Daniel not only charmed Lily, but Rose, as well, praising her for the tasty food and talking to her about the garden she had back in Natchez. He even encouraged her to share stories about Olivia’s childhood, which made Daniel and Lily laugh and Olivia cringe.
She was both slightly disappointed and equally relieved when the meal was finished, and Daniel was ready to leave after insisting he help with the cleanup.
“Thank you for the best meal I’ve had in months,” he said to Rose and then crouched down in front of Lily. “And thank you for showing me your room and especially your princess shoes. They were beautiful.”
Lily grabbed him around the neck and then kissed him on the cheek. Olivia didn’t know who was more stunned, her or Daniel. “We like you, Deputy. We hope you come back again,” Lily said as she released him.
Daniel straightened up, a stunned expression still on his face. The expression slowly faded and he looked at Rose. “Now that I’ve installed those dead bolts, you need to use them anytime you and Lily are here alone. This area sometimes has some drunks wandering around.” He looked back at Olivia. “Walk me out?”
She nodded and after final goodbyes, she followed him to his car parked along the side of the street. “You have a charming family,” he said as they reached his car.
“Thanks, I’m pretty partial to them,” she replied.
He frowned. “Olivia, those dead bolts I put on your doors are only temporary stop locks. If somebody really wanted into your house badly enough they could use enough force to get through those locks. I recommend you contact Buck Ranier. He owns a personal security company and could guarantee you a safer environment here.”
“I don’t want to overreact to what’s happened,” she replied. “So far all we have is an anonymous warning that I’m assuming is because of reopening the Sinclair case.”
“I certainly don’t want to scare you, but I also don’t want to underreact to that package you got today,” he replied, his eyes the deep green of the dark swamp.
“I appreciate you putting in the dead bolts, but I’m not ready to have a full alarm system installed. I don’t want to frighten my mother if it isn’t absolutely necessary. I just want to get more information about the package and who might have sent it and definitely why. We don’t know for sure that it had anything to do with reopening the Sinclair case.”
“I’d say it’s a good guess that it’s concerning the Sinclair case. Besides, we might not get any more information about the package,” he replied. “We asked around. Nobody saw it placed where it was found. We’ve got no fingerprints or postage stamp to work with.”
He broke off and reached out and touched a strand of her hair that had fallen forward over her shoulder. “I just don’t want to see anything bad happen to you or your family.” He grimaced and dropped his hand to his side and stepped back from her. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he said curtly.
She stood and watched him get into his car and remained watching until the vehicle was out of her sight. That simple, yet inappropriate touch to her hair had stirred her as had his obvious concern for their safety.
She turned to walk back to the house. Daniel had been a deputy here in Lost Lagoon for a long time and he was worried about her and her family. Was she underplaying the danger to herself...to her family?
It had just been a stupid stuffed animal and a note, the act of a coward, she told herself. She wished this assignment was over already.
She wished Shelly’s murder was solved and she’d rooted out any dirty officers who might still be working in the department. As much as anything, she wished she hadn’t seen Daniel and Lily together.
At least he hadn’t asked too many questions about her quick marriage and pregnancy. It obviously hadn’t entered his mind that he could possibly be Lily’s father.
Still, she now felt threatened not just on a physical level, but on an emotional one, as well.
Chapter Five
“How about lunch at Jimmy’s Place?” Daniel asked Olivia the next day at noon. He knew that Olivia had spent the morning combing through old files, looking for errors and checking evidence reports on Walker’s reports.
Daniel had been in the small room that the task force had been assigned to work out of for the Sinclair case. If the note and the stuffed animal were, indeed, about this case, then he had a renewed determination to get it solved as quickly as possible.
“That man should have been shot,” Olivia said minutes later when she was in the passenger side of Daniel’s car and they were headed to Jimmy’s Place down the street.
“I’m assuming you’re talking about Walker,” he replied.
“His files are a mess with half-written or missing reports.” She drew in a deep breath as if to neutralize her irritation. “Anything new with the task force?”
“Nothing. Derrick and Wes have interviewed all of Shelly’s girlfriends at the time of her murder, but nothing new has come up. Josh has been asking around to see if anyone saw somebody leave the package in front of the building. I suggested Jimmy’s Place for lunch because I think it’s important that you be seen around town and it’s possible we’ll run into some suspects there.”
“And it will show the creep who sent me that stuffed dog that I’m not backing off.” Her voice was firm and strong. There was no hint of the soft woman he’d seen the night before at her place. If he thought about it too long, his fingers would tingle with the memory of her silky hair from his brief touch of it the night before.
He found an empty parking space around the back of the building and together they got out and walked around to the front door.
Jimmy Tambor, Bo’s best friend, greeted them. “Sheriff Bradford, it’s good to finally meet you in person,” he said. “Bo has told me he has a lot of faith that you’ll finally be able to put Shelly’s case to rest.”
“That’s the plan,” Olivia replied.
“As you can see, we’ve got a pretty full house, but I’ve got either a table or a booth still open,” Jimmy said as he grabbed two menus off a small hostess table.
“A booth would be good,” Daniel said. He much preferred the intimacy of a booth.
“Just follow me.” Jimmy led them to an empty booth midway down one wall. He had no sooner moved away when Daniel saw acting mayor Frank Kean, city councilman Neil Sampson and amusement park owner Rod Nixon making their way toward them.
“Incoming,” he said to Olivia, who straightened in the seat.
“Sheriff, good to see you,” Frank said as the three men stood by the booth. “I wanted to introduce you to two important men in town. City councilman Neil Sampson has been my right-hand man since I was thrust back into office, and Rod Nixon owns the amusement park being built on the ridge.”
Olivia greeted each of them and a bit of small talk ensued. “So, how are things coming in the Sinclair case?” Neil asked. “Are you going to catch the bad guy?”
“That’s what we all want,” Olivia replied.
“Hopefully long before the amusement park opens,” Rod said. “We’re highlighting a pirate theme, but we wouldn’t want people coming here to hear about an unsolved murder case of a young woman.”
“We’re hoping to capitalize on the underground tunnels in coordination with the amusement park,” Neil said. “Paid tours through pirate paths...of course, we’ll add some special effects to make it more exciting for the tourists. But, we all want Shelly’s case solved. It’s been unresolved for too long.”
“We’re pursuing several leads,” Daniel said curtly. The waitress appeared at the booth. “And now if you’ll excuse us, we’re about to order lunch.”
The men moved away and Olivia and Daniel placed their orders with the waitress, then Olivia eyed Daniel with speculation. “Okay, tell me who of those three men you don’t like.”
He looked
at her in surprise. “What? Can you read my mind now?”
She smiled. “I’m beginning to identify your tones and facial expressions.”
“That’s a little bit scary,” he replied with a small laugh and then sobered. “I’m not a big fan of Neil Sampson. He’s ambitious to a fault and arrogant and thinks he’s God’s gift to all females.”
“He is a nice-looking man,” Olivia said.
“He’s a pompous ass,” Daniel returned, surprised by the twinge of jealousy that rose up inside him by her words.
They stopped talking as the waitress appeared with their orders. Olivia had ordered mozzarella sticks and a Cobb salad while Daniel had opted for a meatball sandwich and seasoned fries.
“Hmm, I’m going to have to order some of these to take home some evening for Lily,” Olivia said after taking a bite of one of the cheese sticks. “Lily would eat mozzarella sticks for every meal if I’d let her.”
“She’s quite a little charmer, and your mother is also very nice. I enjoyed meeting them both.”
“They enjoyed meeting you, too.” She grabbed another mozzarella stick. “And now, let’s talk about who we need to interview next in an effort to solve Shelly’s murder.”
The last thing Olivia wanted to talk about was Daniel’s visit the night before. Lily had chattered about “Deputy” until she’d fallen asleep, and even Rose had been quite taken with Daniel.
Olivia didn’t want him spending any more time with her family. She didn’t want to see father and daughter together. The sight of them interacting created a deep ache in her heart that would never be eased.
“I think the next person we should interview is Eric Baptiste. He apparently had developed a friendship with Shelly just before her death. If Shelly wanted a ticket out of town, Eric would have been a good bet. He’s got a degree in botany and could probably get a job teaching at some college anywhere.”
“And we still need to talk with Mac Sinclair. It’s hard to believe a brother might kill a sister, but we both know anything is possible when it comes to murder,” Olivia replied.
“Savannah mentioned to Josh that she’s secretly been afraid that Mac might be responsible. Apparently, Mac hated Bo and didn’t want Shelly with him. Savannah wonders if maybe Mac met Shelly that night and they argued about Bo, and if things got heated and in a rage Mac strangled Shelly.”
Olivia took a bite of her salad and considered the theory. “That might explain the missing engagement ring. Even in death he removed the one thing that tied her to Bo.”
“Makes a horrible kind of sense,” Daniel said. He took a huge bite of his sandwich and washed it down with a gulp of sweet tea. “So, who do you want to talk to after lunch? Eric would probably be the easiest because he should be working at the apothecary shop.”
“Then Eric it is,” she agreed. “We can plan on talking to Mac tomorrow.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
They fell silent as they continued with their lunch. Olivia found herself gazing around at the patrons, wondering if a murderer was dining here right now.
They had a handful of suspects, but no real evidence to even know if any one of their suspects should be on a short list. Supposition and conjecture, that’s all they had at the moment and it was definitely frustrating.
It’s only been a couple of days, she reminded herself. She shouldn’t expect results so quickly. She glanced at Daniel, who was also dividing his attention between his food and the other diners.
Every time she looked at him, a memory of the passionate night they’d shared exploded in her head and a ball of simmering desire to repeat that night burned in the pit of her stomach and that was as frustrating as the unsolved crime.
After they ate, they drove down the street to Mama Baptiste’s Apothecary and Gift Shop. The minute they entered, Oliva’s nose filled with the scent of mysterious herbs and her attention was captured by the plants and strange-looking roots that hung from the ceiling.
Mama Baptiste was a large woman with long dark hair shot through with shiny silver strands. Clad in a bright pink peasant-style blouse and a swirling long floral skirt, she looked free-spirited.
She greeted them with a bright smile, and Daniel made the introductions between the two women. “You know he’s one of my favorite deputies,” Mama said and grinned.
“She says that about all of us,” Daniel replied in a teasing tone. “I’ll bet I won’t be one of your favorites when you know why we’re here. We need to talk to Eric.”
Mama’s smile immediately fell. “What’s this about?” She looked at Olivia. “Every time anything goes wrong in this town, my boy is the first one looked at. It isn’t fair. He minds his own business and doesn’t look for trouble.”
“We’re just trying to tie up some loose ends,” Olivia said.
Mama heaved a deep sigh and pointed toward the back of the store. “He’s in the storeroom.”
When they walked toward the back, Olivia saw that Mama didn’t just sell whatever concoctions she made from her roots and herbs, but the store also held silly voodoo kits and a variety of crystals and some pirate hats and plastic swords obviously intended for tourists.
Eric Baptiste was a dark-haired, dark-eyed man around thirty. Attractive in a bad-boy, mysterious kind of way, he winced at the sight of them. “What now?” he asked.
“I’m Sheriff Bradford,” Olivia said. “I’m sure you’ve heard that we’ve reopened the case of Shelly Sinclair’s death, and we’d like to do a follow-up interview with you.”
Eric raked a hand through his thick, shaggy hair. “Does this mean I need to come down to the station with you?”
“I don’t see any reason why we can’t just talk here,” Olivia replied. She knew from experience that it was easier to get information from somebody who was comfortable in their own surroundings.
Eric shrugged. “Whatever.” He grabbed two folding chairs leaning against the wall and opened them, then sat on the top of a large box and gestured her and Daniel to the chairs.
Olivia sat and pulled out her pad and pen from her purse. Daniel also sat and leaned back against the wall, as if content to let her conduct the interview. That was fine with her. She had no preconceived impressions where Eric was concerned.
“I’ve read the notes from when you were previously interviewed following Shelly’s murder. I understand that at the time of her murder you were in your house alone and nobody could substantiate your whereabouts.”
Eric’s eyes narrowed. “If I’d known that night that Shelly was going to be killed and I’d need an alibi, I would have made sure to have somebody in my bed with me.”
Olivia straightened in the chair, not liking the sarcastic tone of his voice. “It’s come to light recently that you and Shelly had become quite friendly before her death,” she said. She studied Eric intently and saw a brief wash of grief sweep over his features. It was there only a moment and then gone.
“We’d gotten friendly,” he admitted. “Sometimes at night when she was working at The Pirate’s Inn, I’d visit her to pass some of the night. It wasn’t anything romantic or anything like that. We were friends, that’s all.”
“She never talked to you about the two of you skipping town and heading for big city lights?”
“She talked about moving to a big city, but it was just talk and it never included me. I have no desire to leave Lost Lagoon. My mother is here alone and she isn’t getting any younger.”
His eyes softened and any sarcasm he might have had before was gone. “I don’t have many friends and I enjoyed Shelly’s company on occasion. I would never hurt her. I definitely had no reason to kill her.”
“Did Shelly know about the tunnels underground?” Daniel asked.
“Not that I know of. I think she would have mentioned them to me if she had known about them.”
&nbs
p; “Do you have any idea who murdered Shelly?” Olivia asked.
Eric shook his head and his eyes once again went flat and dark. “No, but I wish I did. There’s very little kindness in this town, and Shelly was kind and good.” He stood. “And now if we’re finished here, I’ve got work to do.”
Olivia and Daniel also stood. “Thank you for your time, Eric,” Olivia said. “Please let me know if you think of anything that might help in the investigation.”
Eric cast her a rueful smile. “I’ve had two years to think about it. If I knew anything worthwhile I would have already told somebody. She deserves justice.”
Olivia asked another handful of questions, but got nothing of substance.
“What do you think?” Daniel asked when they were back in the car and headed down the street to the station.
“I’m not sure,” she replied. “I think it’s possible he’s telling the truth, but I also believe it’s equally possible that he and Shelly might have stepped over the line of friendship. He seemed pretty intense about her.”
“Shelly mentioned to several of her friends that she had a sticky situation on her hands, but didn’t go into any detail with anyone. Maybe the sticky situation was that she found herself in love with two men, Bo and Eric.”
“Even if that’s the case, we still aren’t any closer to knowing who killed Shelly. Eric didn’t seem inclined to admit if his friendship with Shelly had developed into something more.” She was aware of the frustration in her voice.
“We’ll figure it out,” Daniel replied, his voice soft, yet filled with determination.
The skies had begun to darken with thick clouds, portending the early evening rainstorm the forecasters had predicted that morning. The dark clouds mirrored Olivia’s mood.
She’d hoped Eric would visibly show signs of lying, that he’d slip up and say something self-incriminating, but that hadn’t happened.
Now she’d spend the rest of the afternoon working on the internal investigation of the officers in the department, and Daniel and the rest of the small task force would convene to talk about how little they had learned so far.
Scene of the Crime: Who Killed Shelly Sinclair? Page 6
