“What’s that, luv?” West asked.
I handed him the umbrella and walked toward Davina when she didn’t answer. “What will be gone?”
“Hurry,” she said, pointing again.
West appeared by my side, shielding the rain from my head. “Who are you talking to?”
“Davina Richards and we have to go,” I answered and jogged back to the truck, starting it as West climbed in the passenger seat.
“Where are we going?”
I shrugged. I had no idea where we were going or what we’d find. Davina was standing in the middle of the pavement and pointing down the dirt road. I turned Faraday’s truck in that direction.
“Do you always do this?”
“Do what?” My fingers tightened on the steering wheel while maneuvering through the rain-filled pot holes.
“Chase ghosts.”
“It depends. I wouldn’t normally, but in this case, she’s saying we need to hurry.” West grabbed the handle over the door as I hit a larger hole. “Sorry.”
Davina was standing off in the distance, pointing down another smaller dirt path in the woods. I turned and had to hit my brakes. No way was I going to be able to maneuver Faraday’s truck through those tight branches. I threw it into park and hopped out. West was quick to follow, holding the umbrella over my head.
“Are you familiar with these woods?”
“Only enough to know we won’t get cell service.”
“Great.”
I skidded to a stop when Davina reappeared. She was standing at the edge of an old rickety bridge pointing to something below.
I slid down the side of the embankment through the mud. My feet sunk down into the wet muck with each step. I moved closer to where Davina was standing and stepped over a log. I gasped at Davina’s dead, lifeless body whose arms were still wrapped around the log.
I tossed West my phone. “Go back to the plantation and tell Faraday I found Davina and where I am. He’ll know what to do.”
“I’m not leaving you here,” West argued.
“Go,” I hollered. “I’m not sure how much longer we have until the water washes her away,” I said, struggling to pull the log farther onto the shore. I was probably damaging evidence, but it was either that or have to convince the PD that she’d washed down the river.
“Do not move.” West pegged me with his glare and tossed me the umbrella.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I chewed my lip as I watched him run off.
Chapter 5
I had good intentions to sit by the riverbank and wait patiently until help arrived. Right up until the point that Davina appeared again and started pointing farther into the forest.
“What about your body?” I asked.
She didn’t answer, only gestured with her hand for me to follow her. I held on to the umbrella, ready to fight off wild animals, as I followed her farther in, stopping only occasionally to mark my way much like those imaginary Bigfoot creatures might. I picked up sticks and crossed them into little tepee-looking things as I followed her for about half a mile deeper into the wet, muddy green vegetation. “Are we getting close?”
Again no answer. She wasn’t a chatty one, but she did stop and pointed toward a cabin hidden out of sight.
“Is this where you were going that day?”
Davina vanished out of sight as I approached the cabin and peeked through the dirt-caked windows. No one appeared to be home, but I knocked anyway. The last thing I needed was some squatter pulling a gun on me. With my second knock, the door pushed open. Okay, so maybe after I turned the handle, but regardless, it opened. No one needed to be the wiser.
“Hello?” I called out and peeked inside with the point of the umbrella leading the way.
A bed with mussed sheets sat in the corner. The smell of mildew lingered in the air as I moved inside. Plates sat in the sink with mould growing around the rims. Candles sat on the table, the wax long dried after running down the side. The place seemed usable but unoccupied like the owner hadn’t been around in months.
A feeling of safety settled into my bones. Whoever lived here had felt safe being tucked away in the woods. I wasn’t so optimistic.
I pulled open the bedside drawers, looking for anything that might tell me who called this place home. Several of the drawers were empty. I moved to the dresser by the bed and opened the top drawer. A picture of Davina and a man rested on top. His identity was blacked out with a marker. I flipped it over, to find nothing written on the back.
Beneath that were clothes. I pulled out a pair of jeans and unravelled them. They were Davina’s petite size. I refolded them and shoved them back inside before closing the top drawer and moving to the next one. The second drawer had more clothes inside, only these were kind of dressy.
I shut the drawers and glanced around the room, turning back to the bed. In my younger days, I'd hidden a diary under my bed. I lifted the mattress to find Davina hadn’t been like me. I’d turned to check the other side of the room when my foot snagged on a black handle. I pulled the backpack out and unzipped it. Sitting inside were wrapped hundred dollar bills. I flipped through them to find they were in sequential order.
I put them back and unzipped another compartment. In that one, I found an invitation addressed to Davina for an exclusive one-week charity event being held by Senator Preston Channing and his family at an island resort they owned and it was scheduled for tomorrow.
“Interesting.” I shoved the invite back down into the bag and unzipped the next compartment and found a single note. You know what to do.
I unzipped the outside compartment. Several IDs sat inside. They all had Davina’s pictures but with different names.
I sighed and slipped the backpack over my shoulder, refusing to leave that kind of money in Davina’s cabin for some crazy swamp man to come along and steal. I walked out of the cabin and headed back to Davina’s remains, using my bread crumbs of twigs.
“Cree.” I heard Faraday hollering.
I followed the voice.
“I told her to stay.” West Archer’s voice carried.
“You don’t know her well if you think just telling her to stay would actually work. That’s why I should have been the one to come with her,” Freddie argued back.
“Easy, boys,” I said, stepping out of the trees. “I’m fine, and I wouldn’t have listened to either of you.”
The police and forensic people were standing around the body while others were figuring a way to stop the water from washing away any more of their evidence. It was a losing battle. Mother Nature was finicky that way.
The chief lingered on the bridge, staring down at all of us. Rain slid in a constant stream from the wide brim of his police-issued hat.
I waved and tried to climb back up through the mud slush. With each step, my foot sunk a little farther into the sludge. I only got stuck once until a hand landed on my butt, giving me a shove.
I glanced over my shoulder to find West’s gaze right on my rear. “I may not be a prince, but chivalry isn’t dead.”
I rolled my eyes as I made it up to the bridge trying to shake the fresh wet mud from my jeans. I headed straight for the chief.
People were funny when they saw me coming. Some pretended not to even notice me, and others went out of their way to avoid me. The chief, well, when he saw me coming, he knew that death had reared its big ugly head and his department was about to earn their paychecks.
I handed him the backpack. “That belonged to Davina Richards. You’ll find she was shot in the back while standing on a bridge similar to this one. She fell over, and poor thing couldn't swim. I’m sure the water carried her down this way.”
“This is the cold case you were working?”
“Yep.” I sighed. “There’s a cabin about a half-mile in the woods. She appeared to either be living there or staying there. This is her bag.”
“Did you look inside?”
Duh. Of course, I had. “You might want to start with figuring out Davina's real ide
ntity. She has several IDs in that bag with different names and addresses.”
“IDs?”
“Several,” I answered.
The chief started unzipping the bag and paused at the cash.
“Those sequential bills may offer you a clue.”
“Are you getting any vibes?”
That was a good question. Strangely I wasn’t getting any vibes. Normally that kind of money would carry a ton of emotional energy, but I wasn’t picking up on anything. “Not really, but I did snoop through her drawers, so you’ll find some of my fingerprints in the cabin.”
He zipped the backpack and pegged me with his glare. “How did you find the cabin?”
“Davina pointed the way. I may be crazy, but trampling around in the woods in the rain just for the hell of it is more than my brand of nuts. I don’t even like to camp.” I shivered and rubbed my arms. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to go change out of these wet clothes.”
The chief nodded. “If I have more questions, I'll drive out to the Plantation.”
I spun to leave and then stopped. “I need a favor.”
“What’s that?”
“Check surveillance around the coffee shop and find out who slashed my tire.”
He nodded. “Do you want to press charges?”
“Heck no.” I grinned. “I want to return some of the love and joy they gifted me.” I tried to say it like I meant it, complete with a smile on my face. I really did.
“Ms. Blue.” He used his authoritative tone, the one that made criminals wince in the kind of way that if my tire slasher happened to show up dead, I’d be the first suspect.
“Being stranded on a deserted road with no cell service kinda sucked. I couldn’t even play games on my phone to pass the time. Where’s the justice in that?” I started walking backward. “Oh yeah, I’m not sure you’ll find it, but right before she was shot, she threw a cell phone into the water.”
“Her phone was in the car,” he said.
“Not that phone.” I grinned. “And she got a call before she tossed it.”
West walked with me back toward the road where my poor Jeep was still sitting. “How could you possibly know she tossed a phone in the water?”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Mr. Spy Guy.” I looked his way as if he were a lifetime rider of the short bus and not the super-secret agent who had killed a terrorist.
“I look forward to finding out all your secrets, Lady Blue,” he said, handing me the keys and jumping into the passenger side of the Jeep.
When he sat, the water from inside the seats pushed to the top from his weight. He cringed but only slightly. I handed him back the umbrella.
“Thanks for leaving me your weapon.”
He chuckled. “You have no idea.” He waited until I got behind the wheel when he pulled at the handle of the umbrella to show a long thin sword hidden inside the shaft.
“Well, that’s nifty. Was that a graduation present from spy school?”
“It was a present from my mother.”
“Mine gave me pearls when I turned sixteen. I think she believed I’d grow up to be a proper southern lady.”
“Didn’t you?”
“Not even close but I’m a fabulous drama queen.” I turned the engine and revved the gas. Every cop I knew was working down near the river. I laid my foot on the gas driving the way my Grammy taught me all those years ago.
West remained suspiciously quiet as I drove back to the Plantation. Maybe it was the cold rainwater seeping through the seat freezing his family jewels or he’d finally realized that we wouldn’t work well together since I wasn’t the type that followed directions. “Why are you so quiet? Are you trying to find a polite way to tell me we can’t work together?”
He rubbed his chin as I pulled under the iron gate. “On the contrary, I’m trying to figure out what it’s going to take to get you to focus on my case.”
I killed the ignition and shoved my door open. “That’s an easy answer. I need to solve this case, and then I’m all yours.”
“All mine, huh? The fed really is gone.” He got out of the Jeep and followed me up the steps and into the stuffy house.
The working lights were a pleasant surprise. Not that I was afraid of the dark or the things that went bump in it. Just the opposite. I grew up hearing strange noises and unexplainable creaks. Disappearing into the laundry room, I grabbed some clean towels and handed him one while I wrung out the water in my hair. “You asked for my focus, nothing else, Jester.”
He chuckled. “Fair enough. How can I help you figure out this case?”
I swiped the towel over my face. “I don’t suppose you have a matching invite like the one I found in Davina’s bag. It was to an exclusive island charity event sponsored by Senator Preston Channing.”
“Not yet,” he said and slipped his keys out of his pocket and turned to leave, stopping at the door. “Have breakfast with me at the Reliance Hotel.”
“Oh, now see, you don’t know me very well. I’m the worst morning person, ever. I’m more of an anti-morning person. I’m worse than the ugly green witch in The Wizard of Oz and more ornery than if she and Attila the Hun were to have kids. I’d be just like one of them if I have to get up before eight a.m. without an IV drip of hot coffee oozing into my veins. It’s rumored I’m like a rabid dog that goes for the jugular when people try to wake me up.”
His lips twisted into a smile. “I can’t wait to experience it first-hand. What if I promise copious amounts of caffeine and a present? I’ll even be very quiet until you’re normal again.”
“On one condition.”
“Name it.”
“You’ll show me where all the secret gadgets are in your car so if we’re being chased I can blow something up.”
“Unfortunately this car isn’t equipped with toys for you to play with, but I promise after, when we work on Calinda’s case, I’ll have my other one brought over and waiting for us in California.”
I was quiet as if debating an answer when I was really waiting to see if there was some delay in my lie detector. It hadn’t gone off since he arrived.
“Lie to me.”
“Excuse me?”
“Tell me a lie and make it a big honking whopper that would get you in trouble.”
“You’re ugly.”
Liar flashed in neon red letters in my mind, but it might have been just my ego correcting his words.
“That’s subjective. Tell me another lie, but not about me.”
“Are you sure you didn’t fall and hit your head?”
“Quit being a pansy and lie like your life depends on it.” I raised my brow in challenge.
“The fed is a smart man for leaving you.”
Liar flashed again.
“Really?”
“No, Cree. Not really. Lucky for me, he made a huge mistake.”
Goosebumps rose on my arms, giving me my own personal sign that he was telling the truth. West really believed his words. “Fine, lots and lots of coffee at eight a.m., but don’t say I didn’t warn you that I’ll be grumpy.”
“Duly noted,” he said, and without a single look back, he walked out the door and took my towel with him. The thief.
West
Chapter 6
W est held the phone to his ear as the waitress brought him a third cup of coffee. Her cheeks had turned a pretty shade of pink as she smiled at him. Any other time he'd ask for her number, but the only color he had on his mind was Blue. Cree Blue to be more exact.
“West, are you even listening to me?” Phillip asked.
Phillip Wellington, the Prince of Wellington, hated to be ignored. His last name alone commanded attention, most of the time. It was of no surprise his ancestors had named the entire kingdom after themselves. West would know. He’d grown up ignoring orders from his best friend his entire life. “I hear you, Phillip.”
“What is taking so long? Why isn’t the American making this her top priority?” Annoyance s
lipped into Phillips' voice. They both knew the importance of finding the diamond and the reason it needed to be returned.
“She isn’t just some woman who can be ordered around. She has a good heart, and helping people is what she does.”
“Offer her money to make it her priority. Do whatever needs to be done to make it happen.”
“She won’t take it,” West argued. He might not know Cree well, but he knew her well enough from the background check he’d done on her to know that money wouldn’t be a motivator. She didn’t accept payments on the cases she helped solve. “She’s working a case, and once it’s solved, she promised to concentrate on Calinda and the diamond.”
“She’s chasing criminals? Is she a private investigator or a cop? Can she even defend herself? What if she dies before getting to my case?”
“She’s a baker.”
The line went silent. West loved screwing with Phillip, and he could only imagine how red his face was getting.
Cree walked in the door, her face set in a frown. West snapped his fingers, and a waitress greeted her at the door with a cup of Cree’s favorite coffee, and another waitress appeared with two more, setting them on the table in front of the empty chair.
Cree sipped and continued sipping until she sat plopped down into the seat. Her eyes closed, and she moaned her approval.
“West, offer her the money.”
He shook my head. “You do it.”
West handed the phone to Cree and grinned as she lowered her coffee cup. Her eyes narrowed to slits. “I warned you.”
“I know.” He tried to hide his grin and failed. “This should be fun.”
Cree took the phone and held it to her ear. “What?”
He couldn’t hear Phillip, but West could imagine how the conversation was going, just by the slow rise of Cree’s brow. “No.”
There was a slight pause. “Thor could ask while shirtless and swinging his hammer with Magic Mike as his backup dancer and I’d tell him the same thing; the answer is still no.”
She ended the call by hitting the off button and slid the phone across the table before picking up the second cup of coffee. West picked up his coffee, and waited patiently until she was ready to start her day.
Deadly Vows Page 3
