“We’re alone,” she murmured.

She didn’t say anything else, just turned and went down the hall toward JD’s office. Jo quietly followed, and Lydia tried the office door. As they’d both suspected, it was locked. Lydia held up a key. Jo held her breath in anticipation as her boss put it into the lock. A small click sounded, and the door opened. Lydia let out a huge sigh for both of them. She pushed open the door, and they entered the office.

Lydia shut the door and turned to Jo.

“Let’s check the desk.”

“Hang on,” Jo whispered. She hadn’t seen Kline all day, and he popped to mind. “Let me check for surveillance.”

She quickly searched behind paintings and sculptures, the usual places where someone might hide surveillance devices, but she didn’t find anything. She scoped out the rest of the room, then nodded. Lydia breathed another sigh of relief.

“There still could be something,” Jo said softly. “We need to hurry.”

Lydia nodded, and they went to the desk and tried the drawers.

“This one’s locked, of course,” Lydia muttered. “I was hoping we’d get lucky.”

“We can’t count on luck.”

Lydia glanced around. “Start looking around the room. Maybe JD left a key here. While you do that, I’m going to check our bedroom upstairs.”

“Okay,” Jo said without enthusiasm.

Lydia quietly left the room, and Jo began searching for the key. JD had leather-bound books on mahogany shelves, and she rooted around them, noting that most had never been opened. She inspected a few sculptures as well, careful to put things back so that the man wouldn’t know anything had been disturbed. Even as she was doing that, she wondered if she was wasting her time. He wouldn’t have left a desk key around. She grimaced. If they had to break into the desk, he would discover what they’d done. And how long would she have before Kline came after her?

When she finished, she checked sculptures on a credenza, then tackled the furniture, checking around and underneath to see if JD had stashed a key there. She ran her hands around the couch and chair cushions, wrinkling her nose at a subtle cigar odor. Next, she crawled under the desk, and she was running her hands along the wood when she heard a noise at the door. She froze, worried that he or Kline might’ve come in. Then Lydia spoke, to her relief.

“I can’t find a key anywhere.”

Jo backed out of the desk opening and stood up. “I can’t, either. Let’s face it, he didn’t hide a spare key.”

“And we need to hurry,” Lydia said as she approached the desk. She pointed to a drawer. “You’ve got to get into it.”

Jo nodded. It had been a while since she’d tried to pick a lock, and she didn’t know how long it might take her. Could she jimmy the lock in a way where JD wouldn’t notice? Jo sat down, but then she hesitated.

“Come on,” Lydia said.

“There’s no going back now.” She didn’t mention the danger they were both in.

“If we get caught, I’ll handle it.”

Jo wanted to laugh at that. If they got caught, there was no way Lydia would be able to help her. With a frown, she opened the middle drawer and took out a couple of paperclips, straightened them, then inserted the wires into the lock. She worked the wires around, her hands growing clammy as time passed. Lydia’s breathing was loud in the otherwise quiet room.

“Come on,” Lydia said.

“I’m trying,” Jo replied.

She kept at the lock. She was about to give up when she felt movement, and it gave.

“You got it!” Lydia said gleefully.

Jo nodded, pocketed the wires, and put her hand on the drawer handle.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

“Why haven’t you called me?” Kline snapped at his contact from the police station.

“Hey man,” the guy said, talking fast. He clearly knew he’d made a mistake. “I’m pretty sure they were monitoring me at the station. Somebody was suspicious that I might be sharing information. I had to be careful. But hey, I’m contacting you now.”

Kline had his window rolled up, but he heard the sound of a car horn. He looked around to assure that he was still alone. Then he spoke.

“Did you tell anyone about me?”

“Hell no.”

There was fear in his voice, but Kline believed him. He’d worked with this guy long enough to know when he was lying or not. Plus, he knew the man’s gambling habits. The guy needed the money, and he wouldn’t want to blow a good revenue source by pissing off Kline.

“What’s been going on with the robbery investigation?” Kline asked. He had something else to ask, but he’d get there soon enough.

“I told you about that woman, Sabrina Padilla. They let her go, and she didn’t want police protection. But they’re following her, anyway.”

“I figured that out.”

“Oh.” The man didn’t sound happy. He tacked on, “They brought in another woman last Thursday night.”

“Her name is Jo,” Kline said.

“Yeah.” The man sounded surprised. “How do you know that?”

“I’ve been busy,” Kline said. “What’s her last name?”

“Gunning. Her name is Jo Gunning.”

Kline squeezed his eyes shut and swore. He wasn’t surprised, and he was furious. He’d been duped by Jo, but one thing was for certain now. She was going to pay.

“What’d she tell the police?” Kline asked.

“I don’t know everything, but she was conducting her own investigation on the bank robbery, and she was looking into Trent Fontenot. I don’t know how much she knows.”

“Did she figure out who murdered him?”

“I don’t think so. I couldn’t get a lot of information. I had to be careful. She left the station, and I heard she’s been working with some other federal agency.”

Kline swiped at beads of sweat popping onto his forehead. “Who?”

“I don’t know. I’m lucky I got that information. But hey, I’ll see what else I can find out. It might be hard, though.”

Unbelievable. He was hinting for more money. Kline wanted to reach through the phone and punch the man. They had a lot bigger things to worry about.