“Why kill her if he were going to run away, anyway? Why not just run away to Mexico and disappear, like he did?”
“Maybe it was a crime of passion. Your mother confronted him, and he killed her.” Clay’s fingers dug into her flesh until she rolled her shoulders, and he dropped his hands. “Sorry.”
“That’s what I want to know.”
“I can understand why you have questions, but it’s not safe to track down your father—if you could. Law enforcement hasn’t been able to find him. C. J. Hart was even featured on one of those most-wanted crime shows.”
“The FBI received a lot of tips from that show.”
“Lots of tips that led nowhere. Do you really think you can do better?”
“I’m his daughter. He’ll want me to find him.”
“Will he?”
April drew a circle in the dirt with her toe. Why would her father want to see her? If he weren’t guilty, he would’ve contacted her by now to try to explain. All these years and not one word.
She blew out a breath. “You’re right.”
“Do you want me to spend the night again? We can get an early start for Albuquerque.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.
“That’s okay. We have our security system now, and I’ll be up early.” She tugged on his sleeve. “Denali’s waiting for you.”
“I would’ve brought him back with me, along with his food and toys, for Meg.”
April’s phone rang, and she held up a finger to Clay. “Hold that thought. Thank God, it’s Adam.”
She tapped the display. “Adam, where have you been? I’ve been calling you.”
“April?”
The breathy female voice stirred the hair on the back of April’s neck. “Kenzie?”
“Yeah, it’s me. You haven’t heard from Adam, either?”
“What are you doing with his phone? Where is he?” April pressed the phone against her chest and said to Clay, “It’s Adam’s girlfriend.”
Kenzie choked out a sob. “I don’t know where he is, April. I haven’t heard from him since the day of the wedding. I finally decided to come over to your place to look for him. I didn’t find him here, but I found his phone, turned off, and...blood. April, there’s so much blood.”
Chapter Ten
Clay glanced at April in the passenger seat of his truck and brushed his knuckle down her arm. “We’ll find him.”
“Will we? Jimmy must’ve taken him. Adam told me Jimmy was after him. I guess he got him.” She clamped a hand down on her bouncing knee.
“Maybe he thinks Adam took that flash drive.” Clay reached for his cup of coffee and took a sip, although the lukewarm liquid tasted more like vinegar than coffee. “Are you sure you don’t want to call the Albuquerque police?”
“We can’t do that, Clay. Kenzie didn’t want to touch the drugs Adam left behind at my place, and I can’t blame her. Can you imagine if the police showed up at the apartment to check out the scene and found all those drugs...at my apartment?”
“So, we go out there and get rid of the drugs first and then call the police? That’s not gonna look good, either.”
“It won’t look good if they know about the drugs.” She poked his thigh. “You’re Border Patrol. You have contacts in the DEA. Tell them about the drugs if you want to dispose of them legally.”
“What quantity of drugs are we talking about? Did Kenzie tell you what was lying around?”
“No. She was practically hysterical by the time she got off the phone with me when she realized I haven’t talked to Adam since the day of the wedding, either. I didn’t get much out of her.”
“How’d she get into your place?”
“It was open. The front door was unlocked.”
“Great.” A muscle jumped at the corner of his mouth. “Adam brought his drugs to your place, and Jimmy scooped him up there—and not without a struggle. There’s a reason why Jimmy left the drugs in your apartment instead of taking them.”
“And it worked. He knew I wouldn’t call the police—and I’m not.” April drew lines on the thighs of her pants as she raked her fingernails up and down her legs. “I hope Adam doesn’t have that flash drive. Jimmy will kill him—if he hasn’t already.”
“Depends on what’s on the flash drive. If Jimmy gets it back from Adam, he might decide to use it against him. He just lost two mules.”
April crossed her hands over her chest. “You think Jimmy will use Adam to intercept drugs from Las Moscas?”
“I don’t know, April. It’s one possibility.” His hands clenched the steering wheel. “You shouldn’t be rushing back into this mess. You don’t owe your brother a thing after what he did to you—after what he’s done to you.”
Flicking her fingers in the air, she said, “I was coming here, anyway, although I wish I could’ve driven that car to return it to Ryan.”
“With Adam missing and drugs and blood in your apartment, we didn’t have time to make a detour to a location you may or may not remember.” He made a grab for the cup again and knocked it from the cup holder.”
“Nothing spilled.” April plucked it off the floor and squeezed his bicep. “Don’t worry. I have you by my side, and I can’t leave Adam hanging out to dry.”
He kept his mouth shut and ground his teeth instead of talking. He’d said it all before about Adam, and April didn’t want to hear it. She claimed he didn’t understand because he was an only child. That could be it, but looking at her relationship with Adam made him glad he didn’t have siblings.
They made a few stops on the way to Albuquerque and arrived at April’s apartment by one o’clock in the afternoon. When they pulled into her empty parking space in the garage, April wedged her hands against the dashboard.
“My car’s gone.”
“We can add grand theft auto to the list of crimes we’re gonna report.” Clay
