Victoria House (Haunted Hearts Series Book 2)

by Denise Moncrief

  Gray rolled his task chair up to his desk and tapped on the computer keyboard, turning his attention back to the ongoing investigation of the Standridge murder while the Crenshaw case simmered.

  He had reached the edge of frustration. His investigation into the death of James Standridge had stalled and gone cold way before its time. He might as well do a little research into the Standridge family while he waited for Tori to process the fingerprint lifts and trace evidence she’d pulled from the Crenshaw scene.

  He hadn’t been as much help as he’d envisioned, and Tori had angrily shoved him out of the lab, telling him she’d call him when she had anything significant to report. It was approaching three in the afternoon and she hadn’t emerged from the lab yet. Not a good sign. If she’d pulled usable lifts, which he had to assume that she had, her silence meant any unidentified prints that weren’t either Jared’s or Courtney’s were not in AFIS, the nationwide fingerprint identification database.

  He considered going down the hall and asking her specifically to compare the prints to law enforcement records, but the woman seemed thorough and she would no doubt resort to investigating that resource before she was done. Especially since he’d hinted, no more like strongly suggested, someone on the job was involved.

  Would her search reveal Josh’s fingerprints in the Crenshaw trailer? It was taking Tori longer than he had hoped, and he feared Josh would report for work and find the woman in his lab. Josh would not be happy. Actually, Josh was seldom happy.

  He had spent most of the morning pondering the Crenshaws’ disappearance and Josh’s potential involvement, wishing desperately the case had fallen to someone else. Halsey had refused to let him back off it. It wasn’t as if Halsey didn’t know about the strained relationship between Gray and Josh. Actually, calling it strained was putting it mildly.

  Halsey was a no-nonsense sort of guy. He had told Gray to get over it and do his job. If Josh was involved, he was involved; if he wasn’t, he wasn’t. End of discussion as far as the sheriff was concerned. He had talked to Halsey about putting Josh on administrative leave until time of death could be estimated and Josh could establish a solid alibi, but the sheriff had been reluctant.

  Despite the open hostility between them, Gray hoped Josh had an alibi.

  The rest of the morning he’d spent thinking about Tori Downing. What had possessed him to sweep his eyes up and down her body and suggest she looked nothing like Barney? Oh, but she was nice to look at. Lovely. Tori was all woman. Curvy in all the right places. He liked the way her long, chestnut ponytail fell over her shoulders and sort of swished back and forth when she walked, strands of reddish brown catching the light.

  They had locked eyes too many times to count. Gorgeous eyes. Almost emerald green. He could have stared into her eyes longer, but doing so had become increasingly more... Something. Intoxicating, maybe. Tori was a woman who couldn’t be ignored, and for Gray, that was dangerous.

  An unexpected jolt of electricity snapped, crackled, and popped when he had touched her cheek. Truthfully, touching her was something he shouldn’t have done. He had failed to keep an appropriate professional distance from the woman. The action wasn’t typically a Gray sort of thing to do. He’d learned over the years how to keep his impulses in check. No, something else had happened there. A sizzle of sexual attraction he couldn’t deny.

  He had brushed her cheek and it was like an electrical charge had danced across the thin connection between her face and his fingers. It had raced down his arm without interruption until he’d felt it clean down to his toes with a decided detour to his manly regions. He had turned away from her so she wouldn’t see the effect the moment had on him. When he’d glanced her way again, she’d moved into the Crenshaws’ bedroom to clean the smudge off her face. A good thing. That had given him time to recover.

  His action and reaction had confused him greatly, and he didn’t like that. He preferred this to be this and that to be that. No shades of gray. That was the kind of guy he was. Becoming involved with a co-worker was definitely a dark shade of gray.

  He stared at his computer screen in a semi-fog. His concentration was off, but he had gone without sleep before and not had this kind of intense physical reaction. Something was wrong, and he wondered if he was coming down with a cold.

  He absently reached for his favorite mug, held it to his mouth, and sipped nothing. Empty. That meant another trip to the coffee pot. When he glanced toward the small break room to remind himself just how far his desk was from the caffeine, he spotted Josh moving across the open work area, slowly approaching his desk. Even at a distance, the hangover was obvious in the red fleshy folds around Josh’s eyes. He hadn’t consumed enough beer the previous evening to look so decimated in the morning. Had Josh kept drinking after Gray had taken him home?

  Josh dropped into a nearby task chair and rolled closer to Gray’s desk. “I’ve been thinking...”

  No way Josh had done much thinking in his condition. “About what?”

  Josh lowered his voice to a whisper. “About Sam Richards and old man Cooley.”

  Gray and Josh had seen Richards and Cooley at the barbeque joint the day before. There was no good reason for Richards to meet Cooley in such a clandestine way. Richards was law enforcement. Cooley was a meth cooker. Josh had wanted to follow them, but Gray hadn’t thought that was a good idea. Especially since he was tired and wanted to go home.

  He hadn’t gotten to do that. Instead he’d had to go to the Crenshaw trailer.

  Gray tensed and glanced around the room. “What about them?” Accusing another deputy of suspicious behavior was shaky territory.

  Josh licked his lips before he continued. “I read an article on the internet about this guy in Tennessee that set up his lab in a cave. Come on, Gray. Think about it. What better place to hide a meth lab than in a cave? Out of sight of your neighbors. Naturally hidden from view. Away from anyone who might notice strange activity. It’s practically perfect.”

  “There is no good place to hide a meth lab—”

  “You’re not getting my point. A cave would be perfect with proper ventilation. Those caves beneath the mountain would surely connect the Cooley place to the Standridge place.” Josh leaned forward. “You said you thought Sam Richards was related to the Standridges, didn’t you? Well, is he?”

  Gray turned his monitor toward Josh, revealing the Standridge family genealogy he’d been working on.

  Josh studied the chart. “Well, there you go? That’s why Cooley and Richards are so tight.”

  Josh was jumping to some big conclusions, but considering Richards’s odd behavior lately, maybe Josh wasn’t far off base. Gray rose from his chair and Josh mirrored his action. They faced each other while Gray considered his options. Josh bounced on his toes as if he was ready to spring into action.

  “You want to go with me out to Laurel Heights? I want to talk to Laurel Standridge again.” He needed to get Josh out of the office while Tori was working the Crenshaw case in his lab.

  Josh smiled. “Yeah, you know I do.”

  For a moment, it almost seemed as if they were a team again. He let the moment pass without comment. He and Josh might never completely mend the trust that had been broken between them.

  “So what did you find out at Courtney’s...the Crenshaw place?”

  Gray had been wondering when Josh would get around to asking. “Why should I tell you?”

  “Why’d you pull me off it? Don’t you think I want to know?”

  “I think you should stay away from Courtney Crenshaw.” He answered slow and emphatic, hoping Josh would understand without him having to explain it and perhaps start a fight.

  He wanted to get back out to Laurel Heights, and he didn’t want to have to wait until the impending argument ran its natural course before heading that way. Because of the paranormal activity, he wanted Josh to go with him. He had a feeling deep in the pit of his stomach that what was happening at the Standridge place was not the fun and gam
es that he and Josh had indulged in earlier in their paranormal investigations career...if you could call it a career.

  “Aw, come on, Gray,” Josh sputtered, apparently reading into Gray’s statement everything there was to read. “You know I didn’t have anything to do with that. I want to find her as much as—”

  “You mean them? They both disappeared. They are a them. Not just a her.”

  Did Josh know that Jared was dead? It didn’t appear that he did. Gray hated doing it, but he kept the discovery of Jared’s body to himself for a little while longer, just to see if Josh would slip up and reveal he had prior knowledge of the man’s death.

  “Them? I don’t give a rip—”

  “That attitude won’t help you.”

  Josh sulled up. His fists clenched at his sides. His mouth moved, but no words poured forth.

  Gray kept his tone even, but it wasn’t easy. “I’m trying very, very hard right now to remain objective. I’m trying to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

  “This has nothing to do with me and you, so lighten up.”

  That wasn’t what he meant at all. Maybe Josh was a lot more innocent than he appeared.

  “No. It doesn’t, but it might have everything to do with you and Courtney.” Gray leaned across the desk so the whole office couldn’t hear what he had to say next. “There aren’t very many people who know about that. Don’t you want to keep it that way?”

  “That happened over six months ago, and you know he lied about that.” Josh’s neck was turning fifty shades of crimson.

  “Do I?”

  Jared Crenshaw had accused Josh of raping his wife. Claimed he’d caught him in the act. Fortunately for Josh, Sheriff Halsey knew Jared was lying, and Courtney had refused to back Jared’s story up. Wouldn’t file charges against either man even though it was obvious one of them had attacked her. Six days later, Jared nearly beat Josh to death. Josh still walked with a slight limp.

  “Are you calling me a liar?”

  Those were fighting words, but Gray had a bad habit of refusing to back down from a fight. “Well, it wouldn’t be the first time you’ve bent the truth, would it?” He regretted the jab the moment it left his mouth.

  Josh flew around Gray’s desk, a sudden and intense reaction he hadn’t anticipated, but probably should have. Josh’s fist caught the corner of his eye, and Gray slammed back into his chair with the sudden impact. He jumped to his feet and swung, missing Josh as he ducked. Josh’s head hit the corner of the desk, and he cried from the impact.

  Sheriff Halsey was in the middle of their fight before either of them realized he was a witness to the altercation.

  “What’s going on here?” The fire in the sheriff’s eyes suggested he was well aware of why they were tossing punches at each other.

  Gray backed up a step giving Josh space to push past Halsey and hurry from the room.

  Halsey stared at Gray with a question in his eyes. “I can guess what that was about.”

  “That’s why I didn’t want to work this case. I shouldn’t be involved.”

  “You’re exactly who needs to be involved with this. No one else would give him the benefit of the doubt. Every one else would have already lynched him.” Halsey made a disgusted noise. “I’ll put him on administrative leave.” He pointed at Gray’s face. “You’d better get that looked at.”

  Blood dripped onto his desk. Gray pressed his fingertips against the sting of a fresh cut on his lower lid and headed toward the men’s room.

  ****

  Tori found a seat in the back of an old fashioned diner that served chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes. A very southern menu. It wasn’t her kind of food, but she wasn’t in the mood for a burger. She was getting sick of the fare at the few chain restaurants in town.

  A group of women entered the restaurant after her and took a table next to hers. She recognized them. Several of them worked for the Sheriff’s Department, but they didn’t appear to notice her.

  Maybe they don’t recognize me. Maybe they don’t want me to know they recognize me. They must think...

  Stop it, Tori! Stop being paranoid. Enough speculation about what other people think.

  In Hill County, she felt invisible most of the time. That made her feel insignificant, but after the rumors and harsh criticism she’d endured in Little Rock, maybe that wasn’t a bad thing.

  The women at the next table chatted about everything, loud enough that Tori heard every, single, ugly character-bashing word. They weren’t leaving anybody out of the discussion. It was a nasty little gossip fest.

  “I heard Caroline was back.”

  “Oh no. That can’t be good. Does he know?”

  “She’s such a bitch.”

  “Someone saw her down by the lake—”

  “She was such a bitch. I feel so sorry for him. And to come back like that... She’s such a...bitch.”

  “You said that already.”

  “Well, she is.”

  “Hush. There he is.”

  She turned to discover the object of their pity and was surprised to see Grayson entering the diner. He headed straight for the end of the room where the gossipmongers were located. Had he heard or sensed their conversation? Would he confront them?

  To her horror, he passed them, stopped next to her table, and stared down at her. “I heard from Epps.”

  The conversation at the next table halted.

  He had a fresh cut under his right eye. Someone had patched him up with two neat stitches. He hadn’t been sporting the rough and tumble look the previous night.

  She hadn’t meant to ask, but the words scrambled out of her mouth before she could stop them. “What happened to you?”

  He didn’t flinch. “May I?” He pointed at the seat across from her.

  She nodded without thought. Then wished she hadn’t. She was sure the table next door was noticing Grayson’s every move, and would no doubt note that he was sitting down to eat with the new woman in town. But then if she’d said no, that would have given them even more to talk about.

  She stared at him as he lowered himself into the chair across from her, still focused on the stitched up wound on his otherwise handsome face. “So?”

  He cleared his throat. “I...um...confronted someone this afternoon and it didn’t go well.”

  “And?”

  “I ran into his fist.”

  Then, her eyes widened as she realized what he was saying. “Oh.” The fist belonged to the man he suspected in the Crenshaw case. She tilted her head sideways. “That had to hurt. Looks nasty.”

  “I’ve had worse,” he mumbled.

  “I’m sure you have.” The scar on his forehead was probably left over from a very interesting story.

  “I’m not sure what you meant by that, but I’m gonna overlook it.”

  “That’s the first thing.”

  A smile played at the corners of his mouth. “The first thing what?”

  “That you’ve overlooked.”

  He grunted and shook his head in apparent amusement. “What are you ordering?”

  “I don’t know. What’s good here?”

  “Nothing, but order the chopped sirloin. It’ll give you the least heartburn. I’ll give you some antacid. I keep a bottle in my desk drawer.”

  She smiled and shook her head. “I…uh…should have some preliminary results by the end of the day, but I haven’t discovered much that would be useful...under the circumstances.” She hoped she wasn’t saying too much.

  “We can discuss it when we get back to the office.” His eyes darted toward the quartet of gossips at the next table. “I’ll wait until then to tell you what Epps said.”

  She received his warning loud and clear and bit her bottom lip when she realized she still hadn’t told him about the truck she saw leaving the Crenshaws’ place. Now wasn’t the time. He’d just set the limits on how much they could discuss about the case in public.

  He glanced up at the waitress named Janice, who seemed to
have appeared out of nowhere. Janice didn’t speak for a moment, apparently waiting for them to finish their discussion. Grayson smiled at the woman as if he knew exactly what she was doing.

  “I’ll have the chopped sirloin and sweet tea.”

  Tori mirrored his obviously faked smile. “Me, too.”

  When the waitress didn’t budge, Tori glared at her. Janice twirled on her heel and left in a huff, as if they had offended her by not allowing her to eavesdrop on their private conversation.

  After they ordered, they remained silent until the waitress had deposited their food in front of them. Grayson would grin at Tori every so often, as if he knew the gossips were about to burst due to their lack of stimulating conversation. After his entrance they had ceased their chatter. An unnatural quiet hung over the diner.

  He cut his meat into tiny pieces before he took the first bite and chewed with a thoughtful expression. Then he hit her with an unexpected comment. “I heard you were buying Victoria House.”

  Her fork paused mid-air, dangling a chunk of gravy-coated chopped steak. “Victoria House?” Her stomach lurched. Even though she’d never heard it referred to that way, he had to be talking about her grandmother’s house.

  “The old Hamilton place out on Lake Jefferson.”

  A question danced in his eyes, but she was unsure what he was asking.

  “Oh. I didn’t know it was called Victoria House.”

  “There’s been some talk you were buying it because you have the same name.”

  She cringed. Most definitely not. Why would she buy a place simply because she had the same name? That was stupid and she hated the name Victoria.

  “McCord told me you were going to turn it into a wedding chapel or something like that.” He waited a moment before voicing his next observation with a twinkle dancing in his blue eyes. “I think I can understand it if you’re going to turn it into a business venture. Otherwise... Living there alone... Kind of a big place for one person.”

  What was the man doing? Surely, he knew the gossip mill wouldn’t hesitate to broadcast her business to the entire town. She wanted to kick him under the table, but he’d probably ask her loudly why she had and that would just make the situation worse.