Page 30 of Hidden With You

He frowned. The initial was for Melinda Barrett. A woman he hadn’t expected to ever hear from again.

She’d been his first lead. A lead it had taken years to procure. She’d been the one who’d told him about The Maestro. Who’d told her that the bookkeeper Raleigh had moved to the States, and that Raleigh might be the only person who could reveal The Maestro’s identity or location.

Melinda was the reason he was at Stark Security. The reason he’d moved to the States. When he’d first found her, he’d anticipated taking her out. But in the end, he’d realized that she was as much a victim as he had been.

In a weak moment, he’d texted her his phone number and told her to reach out if she ever needed help. Or if she ever came across more information about The Maestro. So far, she was his best and only lead, and that wasn’t saying much.

He connected the call, afraid to hope that maybe today was the day things changed. “Tell me you have something,” he said.

“It’s me,” she said. “Melinda.”

He closed his eyes then opened them again, calmer. “Yes. I know. Tell me you have something.”

“On The Maestro? No. But Raleigh is dead.”

Jasper felt his entire body go stiff. “How do you know?” Raleigh had been her boss. A bookkeeper who did work for The Maestro. And not a nice guy. He’d basically given Melinda to The Maestro for his pleasure, as if that was a perfectly acceptable form of currency.

“Someone told me.”

“What? Who? Who told you what?”

“I don’t know. That’s the point. Someone told me that Raleigh is dead. And they said to call and tell you.”

A chill ran up his spine, the kind that comes with a burst of intuition. “Was it The Maestro?”

“I don’t know. I tried to recognize the voice, but he talked in a whisper. I couldn’t.”

“Okay. It’s okay.” It wasn’t, but it was something. It was a lead. He wished he had more, but he would work with what he had. He tried to calm himself. To walk her through the steps. To get all the information. “Describe his voice for me.”

“Like I said, he was whispering. It was raspy. He sounded older. Like my grandfather.”

“What time did he call? Did he call the number that you’re calling from?”

“Right before I called you, and yes.”

“Okay. I want your phone. I’m going to have a friend come by and get it from you. Text me the address. We might be able to trace the location the call was made from. And right now, I want you to give me the number he called you from.”

“It came in as unlisted. I don’t have a number.”

He closed his eyes and said a silent curse. Chances were they wouldn’t be able to get anything from the phone, but he was going to try anyway. “I still want the phone. Don’t worry; we’ll pay you for it.”

“Thank you,” she said, and he knew she understood that he would be paying her well more than what the phone was worth.

“No. Thank you. I asked you to call, and you did. Now’s the hard part. Tell me what he said to you. Tell me his exact words.”

“I can do that,” she said. “He made me write it down.” He heard her swallow, then she said, “I want you to call Jasper Kent. I want you to give him a message. Tell him the message is that Raleigh is dead and that if he wants to know more, he has to call this number.”

“What number?”

“I was just getting to that. He made me write it down, too.” She rattled it off, then repeated it, and he read it back to her. It was a number in the States. These days, area code didn’t always match location, but with the 818 area code, there was a good chance that he was calling from the San Fernando Valley.

“You did good, Melinda. Thank you.”

“Will you ever tell me why you’re looking for him?”

“Probably not. But let’s just say I have as much reason to hate him as you do. Maybe even more.”

“That’s a lot of hate.”