Bounty Hunter Ransom. Kara Lennox

on the situation.”

      “Why would I know anything?” Holmes asked, suddenly defensive. “She’s just an employee. I don’t know anything about her personal life.”

      Beau thought the man’s reaction was just a bit too emphatic. “People who work together all day long often know more about each other than their own families,” Beau said.

      “Look, she answers my phones and does a little typing. I don’t spend significant time with her. I’m much too busy with clients to socialize with the receptionist.”

      Beau thought Greg Holmes had just taken a giant step back from I was starting to get worried about her. Maybe he wanted to hide the fact he’d been sleeping with her. He wore a wedding ring.

      “She apparently got a phone call this morning that alarmed her,” Aubrey said gently. “We wondered if you knew who—”

      “Why would I know who?” Holmes said, even more agitated. “I don’t listen in on my receptionist’s phone calls.”

      “Do you have a caller ID?” Beau asked.

      “No. What right do you have—”

      Beau held up his hands to slow Holmes’s rampage of words. “Easy, easy. We don’t have any right at all. We’re just asking, and of course you can refuse us. But the sooner we locate Patti, the less likely the cops will come here looking for the same thing we are. Only, they’ll have a warrant.”

      Aubrey gripped his arm. She obviously didn’t like the sudden escalation of hostility.

      Holmes backed down slightly. “I don’t have any way of knowing who called.”

      Aubrey handed Holmes a card. “That has my cell number on it. Will you let me know if you think of anything, or if anyone else calls or comes by looking for Patti?”

      Holmes took the card and stuck it in his jacket pocket. “Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get home. My wife isn’t feeling well.” He ushered them out, then watched until they got into their car and left.