Page 15 of Keeping Collette

The phone on his desk buzzed, and a second later Yolanda’s voice sounded. “Kayce, Collette Harper’s here to see you. I put her in conference room three.”

“Thanks, Yolanda, I’ll be there shortly.”

“I guess she decided enough was enough,” Hound said.

“Yep.” This wasn’t going to be easy, but he couldn’t keep it from her any longer. He collected up a couple of the files, then dropped them back down. No point in showing her what they’d found.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Hound asked.

He gave his friend a smile and shook his head. “Thanks, but I’ve got this.”

“Okay. Whatever the outcome, we’re here for Collette. Let her know that.”

“I will.” Deal pushed back from the desk, grabbed his suit jacket and shrugged it on.

Making his way to the conference room, he thought about what he was going to say. As he’d told Hound, this was going to be a difficult conversation—one he wasn’t used to giving, because he hadn’t ever led an assignment before.

He opened the door and found Collette sitting at the table, her arms rested on the tabletop with her fingers entwined together. She looked composed, but her spine was ramrod straight. She turned when he came in, and his attention was immediately drawn to the purple rings under her eyes; more defined than they had been when they’d had dinner four nights ago.

Everything in him screamed to haul her from the chair and hold her close. Give her the human contact she needed to let her know she wasn’t alone.

He’d caused this pain.

He’d caused her sleepless nights, because he’d kept information from her. Then again, would she have slept any better knowing the possibility that her sister was a victim of a killer?

It was too late to wonder if he should’ve taken a different approach. He’d done what he’d done, and he had to live with the consequences of his actions.

“Hey, can I get you a coffee? Tea? Something else?” Why had he asked that? Yolanda was sure to have inquired already. He could’ve said something completely different.

Her lips curled in half a smile. “Yolanda already offered. She’s bringing me some sparkling water.”

“Right. Of course.” He cleared his throat. He would wait until Yolanda arrived with Collette’s drink before he started laying everything out for her.

“Here we go.” Yolanda breezed in with a glass in her hand, along with a mug which he guessed held a green tea for him. This was what made her so good at her job; she was familiar with what everyone in the office liked.

She placed the glass in front of Collette, and his drink in front of him. “Thanks,” he murmured, grasping the mug, enjoying the sear of heat from the porcelain.

“Do you need anything else?” she asked.

“All good. Thanks, Yolanda.”

With a nod and light squeeze of Collette’s shoulder, she exited, leaving them alone in the room.

“How are you doing?” he asked, and immediately cursed himself for asking an inane question. He could see how she was doing—not good.

Exhausted.

Stressed.

Worried.

“Fabulous. Just peachy. How do you think I’m doing? You’re keeping something from me. I know it. Your responses to my emails have been lame at best. I want you to tell me it all now,” she demanded.

Deal took her anger on the chin, because he deserved it. He took a deep breath, ready to own up to what he’d done and explain to her his reasoning for it. “I admit I haven’t been entirely truthful with you. We discovered something on Saturday, when you came in to see us about Courtney’s disappearance.”

“I’m sorry? You found something on Saturday? As in four days ago, Saturday?”

He nodded and waited for what was to come next. He’d let her say it. He had no issues with her yelling at him.