“Nonsense. Stop trying to boost my self-esteem. I’m sure yours would’ve been better.”
Samantha felt a tingling heat creep up the back of her neck underneath the intensity of Gregory’s gaze. She picked up her glass of cabernet and took a long sip, focusing on the rim as opposed to his seductive stare. She knew that if she looked him directly in the eye, she just might jump across the table and do something wildly inappropriate.
“Well,” she continued, discreetly patting away the beads of sweat that had formed along her hairline, “the filet mignon was grilled to perfection. The twice-baked potatoes were crispy on the outside and nice and tender on the inside, just like I like them. And the charred grilled asparagus was tender and full of flavor.”
Gregory’s lips spread into a gradual smile. Samantha pressed her fingertips against her mouth and threw him a chef’s kiss.
“My compliments to the chef. This was amazing.”
“Why, thank you. You know what they say—when you cook with love in your heart, the meal is always delicious.”
Samantha cocked her head to one side and felt herself swoon at the sound of those words. “That is what they say, isn’t it?”
“It is...”
Gregory refilled their glasses, then set the bottle back down, his expression growing somber. “So, I’ve tried to avoid talking about what happened to you tonight for as long as I possibly could, but we do need to discuss it.”
She swallowed hard as the elevated energy in her mood quickly spiraled upward. “I know we do. I’m okay. We can discuss it.”
He swirled his wine around in the glass before continuing. “So you’re sure the car that almost hit you is the same vehicle you saw in the alleyway the day your garage was vandalized?”
“Yes. I’m positive it was the same car.”
“But neither you nor the woman who helped you today were able to get a good look at the license plate?”
“Unfortunately, no. We didn’t. That would’ve been such a huge help, too.”
“It would have. But that’s okay. I’ve been trying to keep an eye out on all the dark sedans I see across town and run their license plate numbers. My plan is to pull them over and ask questions if anything suspect comes up in the system. So far, they’ve all turned up clean.”
“Humph. Well, hopefully something will turn up soon. We know Collin drives that obnoxious pickup truck, so my guess is that it’s one of his boys.”
“That’s my guess, too.”
Gregory took a swallow of wine, then leaned back in his chair. “Listen, I really hope you took what I mentioned earlier to heart. I want you to start keeping a low profile. Not only should you go dark on the blog for a while, but start being more low-key around town, too. I’ll continue to have Officer Barris keep an eye out on your house. Now that we see Collin and his associates are playing dirtier, we’ll be keeping a closer eye on you, too.”
The thought of being confined and having to watch her every move irritated Samantha to her core. But deep down, she knew the detective was looking out for her best interest.
“Okay,” she reluctantly agreed. “I can do that.”
“You can?” he asked, sounding surprised. “That’s it? You’re not gonna give me any type of pushback?”
“Nope—” she shrugged “—because I know you’re right. I may be tenacious, but I’m not stupid. It’s obvious that Collin is willing to do whatever he can to silence me. I’ve seen firsthand what’s come of Jacob and the other factory workers. I don’t want to suffer the same fate.”
“And I don’t want you to. So I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
Samantha took several sips of wine while staring thoughtfully into the flames flickering in the fire pit. “At this point, I know that getting Mayor Elliot involved is our best hope. So I’m willing to stand down while we gather the necessary evidence to present to him.”
Gregory held his hand up and gave Samantha a high five. “It’s so awesome to hear you say that, partner.”
“And it’s so awesome to hear you call me partner. Remember back when you wouldn’t even talk to me about this investigation? Look at you now.”
He chuckled self-consciously. “Yeah, well, what can I say? You presented a pretty compelling case. Then you charmed me with your good looks and alluring personality. So technically I had no choice.”
“Oh, is that what I did?” Samantha laughed.
“It sure is.”
The twosome stared at each other across the table. Through the corner of her eye, Samantha noticed Gregory’s hand slowly sliding toward hers. Just as their fingertips touched, the heat lamp above them went out.
“Oh no,” he muttered, glancing up at it. When he stood up and tinkered with the on/off switch, the fire pit’s flames began to die down.
“What is happening right now?” Samantha asked.
“I know, right? Are our heat sources trying to tell us something?”
“Yeah, that we need to wrap things up out here and go back inside,” she told him.
“Maybe so. Because it looks like this heat lamp is out for the count. I just bought this thing, too. Oh well, it’ll be going right back to the store tomorrow.”
As Gregory poured water over the fire pit to snuff out the remaining flames, Samantha stood up and began collecting their dishes.
“By the way,” she said, “since I didn’t hear back from Hudson, I sent him another text message asking if he’d be willing to talk with me tomorrow.”
“Good. Hopefully he’ll say yes, then offer up some pertinent information to add to the file we’re building for Mayor Elliot.” The detective paused, staring at Samantha thoughtfully. “But I don’t know. After what happened tonight in that parking lot, I don’t want you meeting with Hudson in person. It could be dangerous if you two are seen together. Try and make it either a phone call or video chat.”
Samantha slid the patio door open, then turned to Gregory and nodded her head. “I think that’s a good idea. Better safe than sorry.”
She paused, contemplating her next thought before continuing. “Hey, there’s something else that’s been on my mind. I know you want me to be low-key moving forward and all, but I really want to share what happened to me tonight with Ava. She needs to be careful out here, too. Everybody in town knows she’s working to get justice for Jacob, which means she could possibly be in danger. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes, I definitely agree. No one involved in this case can be too careful at this point.” Gregory grabbed the rest of the dishes and followed Samantha inside. He set everything in the sink then turned to her. “You know what? I’m going to fill out a police report and take a statement from you on what happened in that parking lot tonight.”
“Don’t you think that’ll draw unwanted attention to us?”
“I do. Which is why I’m not going to actually process the report. I’m just going to fill it out and add it to the file that we’re building for the district attorney, along with the vandalism reports on your house that I actually did process.”
“You mean the ones that Chief Wentworth promised to look into then completely forgot about?”
“Yes, those,” Gregory chortled, pulling the cheesecake from the refrigerator and placing it on the counter. “I just need the mayor to have a record of every incident and each piece of evidence we’ve gathered. That should make it easy for him to draw up charges against Collin, Chief Wentworth and everyone else involved in the drug ring.”
“Speaking of everyone else, did you find any reports on drug busts that may be linked to Westman’s?”
“Only one. It involved a temporary employee who worked there briefly during the summer. He nearly OD’d after a night out with several of the assembly workers.”
“Let me guess. No charges were ever filed against anyone.”
“Unfortunately, no,” Gre
gory sighed. “I did some digging into Chief Wentworth’s background, too. I expected to find evidence of him using that drug money to make major purchases, take lavish vacations, something. But surprisingly, he lives a pretty modest lifestyle.”
“Hmm, interesting. Maybe he pays for everything with cash and keeps his toys stashed away in another town.”
“Maybe...”
Samantha poured the last of the wine into their glasses and handed one to Gregory. After they each took a sip, he reached over and covered her hand with his. “So how are you feeling now? Are you all right?”
“I’m still a bit shaken up.” She shrugged. “But being here with you is certainly helping to keep me calm.”
He caressed her hand while gazing at her sympathetically. Samantha responded by intertwining her fingers within his.
When he began stroking her palm with his thumb, the arousing sensation caused a nagging voice to go off inside her head.
Don’t get distracted before you complete your mission...
She cleared her throat and slipped her hand from his grip. “So anyway,” she continued, “thank you for tonight. Especially that delicious meal.”
The detective paused, as if surprised by the abrupt way in which she disrupted their intimate moment and changed the subject.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he told her. “Are you ready for dessert?”
“I am. I’ll grab a couple of plates and forks.”
Gregory pulled a can of whipped cream and a container of mixed berries out of the refrigerator. “Look what I’ve got.”
“Ooh, nice. Those’ll go great with the cheesecake.”
“I thought so, too.”
He cut two slices of cake and slid them onto the plates, then topped them with the garnishes.
“I’ll tell you what,” Gregory continued. “Why don’t we take our dessert and wine into the television room and get lost in some trashy reality TV show? No more talk of Collin, Chief Wentworth or their drug operation. Let’s just decompress and enjoy the rest of the evening together. How does that sound?”
“That sounds perfect.”
Samantha trailed behind Gregory as he led her down a hallway into the den. The pair got comfy on his chocolate-brown leather couch while he grabbed the remote and turned on the television.
“So look,” she told him, “I’m not trying to watch anything pertaining to sports or pimped-out hot rods.”
“Well, I’m not trying to watch any makeup or modeling competitions.”
“Awfully presumptuous, aren’t you?”
“Aren’t you?” Gregory rebutted before they both burst out laughing.
“Listen, why don’t we find some middle ground here? What about 90 Day Fiancé?”
“Ninety day what?”
“90 Day Fiancé!” Samantha repeated. “It’s this crazy reality show about people in the United States who connect with foreigners overseas.”
Gregory shook his head while punching buttons on the remote. “Okay, that sounds absolutely insane.”
“Yeah, but I see you’re doing a search for it, so obviously you’re interested.”
“Obviously,” he retorted before nudging Samantha’s arm. “Found it. Let me see what this madness is all about...”
As Gregory hit the play button, Samantha reclined farther back into the couch and slid a piece of cheesecake inside her mouth. While her day had been traumatic, she was overcome by a sense of peace and protection being in the detective’s presence.
But in the back of her mind, Samantha had an uneasy feeling that the worst was yet to come.
Chapter Fourteen
Gregory glanced down at his watch. It was a little after three o’clock in the afternoon. He was still at the station, refreshing his personal email inbox like a madman.
His IT forensics guy, Wayne, had promised he’d get back to him with some answers on Kenzie’s email before the end of the workday. But the detective still hadn’t heard from him.
Gregory had been able to schedule a last-minute appointment with the district attorney at four o’clock that afternoon. He was eager to report on Wayne’s findings, along with the information that he and Samantha had gathered.
“Come on, dammit,” Gregory grumbled, once again pounding the touchpad on his laptop. Still no new messages.
Just as he pushed away from the desk, his cell phone rang.
“Detective Harris,” he barked without even checking the caller ID.
“Hey, is everything okay?”
The sound of Samantha’s voice on the other end of the phone quickly put Gregory at ease.
“Hey, yeah, everything’s okay. Well, actually, no. It’s isn’t. I thought I would’ve heard back from Wayne by now regarding Kenzie’s email. I’m getting worried, because it’s been radio silence on his end. I hope this isn’t gonna end up being one of the rare cases where he’s unable to track the message.”
“Well, the day isn’t over yet. So just relax and give him a little more time. Maybe Collin was smart enough to send the email through a virtual private network rather than his own internet service provider. If so, its origins would be harder to trace. Either way, I’m sure you’ll hear back from Wayne with some news soon.”
Gregory gnawed at his thumbnail. “I hope you’re right. I’m just feeling an immense amount of pressure because we’re running out of time here. We’ve got to get this report to the DA before Collin strikes again. I don’t want anybody else to turn up missing, or dead, or worse. Especially you...”
He paused and took a deep breath, unable to go on.
“Just breathe, Gregory,” Samantha said calmly. “You’re good. We’re good. We are making some great strides here. Don’t start letting this case get the best of you. We’ve come too far to break down now. According to you, Wayne is a pro, right?”
“Yes, he is.”
“And he’s never failed you before, has he?”
“No,” Gregory sighed, falling back in his chair and taking a long sip of stale, lukewarm coffee. “He hasn’t.”
“Well, trust and believe that he isn’t going to let you down now. I know the clock is ticking. But let’s just be patient. Wayne will come through for you soon enough.”
The detective rubbed his burning eyes. Between worrying about their investigation and fighting off sensual thoughts of Samantha all night as she slept in the room right next to his, he hadn’t gotten much rest.
“Now,” she continued, “the reason why I’m calling is because I’ve got some pretty explosive news to share with you.”
“You do?” Gregory hopped up and closed the door when he noticed several police officers gathering near his office. “All right, let’s hear it.”
“I spoke with Hud—”
“Wait, hold up a sec,” the detective interrupted when he heard his computer ping.
He rushed back over to the desk and refreshed his email inbox. A new message from Wayne appeared on the screen.
“Bingo!” he yelled so loudly that the officers standing outside his office peered at him through the glass window with raised eyebrows.
Gregory threw them a thumbs-up, indicating that all was well before turning back to his computer.
“What is going on?” Samantha asked.
“I just got an email from Wayne.”
“See! I told you he wouldn’t let you down. What does it say?”
He rolled his chair up to the desk and clicked on the message.
“It says, ‘What’s up, man, sorry it took me a minute to get back to you. I got the results back on the email. It was sent through a VPN rather than an ISP, so tracking the sender’s IP address was a challenge. But what the sender didn’t realize is that some VPNs keep a record of users’ internet movement. So I was able to log the server activity, hence enabling me to trace him.’”
�
�Got it. Now come on. Get to the good part!” Samantha insisted.
“Okay, okay,” the detective said, “The last paragraph says, ‘So you were right, the IP address that I traced the email back to belongs to Collin Wentworth.’”
Gregory heard Samantha gasp as she realized what this meant. Collin must have used Kenzie’s email address to send the message, but he’d done it from his own IP address.
“Wow,” she breathed. “We called it. You and I both knew Collin was behind that message. But hearing the confirmation from an expert is wonderful. Everything is really falling into place with this case.”
“I know, right? I only wish we’d gotten the info we needed before Kenzie disappeared,” the detective said as he printed out Wayne’s message and added it to his file for the district attorney.
“I know. But we’re doing what we can as fast as we can. And I haven’t even told you what I found out from Hudson when we spoke today.”
“Wait, you talked to Hudson?”
“Yes! That’s what I was about to tell you when Wayne’s email came through. Listen, he spilled all types of tea on Collin, his drug ring and the deceased Westman’s workers.”
Gregory looked up and noticed that the cops milling around his office seemed to be doing more than just chatting among themselves. It appeared as though they were trying to eavesdrop on his conversation.
“Hey, hold that thought,” he told Samantha before lowering his voice. “There are some officers congregating outside my office, and I don’t know what they’re up to. So why don’t we continue this conversation after I leave the station?”
“Good idea. Because we don’t know who’s on whose team in there. Better safe than sorry.”
“Exactly.” Gregory kept his eyes on the window of his office while grabbing his laptop and car key. “Listen, I know you’ve been cooped up in my house all day. After my meeting with the DA, why don’t I come pick you up and we’ll go grab some sushi for dinner? There’s a new spot that just opened up over on Spranton. I hear it’s pretty private and low-key. I highly doubt that we’ll be spotted in that area.”
Cold Case True Crime Page 15
