The man narrowed his eyes. “What’s she telling them?”

“Everything. That a man contacted her who wanted information about the bank, and how he threatened her if she wouldn’t cooperate.”

“She doesn’t know who the man is?”

Kline slowly shook his head. “My guy’s not that stupid, and he’s careful. There’s no way in hell they’ll be able to figure out who he is.” He didn’t use Damek’s name. The less JD knew, the better.

JD rubbed his chin. “And no way for them to put pieces together, that it would lead to you?”

Kline ran a finger along the arm of the leather chair. “No. You have no worries about that.”

“And there’s no way anyone could have known what was in the safety deposit box?”

Kline shook his head. “Not unless he told somebody what he put in there.”

“How would we know that?” JD asked.

“We don’t. But they took stuff from several boxes to cover their tracks.”

“They’ll think the thieves were interested in jewels or other valuables,” JD said.

Kline nodded. They’d gone over this when he discussed the plan with his boss. Damek had talked about stealing everything from all the boxes, but they’d decided there was too much risk in that, too much time in the bank. But what Damek had done should work, should throw the police off course. Plus, he wouldn’t have stolen anything else that would draw unwanted attention to him, or to anyone else. That man was exceedingly careful.

He had reason to be. Kline had threats of his own for him and his associates. They would never roll over, never divulge anything about Kline or the bank operation. If they did, they’d be dead, and so would all their families.

JD suddenly slapped his palm on the desk and swore again. “This had better go according to plan.” He jabbed a finger at his desk phone. “I was just on the phone with a political contact. Everything is going smoothly, and I won’t see all I’ve worked for destroyed now.”

Kline cleared his throat. “May I suggest that your other . . . activities slow down?”

JD stood up and went to a window, where he could see other buildings. He put his hands on his hips and didn’t say anything for a moment. Then he turned around.

“It’s been a long time since I did anything.”

“Until lately,” Kline said.

“I couldn’t resist last night,” JD went on. “When the pressure builds, you know, it’s hard for me to stop.”

“It’s getting harder to keep things secret.”

JD crossed his arms. “I know. All it took was one person talking . . .”

“And that’s all it might take again. Someone spoke to the reporter. They could talk to someone else.”

“That’s why you’re looking for that person,” JD said pointedly.

Kline frowned. “We’re rectifying that situation, but how about you don’t add to it?”

JD stared at him, and for a moment, Kline thought he might’ve crossed the line. He was able to speak to his boss in ways that no one else could, but even he had to tread lightly sometimes. Especially around this.

“Yes, you’re right,” JD said. He moved back to his desk and sat down. “I’ll work on it.”

Kline relaxed a little and moved to another subject. “We’re still trying to find a new driver for your wife.”

JD tapped the desk. “It’s proving difficult, I know, but we need to find the best for her.”

“Perhaps she’s being a little too picky?”

“I’ll talk to Lydia,” he said. “But she needs the best. I don’t want anything to happen to her.”

“Of course,” Kline said.

His boss looked deep in thought for a moment. “She seems a little on edge lately. You don’t suppose she knows anything?”

Kline considered that, rerunning in his mind how Lydia had been on the drive home from the party the previous evening. Then he shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

JD arced an eyebrow. “You’re sure?”

“I’ll tell you if there’s anything to worry about.”

He glanced at his Rolex watch. “Thank you. I hate to rush you out, but I have another meeting.”

“You need me again at four?”

“Yes.”

Kline nodded and got up. He had plenty to occupy his time. First, finding out what else the police knew.

JD was already on the phone again as he stepped out of the office.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Jo raced through Melanie’s backyard, burst through a wood gate, and headed down an alley. She’d been a track star in high school, and she stayed in shape. Her brain fired thoughts at her as she reached the end of the alley. Melanie would tell the officers where she’d gone, and they’d be following. More law enforcement might show up as well, and that gave Jo little time. She had to get to her car before anyone realized where it was parked.

She glanced behind her and saw an officer in the alley. He looked the opposite way, motioned to someone, then ran in that direction. Another uniform appeared and headed her way. Jo ran close to the side of the house at the corner of the block, then stopped and peeked into the street. A sole squad car was parked across from Melanie’s house, and Jo’s SUV was between the squad car and her.

She ran to the SUV, hopped in, flipped a U-turn, and tore down the street. She stayed low as she reached the intersection, just as the uniform reached the end of the alley. He looked her way, then spoke into his lapel radio. She didn’t know if he’d spotted her license plate, but it didn’t matter. It wouldn’t take Holton long to put pieces together and realize who had visited Melanie Gorman. A BOLO would be issued for the SUV, so all officers would be on the lookout. Dack had provided her the vehicle, and it couldn’t be traced. Again, that didn’t matter. Find the vehicle, find her. She had to stay out of sight as best she could, at least until she could get more answers.

She drove several blocks away, watching to see if anyone followed her directly. Everything seemed okay. Then she frowned. She should’ve realized that Melanie had been in contact with the police. That was a mistake, but she didn’t plan to make any more of those.

Jo spotted a four-story parking garage near a shopping complex and headed in. She backed into a space near the exit, where she could see the street and any vehicles that entered, but a driver searching for her would have a harder time seeing her vehicle in the shadows. As she gathered her thoughts, her heart finally stopped racing, and her breathing returned to normal.

She hadn’t done anything wrong, hadn’t broken any laws, but Holton would be suspicious of her. The detective would wonder why she was asking questions. She doubted he knew all about her, that he’d discovered what had happened in Colorado with the biolab. He wouldn’t know that Dale and his cronies might be after her. However, that didn’t make her feel any better. There was now more attention on her, just based on what had happened at Melanie’s. Jo stared at the garage entrance, her mind on what Melanie had told her. Trent had been working on something big, and then he’d been murdered. Not only that, of course—a robbery had occurred at a bank where he had a safety deposit box, one day after he died.

What was going on?

One thing was certain. If she was going to get caught up in Holton’s investigation, at least she was going to get more answers before talking to him. She wanted to speak with John Atchison to see what he knew about Trent. That might prove difficult, now that Holton would probably be looking for her, but she was going to try.

Jo sat in the vehicle and googled Atchison. He was forty-five years old and had worked at the Dallas CBS station for several years after receiving a communications degree from Columbia. His social media accounts were focused on his work and news stories from the station. Nothing she read seemed remotely odd.