Surrender

I completely understand. I’m so glad that I could be of help to you.” Jordan took a sip of her wine.

I tried not to stare at Melanie in awe. She had just lied her way out of this situation. I had never known her to be anything except completely honest, and I knew she would be when it mattered. But here, the way she was able to save the situation impressed me. To her mind, she was in a session right now, trying to extract information. Brilliant.

I took a sip of my wine. Now we knew that three abductors had been at the same high school, two of them in the same class, one a class below. Rodney Cates was there too… What else did they have in common?

“We truly do want to compensate you for your time,” Melanie was saying.

“Goodness, the drink is more than enough. I’m glad I could do something to make your uncle’s last days better.”

I nearly choked on my wine. I took my wallet out of my pocket and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. “Please, take this.”

“I can’t take so much.”

I shoved the bill across the table. “I insist. You’ve helped us more than you’ll ever know.”

“Are the two of you…involved?” she asked.

Before I could open my mouth to speak, Melanie said, “We’re just good friends.”

I couldn’t read the look on her face. She had body language down to a T. Anyone looking at her would think she was telling the truth. It unnerved me a bit.