Found Wanting by Joyce Lamb Page B

say anything, she asked, "When?"
    He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to remember the notes Julia had given him. "Five years ago. Car accident in Grand Junction, Colorado."
    "Oh my God," she said, her lips barely moving as her eyes slid closed. "He killed her."
    His annoyance returned, along with the conviction that she would stop at nothing to try to turn him against Layton Keller. "Not quite. Her car slid off the road and down an embankment."
    She didn't seem to hear him as tears rolled back into her hair. "She found me, and he showed up. She saw him ... oh, God. He killed her to keep her quiet."
    Unnerved by the emotion, and even more by the allegation, he said, "We don't have time for this. Tell me where to find Jonah."
    She looked at him, the grief unmistakable in her gaze. "Forget it."
    "All right," he said. "Get up."
    He reached down to pull her up, bracing her shoulders when she stumbled against him. A small moan escaped through her clenched teeth as he eased her onto the edge of the nearest bed. She sat gingerly, her hair hiding her face. She was obviously hurting. Inside and out.
    Guilt at how he might have further injured her slithered through him. Taking out the key, he released the cuffs and waited patiently while she rubbed her wrists and rotated her sore shoulder, her gaze quizzical on his. Pointing at the chair in front of the desk, he held up the cuffs. "One end goes around your wrist, the other attaches to the furniture."
    "You don't have to --"
    "It's not up for debate. Park it here." He pointed at the chair. "Now."
    Surprisingly, she obeyed, sitting silently as he secured her left wrist to the leg of the desk. "I'm going out," he said. "I'll be gone for fifteen minutes, maybe less. That means that if you start to scream for help, I'll be back before the cops or anyone else gets here. Got it?"
    She nodded.
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 8
     
    As soon as he slammed the door behind him, Alaina reached down, stifling the groan that threatened as her abused shoulder and ribs protested. Lifting the corner of the desk so that the leg she was handcuffed to was suspended an inch off the floor, she shook her cuffed wrist until the manacle dropped free of the leg.
    She didn't waste time marveling at how easy it had been. She was too busy thinking about what to do next. She assumed that Jonah had escaped the people who had shot Grant. Mitch Kane considered him missing, which meant that Layton's people couldn't have him, otherwise Mitch would know. So that had to mean that Jonah had indeed gotten away. All she had to do was find him before Mitch or any of Layton's other henchmen did.
    Seizing the phone, she dialed Jonah's cellphone number. An automated voice said, "The party you are trying to reach is unavailable at this time."
    Breaking the connection, she tried their home phone. By the fifth ring, the answering machine hadn't picked up, and she couldn't get a response to the numbers she punched in to check for messages. That meant the device had been turned off or wasn't working.
    She had to make a decision, and she forced herself to be calm, rational. Unemotional.
    If Jonah were in crisis mode, like he should be, he wouldn't be at their apartment waiting for her. But if by some fluke he didn't know that all hell had broken loose, he could be there, wondering where she was. It was possible, too, that seeing his friends get hurt had frightened him so much that he had gone into hiding rather than proceeding with the plans they had made over the years. In fact, the past few years, he hadn't really taken the plans seriously anymore. She couldn't even be sure that he had listened the last time she had gone over them with him.
    Going to their apartment could waste precious time. But it was also the most likely place Mitch would go upon finding her missing. And if Jonah were there, Mitch would get to him first, and that absolutely could not happen.
    Alaina grabbed the denim shirt hanging on the back of the desk chair and