He looked over the address and slipped it into his jacket pocket. “Won’t be a problem.”

“Will you let me know when you have them?” I asked.

He gave a sharp nod. “Now get the fuck out.”

I tried not to take offense as I climbed out and watched him tear out of the parking lot. If he was truly a man in love, and he seemed to be, I didn’t blame him for being in a rush. I headed back in and returned to my tables. Ruth didn’t seem to have noticed my absence, or if she had, she didn’t comment.

Marco came in around six, looking spent. I rushed over to greet him at the door and led him to an open booth. “You’ve done too much again, Marco.”

“I haven’t done near enough,” he said. “We’re still no closer to gettin’ someone to go out there.”

Oh crap. I couldn’t keep him in the dark about Bingham anymore, not after everything that had happened this afternoon. “Marco, let’s sit down for a moment.”

He gave me a funny look, but he slid into the booth all the same, propping his leg on the seat.

I sat opposite him. “Louise Baker called for Lula this afternoon.”

“Here?”

I nodded. “She admitted some interesting things.”

“Go on.”

I told him how the conversation went, and frustration covered his face. “Why the hell didn’t you let me know earlier?”

“How was I supposed to reach you? Would you have answered the library phone?” If I could have even found the number. His mouth pursed, answer enough. “Your cell phone doesn’t work, and you made it clear you don’t think I should be walking around alone.”

“You’re right,” he grudgingly admitted.

I groaned. “Sometimes I hate that this town is so stuck in the past. A simple working cell phone would make all the difference.”

“It is what it is,” he said. “Now we need to figure out what to do next.”

I swallowed, suddenly unsure of myself. In the moment, it had seemed essential to act immediately, but Marco might not see it that way.

“What?” he asked warily.

“I called Bingham.”

He stared at me as though he was still waiting for a response.

“It makes sense, Marco. He’s got a vested interest in this, and he’s obviously not beholden to the law.”

“I want to put these guys away, Carly,” he said darkly. “In prison. Not seek vigilante justice.”

I leaned closer, whisper-hissing, “I know. I want the same thing, but our hands are tied and their lives are in danger. I called the one person who might move heaven and earth to free Lula. To free them both.”

“We should have discussed it, Carly. We were doin’ this together. You might have been able to sway my thinking in the end, but now we’ll never know, and you can be damn sure that Bingham will kill anyone who’s involved and destroy any evidence I could have brought to the sheriff’s department.”

He was right. I should have discussed it with him. But if I’d learned one thing over the last months, it was that the law had its limitations. As much as I hated the thought of Bingham possibly killing people without due process, I cared about those two women more. I would do anything I could to save them.

“Well, in a perfect world, we wouldn’t be doing this investigation on our own,” I said, squaring my shoulders. “The sheriff’s department could bust in and get them, but no one will touch it. You can’t go because of your leg, and I’d be useless, so that left me with one option. And yeah, I should have talked to you about it, but I was trying to save their lives, Marco,” I said, pissed when tears stung my eyes. “And I refuse to apologize for doing whatever I can to save them. Even at the risk of destroying evidence we don’t even know the sheriff’s department would use.”

He pushed out a breath and stared down at the table. Finally, he put his hand over mine and met my gaze. “You’re right.”

My brow shot up.

“Truth be told, I’ve been doin’ this partially for selfish reasons. I’ve been hopin’ to prove I’m detective material, but if Bingham’s gettin’ involved, we’ll have to keep it all on the down-low. The sheriff’s department will be none the wiser.”

I wrapped my hand around his. “I’m sorry.”

“Not your concern.” He pulled his hand free. “I’m beat. I know you’re gonna hate this, but I’m gonna ask Wyatt to take you home tonight.”

“No,” I said. “I’ll get a ride from Ruth. Bingham’s takin’ care of the situation, so I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, but let me know the minute you hear from Bingham.”

“Will do.” I took his to-go order and turned it in, and I realized Ruth was watching me like a hawk. Since I’d been ripping off Band-Aids all night, I decided I might as well tug off one more.

“Out with it,” I said. “I know you have something to say.”

She pursed her lips. “What’s goin’ on with you and Marco?”

“I told you. We’ve been looking for Lula and Greta.”

“What’s with the hand holdin’?”

I shrugged. “Marco and I had a small disagreement, and that was his way of apologizing.” I leaned in closer. “There’s nothing between us, Ruth. Sure, I broke up with Wyatt, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to jump into a relationship with someone else.”

She studied me for a moment. “Why not? Marco’s unreliable, so he’s definitely not long-term material, but I’ve heard he’s good between the sheets.”

“There’s nothing wrong with Marco.” My instinct was to defend him, yet she wasn’t wrong. He was the first to admit he didn’t get serious with women. “But that’s beside the point. I’ve been hurt by so many men in the past. I thought Wyatt would be different, and he wasn’t.” I pushed out a breath in frustration. “I don’t trust my judgment with men, so I think it’s best I go manless for now.”

She gave me a long, serious look. “Then we need to get you a vibrator.”

I broke out into laughter. “Ruth, thank God I have you in my life. You keep me sane.”

“Same for you,” she said, then nodded her head at a table. “Looks like table six needs refills.”

“On it, but before I forget to ask, can I get a ride home? Marco dropped me off after our trip to Ewing.”

“Of course. No problem.”

I checked on table six, then got Marco’s order and sent him home. As the evening progressed, I got increasingly antsy. Why hadn’t I heard from Bingham yet? He’d had plenty of time to storm the property. Had he found them?

I was on the verge of calling him, consequences be damned, when Ruth called out from behind the bar, “Carly, you’ve got a phone call.”

My eyes widened, and I said, “I’ll take it in the office.”

I hurried into the back and picked up the flashing line. “This is Carly.”

“They weren’t there,” Bingham said, his voice heavy. “We searched every piece of that land, and there was no sign of the girls or any kind of drug operation. The place was a run-down, abandoned house. No sign of anyone living there for years.”