going to tell me what that was about?” Brick said once the two were out of earshot.
“That was my brother-in-law.” She realized she hadn’t introduced Thomas by his last name. “Thomas Colton. Tricia’s husband.”
Brick had to catch up to her since she’d turned and taken off, wanting to put that entire scene behind her. Sometimes she spoke before she thought. Change that to often. It got her into trouble. She wouldn’t be suspended right now if she were capable of keeping her mouth shut.
“He knew Natalie well, I’m assuming?” Brick said as he caught up to her and motioned to where his pickup was parked. She nodded and slowed, no longer cringing, but glad to have put distance between her and Thomas and his...associate.
Once in his pickup, he reminded her that she hadn’t finished her story.
She realized she was still holding the flyer the woman had given her. Wadding it up, she tossed it on the floor. “Drive and I’ll tell you everything. Natalie already has a huge head start.”
He hesitated, but only a moment before he started the truck. “We need to establish some ground rules,” he said as he pulled away from the jail. “We do this together. You take off, you go back behind bars. You help me find her, but then she’s going to be returned for questioning about her abduction and any other deaths under her employ. Is that understood?”
“Whatever you say.”
“I’m out on a limb here. Don’t saw it off, because I don’t want to be hunting you next.”
“We don’t have time to argue,” she said, dismissing his concerns. “Tell me how she got out of the hospital.”
He told her about Natalie taking the nurse’s clothing and leaving her gagged and bound half-naked under the bed before stealing a motorcycle and escaping. “She probably got the idea from you.”
Mo seemed to ignore that. “She’ll be looking for different clothing first. Which way did she go when she left the hospital?” He told her. “Then take that street.”
“There are no stores that way.”
“She has no money. She’ll be looking for clothing she can steal.”
BRICK WONDERED IF she was talking about what she would do under the same circumstances—or about Natalie. But he didn’t argue. He drove through the residential area as Mo craned her neck down each side street they passed.
“So,” he said. “Tell me.”
She sighed. Clearly, it was a story she’d condensed, having lived with it for so long. “I stopped by Tricia’s that day. She was sleeping so I didn’t want to disturb her. She’d been struggling with everything—postpartum depression, the baby’s health issues, who knows what else? Anyway, I decided to just look in on Joey. I was worried about him because of all his medical problems and even more worried for Tricia. She’d had trouble conceiving. It looked like she and Thomas weren’t going to be able to have children, something Tricia had wanted desperately. Then, out of the blue, she’d gotten pregnant. I’d expected her to be over-the-moon happy, but she seemed anxious all the time. Then, when Joey was born with all the medical problems and the doctors said he probably wouldn’t make a year...” Her voice trailed off for a moment.
“That day I sensed something being...off. Joey was fine. He was such a beautiful baby. If you didn’t know about his health problems... As I started to leave, Natalie stopped me by the front door. She was trying to tell me something when Tricia came down the stairs. I
