Page 31 of Child In Jeopardy
That was all true. Marsh hadn’t even gotten a restraining order against Taylor when she’d basically stalked him. And not once had she attacked Marsh. Well, nothing official anyway, and Marsh certainly hadn’t mentioned it.
“You’re saying that without Buck to do her bidding Taylor won’t try to kill us,” she stated.
Slater nodded. “I can’t say the same, though, about what she might do to Marsh, and I hope he’s taking precautions. Taylor won’t be happy if he doesn’t reunite with her now that Stephanie is out of the picture.”
Again, that was true, and while it would be awful if Taylor hurt or killed him, Lana had her own concerns without taking him on.
Slater’s phone dinged with a text, and Lana immediately guessed who it was. And she was right.
“Sonya’s waiting for us out front,” Slater said as he read the message.
That meant it was time for them to leave for the True Blue Coffeeshop. Time to step out the door and pray that all their security measures were enough to keep them alive.
Since the plan was for Slater and her to return to Saddle Ridge right after the meeting, they grabbed their things, and Lana locked up on their way out. They got in the cruiser in the garage, checking their surroundings as Slater backed out.
Lana glanced at Sonya, who was also making some glances around, but she thankfully didn’t see any alarm on the deputy’s face. Didn’t see anything or anyone suspicious, either.
Both she and Slater had already mapped out the safest route to the coffee shop, so they didn’t go the most direct way since it would have meant long stops at traffic lights. Stops where someone could have taken shots at them. Instead, they went the side streets that were not only less busy but also meant fewer stops.
When they arrived at the True Blue, Slater went past the shop and as planned parked in a lot just around the corner. Of course, anyone looking for them would easily spot the cruiser, but they hadn’t wanted to use a lot where someone would have had time to plant explosives or such.
They parked, and after getting the green light from Thayer, she and Slater went inside while Sonya waited in her cruiser. The deputy would be able to swoop in quickly if something went wrong and get Slater and Lana out of there fast.
Still keeping watch, they stepped in to the expected strong scents of coffee and sugary pastries. True to its name, the decor was of varying shades of blue, and despite it being crowded, Lana noticed Taylor right away. She was at one of the back booths, away from the storefront windows. That was by design as well, since it was where the undercover cop had seated her.
Taylor was drinking something white and foamy from a cobalt mug while reading something on her phone and didn’t seem to immediately spot them. When Slater and Lana slid into the seat across from her, she finally looked up.
“I thought you might chicken out and not come,” Taylor grumbled. “You’ll be glad you didn’t.”
Lana hoped she was right, and she wondered if Taylor knew what kind of risk she was taking. Especially if she was about to spill anything about the hacker she’d hired. Thayer wouldn’t arrest Taylor on the spot for that, but Lana had no doubts that the woman would eventually be charged. For now, though, the plan was to see if Taylor actually had any info helpful to the investigation.
Slater waved off a waitress who came over to ask if they wanted anything, and he pinned his stare to Taylor. “Tell us why we’ll be glad about deciding to come here.”
Taylor had a long sip of her drink first, and when she lifted her gaze, Lana saw the red in her eyes. Maybe from crying. ButLana figured she’d shed no tears for Stephanie. This had to be about something or someone else.
“Who’s Buck’s accomplice?” Slater came out and asked.
Annoyance flashed through Taylor’s eyes. “I’ll get to that, but there are some other things you need to know. Marsh and I are over. Yesterday, when I went to his place to try to comfort him, he basically told me to get lost. The SOB didn’t even want to see me.” She clamped her teeth over her bottom lip for a moment. “After all the waiting around I did for him, he wanted nothing to do with me.”
That didn’t surprise Lana, and judging from the sound Slater made, it didn’t surprise him, either. Marsh was all about Stephanie. Well, he seemingly was anyway, and if he’d planned on getting back with Taylor, he likely would have done it after Stephanie disappeared. Did that mean that Taylor was about to try to get some revenge by naming Marsh as the accomplice?
“So, this means I don’t care what happens to the SOB,” Taylor went on. “And I’m done protecting him.”
That got Lana’s and Slater’s attention. “You protected Marsh?” Slater questioned. “How?”
“By not telling the cops that Marsh knew where Stephanie was hiding out. He knew,” Taylor insisted, shifting her gaze to Lana. “Marsh found out just a week before Stephanie was killed. And I think your father knew that Marsh had found out. He might have even been the one to tell Marsh.”
Again, Lana wasn’t surprised since she now knew that her father had indeed learned Stephanie’s location. It was something he probably would have passed along to Marsh in the hopes that it would spur Stephanie and Marsh to reconcile.
“Did Marsh go see Stephanie when she was here in Austin?” Lana asked.
“Probably,” Taylor spat out. “Of course, he never admitted that to me, and I don’t have any actual proof that he saw her.But Marsh was a sad, sick puppy when it came to Stephanie, and he was too blind to see that Stephanie didn’t even want him. I blame your father for that, too. He made Marsh believe the only woman for him was your precious sister.”
Lana blamed her father for that as well. But then, he’d done a lot of things that she disapproved of.
“How did you learn that Marsh knew where Stephanie was?” Slater pressed when the woman fell silent.
Taylor’s attention went back to her drink. “I had a PI keep track of him. I did it for his own good,” she was quick to add. “Because I needed to know if he was about to make a huge mistake by trying to see Stephanie. Like I said, I was protecting him.”