by Jill Sanders
“Deter.” Sawyer nodded to the chief as he stepped out.
“I thought I’d save you a call.” The man walked over and shook his hand. “And the stress of worrying.”
“Let’s get inside.” Sawyer nodded to the sky as more snow fell around them.
He set the bags down inside the doorway and walked over to light a fire. The heater had been turned to low and Rose turned it up now that they were back home.
“So,” Rose asked, “what’s the news?”
Deter sat down across from Rose, who had tucked her legs under a blanket. Anderson stood by the fireplace, rubbing his hands together.
“First reports out of New York are suicide. They found more than half a dozen pill bottles around the apartment,” Anderson answered.
Sawyer sat next to Rose. “Time of death?” he asked.
“That’s the kicker. Apparently, she left you in the department store, rushed home, and took more than a handful of pills,” Deter explained.
“Right after…” Rose shook her head.
“I’ll need to know where you were after you left the store.” Anderson walked over and sat down, then pulled out a notepad.
“We returned to the hotel, had something to eat, then slept until about six in the evening, when Rose’s agent sent a stylist to come and take care of Rose’s hair and makeup for the event.”
“You were together?” Anderson asked.
“Yes, the entire time,” he answered, no longer caring what his admission meant to him or his job.
“It’s just covering your butt, but I’ll want more details if you have them. The stylist’s name, your agent’s info,” Deter said to Rose, who nodded.
“I lost my phone in New York, but I have Julie’s number…” She disappeared into the library and came back with a note. “Julie will have Ranald’s information. That was the stylist.”
Deter stood up, followed by Anderson.
“We’ll get out of your way. I’m sure you’re both tired after the weekend you just had.”
“Thanks,” Rose said, sitting back down on the sofa and wrapping the blanket around her.
“I’ll walk you out.” Sawyer stood and followed the men out the front door. “You’ll let me know if anything changes?” Sawyer asked.
“Sure will, but for now, I’ll share this information with the NYPD.” Deter looked around, then back at him. “We found some more information about Willis’s finances.”
“Oh?” He leaned against the door. “Besides the deposits?”
“We’ve confirmed that he had large cash deposits, one the day after Isaac Clayton went MIA and the second, the morning you got attacked.”
“So, you’re pretty sure it was Willis who jumped me?” he asked.
Deter sighed heavily. “That’s our working theory.”
“Who paid him?”
“We had a look at Owens’s finances, before… There was no way the woman could afford those amounts. About the only people on the list who could are Sean Clayton and Hunter McDonald.”
After spending the last few days with Rose’s stepbrother, Sawyer had moved the man down on his mental list. Even after finding out that Hunter had known about Kristy, he just couldn’t see the man in the role of murderer.
“Clayton senior seems more likely to me. What’s he been up to?” he asked.
“He made bail shortly after being arrested. He’s been silent since then,” Deter answered.
“Where is he?” Sawyer asked.
“His penthouse in New York. The police have been keeping tabs on him.”
Sawyer nodded, feeling his entire body starting to shut down. “I’m going to head in and get a few more hours of rest. Carson’s supposed to be here with the dogs soon. If you find anything else out, text me.”
“Will do.” Deter shook his hand. “When is that doctor’s appointment of yours?”
“Two days. Why? Miss me?” He smiled.
Deter chuckled. “We’re shorthanded. I know I moved you to the evening shift, but we may need you working some double shifts for a while. Carson’s been complaining that he’s had to partner up with Madsen, now that Brown walked.”
“Brown finally stepped out?” he asked. The man had been threatening to move to the city where he could move up to detective more quickly, or so he’d always bragged. With the man’s disciplinary record, Sawyer doubted he’d go far.
“Yeah, he said that after getting a taste of the excitement with all the media in town, he felt the need to move onward and upward.”
Sawyer chuckled. “Good riddance.” He turned and let himself back into the house.
When he stepped in, Rose was lying on the sofa covered by the blanket, fast asleep.
He tugged off his shoes and tossed a second blanket over her. Then he threw another log on the fire and lay down beside her, pulling her into his arms.
“There isn’t enough room on here,” she said softly next to his body.
“We’ll make room.” He smiled and buried his face in her hair. “This is the warmest room of the house right now and I want a few more minutes of sleep.”
He woke to the doorbell and dogs barking.
“That would be Carson with the dogs.” He sat up, but Rose was already standing and moving towards the door.
For the next half hour, they played host to Carson and enjoyed the happy reunion with their mutts. Rose asked Carson if he wanted to stay for dinner. His partner, being a smart man, agreed.
He and Sawyer sat in the kitchen and talked about the trip and Owens’s death as Rose cooked pork chops and potatoes.
“A man could get used to eating like this,” Carson said after taking his first bite of food. “No wonder Sawyer is sticking around here.” He nudged his arm. “Besides the company, I mean.” He winked over at Rose.
“Don’t let Bridgit hear you talk like that,” Sawyer joked.
“She knows I have great taste in women.” Carson laughed. “Besides, she’s visiting her sister in California this week. I’ve got the place all to myself.” He smiled and shoveled more food into his mouth. “I enjoyed the solitude at first, but after the first day, I was thankful I had these two to keep me company. I don’t know how you do it, living in that small place all by yourself.” Carson shook his head.
“I have Ozzy.” He smiled down at the dog who was currently begging at his feet.
“Still, nothing beats the warmth of a woman next to you at night.” Carson’s eyebrows wiggled.
“Matchmake much?” Sawyer asked, causing his partner to laugh.
“Everyone in town can tell you two are good together.” He pointed with his fork between them.
“Everyone?” Rose asked, putting another spoonful of food on Carson’s plate.
“Yup, even the chief. Course, I knew it that night over a year ago.” He shook his head. “Not that you and Isaac…” He cleared his throat. “Well, that was different.”
“How?” Rose asked.
Carson set down his fork and nudged his plate away. “Well, the two of you came from different worlds. Isaac was his father’s son, born with a silver spoon in his mouth.” Carson glanced around the room, decorated with the best furniture and chinaware. “You came from… well, I knew your dad. He was the one who took me under his wing and trained me when I first joined the force after school.”
“He did?” Rose asked, leaning closer.
“Sure. That night, when he was killed, I blamed myself for a long time. Even though I hadn’t gone out on the call, I wondered for years if I could have stopped it or saved him if I’d gone instead of Brown.”
“Brown?” Rose asked.
“Rick Brown?” Sawyer asked.
“Sure, he was Rose’s father’s partner at the time,” Carson told them. “You come from cop’s blood. Clayton might as well have come from the other side of the universe. Sure, you kids were cute together, but there was just something about the Claytons I never could put my finger on.”
“What do you mean?” Sawyer asked.
“It was their house that your dad was called out to that last night. There was a domestic dispute call out at that fancy place Sean Clayton had purchased the summer before.”
“The one Clayton sold shortly after Isaac’s death?” Sawyer asked.
“Yeah, that was the place.” Carson pulled his plate back towards him and started eating again.
“Whatever happened to Mrs. Clayton?” Sawyer asked Rose and Carson.
“She divorced Sean and took off for Italy,” Rose answered. “Or so Isaac had always said.”
“No.” Carson shook his head. “She never officially moved to Twisted Rock. She came into town shortly after Sean and the boy moved into the house. Then… she never got a chance to leave. That night…” He pushed his food away again and took a deep breath. “That night your father and Brown were called out there, Isaac’s mother shot and killed your father, then turned the gun on herself.”
“What?” Rose stood up, her hands on the table. “Isaac’s mother killed my father?” She shook her head.
“I thought…” Carson frowned at her. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you? After you started dating Isaac, surely she mentioned it.”
Sawyer stood up and walked over to Rose, but she nudged him aside and marched into the kitchen. When he walked in, she was on the house phone, staring out at the back door.
“Mom?” she said, and he winced, not sure if he should listen in on the conversation. After hearing her next words, he backed up and went back to sit at the table with Carson.
“I’m sorry, man. I thought… I should have…” Carson ran his hands through his thick grey hair.
“Don’t worry about it. Rose has had a lot of shocks in the past month.” He followed Carson to the front door.
“I… thank her for dinner, will you?” Carson shook his hand.
“Will do. Thanks for watching the mutts.” He nodded to the two dogs sitting at his feet while they waited for him to open the front door.
“Anytime. I think I convinced Bridgit to get another one. We’re going to swing by the shelter when she gets back home.”
Sawyer nodded. “Night.”
Sawyer watched the dogs race around the snow in the front after Carson drove away. When he snapped his fingers, both dogs came rushing inside, shook the fresh snow from their fur, and disappeared back into the kitchen area, no doubt looking for Rose.
He carried the plates into the kitchen. Both dogs were sitting at the back door as if wanting to go out. He glanced out the back window and saw Rose standing on the deck, still talking on the phone.
Putting the dishes in the dishwasher, he kept his eyes on Rose from the window. Her hands were flailing about as if she was arguing, and she paced as the snow fell around her. At least she had pulled on the rubber boots she kept by the back door. He was worried that she hadn’t pulled on a jacket, but she didn’t appear to be chilled.
By the time she stepped inside, the kitchen was clean, and he was standing at the window, sipping a cup of coffee. When she walked in, he handed her a full mug.
“How is… everything?” he asked.
She took a long drink of the coffee and sighed. “She tried to pull the whole ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ bit again. How could she?” She shook her head.
“How could she what?” he asked, touching her shoulder.
“Keep something like that from me. Why didn’t she say something when Isaac and I started dating?”
“When you were what, ten?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes, then set the coffee mug down and pulled a carton of ice cream from the freezer. She grabbed a spoon and sat at the table.
“The least she could have done was tell me before the wedding.” She took a large spoonful of the chocolate chip ice cream and shoved it in her mouth.
He grabbed his own spoon and sat across from her.
“Dealing with my mother always makes me binge eat.” She took another spoonful. “It’s like talking to a child sometimes.” She set her spoon down. “I was finally able to get the entire story from her.”
“And?” he asked, taking another spoonful of the ice cream.
“Apparently, the story had gone around that Isaac’s mother was mentally ill. She’d been in and out of facilities her entire life. My mother said that’s why Sean and Isaac moved to Twisted Rock after a messy divorce. Sean wanted to raise his son in a wholesome environment. But Dianna, Isaac’s mother, followed them there and that night…” Rose closed her eyes. “After the ‘incident,’ as my mother called it…” She picked up her spoon and took another mouthful. “Like my father’s murder was a fender bender.” She shoved the ice cream in her mouth and stayed quiet until she had swallowed it. “After my father’s murder and Isaac’s mother’s suicide, Sean wanted to keep Isaac out of the spotlight and stayed put, telling his son a lie about his mother moving to Italy. Nice touch.” She rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t until Isaac was in high school that Sean opened his law practice in the city.”
“Why didn’t your mother tell you the truth sooner?” he asked.
“She claims that it wouldn’t have made a difference. When Isaac and I started seeing one another, she and Sean agreed to keep the details of that night from the both of us. Sean claimed that he wanted his son to fill unhindered in life. Isaac was too young to really remember his mother and he felt that if Isaac knew that she had struggled with mental illness…” She sighed, and he could see sadness in her eyes. She set the spoon down again and rested her forehead on the table. “Okay, I get that. How could you tell your kid that their mother killed herself?” She sat up, her eyes meeting his. “Kristy and Isaac’s son. I hadn’t thought…” Tears started filling her eyes and he moved quickly and pulled her into his lap.
“You’re amazing.” He sighed as she cried against his chest.
“Because my life is a hot mess?” she asked.
He chuckled and rubbed his fingers through her hair. “No, because you’re the only woman I know who would cry over her husband’s mistress killing herself and their bastard son finding out about it someday.”
She looked up at him. “Like I said, I’m a hot mess.” She smiled.
He brushed her hair away from her face. “Like I said, amazing.” He laid his lips over hers.
Twenty-Three
The Visitor…
The last thing Rose expected to wake up to the next morning was her mother standing over her and Sawyer’s bed.
“Mom!” she cried out. She pulled the sheet up higher since they had fallen asleep in each other’s arms after a sweaty bout of welcome-home sex.
“Who is this?” Sawyer asked.
Her mother’s eyes narrowed towards Sawyer.
Thankfully, Rose was smart enough to hold his chest down, so that he didn’t jump out of bed and shoot or attack her mother.
“My mother,” she said to Sawyer.
“How did you get past security and…” He glanced down to the two sleeping dogs. “Them?”
“I have my own keys to the house, and I guessed the gate code.” Her mother smiled. “As for them…” Just then the dogs woke up and barked at the newcomer.
“Too late,” Sawyer groaned.
“After our talk last night, I figured we needed to come for a visit. Especially since you keep turning us away.”
“Us?” It was then that Rose heard laughter and the sound of kids’ feet pounding in the house. She groaned. “Jenny and the kids are here?”
“Well, of course.” Her mother sat on the edge of the bed and Rose kicked at her.
“Mother,” she growled out, “some privacy please.” She dragged out the word.
Her mother’s eyebrows rose. “Not until you explain to me who this is.”
“Royce Sawyer,” Sawyer said, sitting up slightly, exposing his bare chest. It took all of Rose’s concentration to turn her eyes away from the sexy muscles and back towards her mother.
“He was invited into my bedroom, you were not.” She nudged her mother’s b
utt off the mattress again.
At this point, both Ozzy and Tsuna were dancing around happily on the floor, excited about the new visitor.
“Downstairs.” Rose pointed. “I’ll be down in five minutes.” When her mother opened her mouth, Rose narrowed her eyes at her. “Go.”
Her mother’s chin rose, but she stood up and walked out of the room.
“Dogs?” her mother asked as she held the door open. Both Tsuna and Ozzy escaped the room, and Rose hoped that her mother or sister would have enough common sense to let them outside to do their morning business.
“Mom.” She dragged the word out, causing her mother to smile.
“It was nice meeting you, Royce,” her mother said before shutting the door.
“I take it that the sound of elephants running through the downstairs is the kids you mentioned?” he asked, getting out of the bed.
Her eyes were glued to his firm butt cheeks and it took her a moment to process what he’d said.
“Regan, Cole, McKenna, and…”—she sighed— “my sister Jenny are all downstairs, probably making a mess in my kitchen.”
He pulled on a pair of jeans and his eyes met hers as she watched his every move.
He bent over, placing his hands on either side of her body as his mouth hovered an inch from hers. “Keep looking at me like that, and we’ll be the ones making the pounding noises up here.” He wiggled his eyebrows, causing her to smile.
“Maybe that’s what I want.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, allowing the blankets to fall away from her naked body.
His eyes moved instantly to her bare breasts and heat flooded them, turning them a deeper shade.
“My god, how did I get so lucky?” he asked just before he covered her lips with his.
Fifteen minutes later, she walked into her kitchen with a smile on her face. She’d gotten dressed, braided her hair, and put on some basic makeup since she knew her mother would judge her if she didn’t at least make an effort.
Sawyer had dressed quickly and explained that he was going to take Ozzy and Tsuna over to his place to check up on it. After dropping off the rental car, he was going to head down to the station and see if he could find out anything more about Kristy Owens’s death.
