Page 13 of Reclaiming Chaos
Chapter 6
Ridge
How in the hell was Carlee doing this? The SUV had been locked. Melony had the keys until she gave them to me. And for her to know about the sedan two cars back, which I’d already spotted? I hadn’t planned on pulling them over. I didn’t care they were following me. I would have lost them in time, but Carlee knew. Which meant that she’d been watching me. She’d been at the FT Developments compound, regardless that it had taken flashing my police badge to get in. How she’d pulled that little stunt off was another question in a long line that I intended to ask her when we met face-to-face. And I was positive that time was coming soon.
The previous evening, I’d flipped through her book. I hadn’t spotted the entry that might have flipped Carlee out with the need to run, but the fact she’d been quick to give it up for me to find told me enough. She was no more a criminal than any of the Bennetts with abilities. She was the kind of person who wanted to help.
This was a first for me. To catch a wanted woman when I wasn’t convinced of her guilt. What had been included in the evidence to issue the warrant in the first place? I pulled over the sedan following me. He was a security guard from FT Development. If I hadn’t recognized his face, then the logo on his shirt would have given him away. I’d told him what Carlee had said I would—threatening to put them in jail for interfering with my damn investigation. Not that it would deter him or his boss for long.
I spent well into the evening working with the team to track down leads and check in with forensics in hopes they had some additional clues. I’d sent the rest of the team back to the hotel to get some rest when forensics and I had started discussing the accident on the bridge. That had taken an additional two hours. They’d been interested to know that I’d witnessed the whole thing. I’d given them a place to start looking.
After leaving, I grabbed drive-thru food and ate in the car before I pulled back into the hotel. Sundown had been hours ago. The moon was high in the night sky. Both Melony’s and Reyes’ curtains were pulled closed. Reyes’ lights were off, but there was a flicker of light behind Melony’s drapes, as if she were watching television.
I sat in my SUV. I dialed the one phone number I thought I’d never need. The person who sometimes crossed the line between following the rules and breaking them.
My cousin Gwen Bennett answered on the third ring. She was a secret operative who knew how to get answers people didn’t want to give even if it meant aggravating her State’s Attorney husband. She had connections I needed regardless of whether she stuck to the straight and narrow and asked her husband, or if she went the hacker route. I didn’t care which way. As long as I got results.
“Yeah,” she barked into the phone.
“Gwen?”
“Who the hell wants to know?” she asked.
“We’ve only met once. I’m your cousin Ridge. Ridge Bennett.”
There was a silence on the phone. “You’re one of the other-other Bennetts. Yeah, I remember you. You’re the forest ranger, right?”
“No. That’s Walker.”
“Oh, right, the doctor then?” she asked with humor in her voice.
“This was a bad idea. Forget I called.”
“Fine. Special Agent Ridge Bennett of the FBI. Second youngest of my cousins. Dark hair, blue eyes, and the one who hates to return home for birthdays. That Bennett?” she asked.
“You do remember,” he chuckled. “And for the record, it’s not that I hate my hometown. It’s just that they’re doing fine without me.”
“I get it. You’re the loner. I tried that once. It didn’t work out too well for me. So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call, cousin Ridge?”
A smile formed on my lips. She was both a smartass and just plain smart. She was a perfect branch in our family tree. I liked her already. “I need a favor, and I hear you’re the Bennett who can make that happen.”
“Oh, a favor. You do realize that will mean you owe me?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, I’m intrigued. What is it that you need from me that one of your other brothers can’t do? Because I’m all over that. Just to hold it over their heads that you came to me instead of them. That should ruffle Walker’s panties.”
“Walker will shoot anyone who messes with his panties.”
Her laughter rang out over the line and eased the tension in my shoulders. “What can I help you with, Ridge?”
“I need to find out, without setting off alarms, what evidence was supplied to a judge to have a warrant issued for one of the people I’m chasing.”
“Piece of cake. What’s the name?”
“Carlee with two e’s Tate.” I could hear the computer keys clicking in the background.
“You think Carlee with two e’s is innocent?”
