“Paired with what you found in Walker’s man cave—the bundle of cash and all those maps—what was the motive? The cash or the treasure?”
“Gotta be the hope and lure of Nazi gold. Hugo’s name—old German sailor with supposed firsthand knowledge—was all over Walker’s notes.”
“Which means we have a lot to share with Dack.”
“Like a bargaining chip? What do we get out of it? I’m not sure I want to share anything with Dack if there’s a hint of truth that his own office is holding back. What if they’re in on it? Or getting paid off?”
“Now you are sounding paranoid.”
Garret twisted in his seat. “There’s a reason for that.”
“So what do you suggest we do? Hold back, too? I’m not sure that will get us anywhere. We have to trust Dack to do his job, Garret. We have to.”
“Okay. You’re the pro here. I’m trusting you to know what you’re doing.”
Anniston noted they were getting close to the rest stop and put on her blinker to exit. She headed into the parking lot, spotted Dack’s car. “He’s already here.” She glanced at the digital clock. It read 7:03. “We’re only a couple of minutes late.” But just when she made the turn into one of the slots, her headlights shined a beam on someone lying in the dirt. “What is that?”
She saw his head, the blond hair, and the blood. “Oh my God. Is that Dack? He’s down. Call 911!”
She started to bolt out of the vehicle but Garret grabbed her arm. “Wait a damn minute! Make sure there’s no one else around first.” He tried to scan the length of the lot but the fog made it impossible to see farther than twenty feet.
Anniston’s hands were shaking when she snatched up her weapon and threw open the door. She stepped out into the mist and haze, hunched down next to the Crown Victoria using it for cover.
Garret skirted the front of the SUV, dropping down beside her next to the wheel well. He kept low trying to pick up any movement at the end of the parking lot. “I think they’re gone.”
He hoped like hell he was right as he inched through the mud toward Dack’s body. Once he reached him, he used his fingers to try and find a pulse, checking Dack’s wrist and his throat. When he detected nothing, he took out his cell, punching in the numbers for help.
By this time, Anniston had also crouched next to Dack’s body.
“He’s gone, Anniston,” Garret said quietly as he tried to pull her back.
“How did they know he’d be here?” she said, sobbing. “I didn’t tell anyone about the meeting. Did you?”
“Not a soul.” Heartsick, Garret told her, “They probably followed him out here, maybe hoped all three of us would show up at the same time. They must’ve been disappointed when we were late.”
For the next few minutes, Garret dealt with the emergency dispatcher, explaining the situation.
After that, the rest stop erupted in a chaotic scene. The EMTs showed up first, followed by a succession of Florida state troopers, followed by scads of crime scene people.
Garret and Anniston were pushed back to the entrance. They watched from that distance for another three hours while the crime scene crew collected evidence and took photographs of the entire area around Dack’s body.
Garret couldn’t help it. As he stood there studying law enforcement’s reaction to the death of one of their own, he noted the difference. Four members of his family had died. But their murders had failed to garner this type of attention from the cops. He could only hope if anything at all came from Dack’s death, it would be that it shook things up.
He decided the promise he’d made to keep quiet had come to an end, because now he intended to tell his brothers about what he knew. There was no longer a reason to keep it quiet.
When Garret spotted Sinclair making his way to where they were standing, he decided he could afford to play it with attitude. “Isn’t this is a little out of your jurisdiction, Chief? We’re at least fifteen miles out of the city limits. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in bed by now or maybe protecting the mayor from his constituents?”
“I came out here to ask what you two are doing way out here with a dead investigator.”
Garret shook his head. “Sorry. No can do. I promised that trooper over there I’d wait around and give my official statement to the state police. Looks like you’re out of luck, Chief. But I’m sure there’s still time for you to harass the common folk, maybe make sure Oakerson is tucked up for the night and doesn’t have to answer bothersome questions from the voters.”
Garret took some satisfaction from the glower Sinclair sent him. He tightened his hold on Anniston as they made their way toward the car.
Later, after the adrenaline faded, and Garret had crawled behind the wheel of the Explorer to take them back to town, Anniston found her heart actually aching.
“The sight of Dack lying in the mud, face down is something I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.”
He squeezed her hand. “I know it hurts. I wish I could take the pain away.”
“Back there as we waited, I made a promise to him. I’ll solve this case or die trying. I refuse to let his death be in vain. Dack must’ve been getting close to something, Garret. It’s the only reason they’d risk taking him out like they did.”
“I know that. It could’ve been us face down in the dirt, as well.”
“I’ll have to go see his girlfriend Shonna. Will you go with me?”
“Sure. When?”
“I think it should be soon, maybe tomorrow.”
“Are you sure you’re okay enough to do that?”
“I have to be.” She sniffled and laid her head back on the headrest. “I think I’m coming down with a cold.”
He stroked her hair, curled in ringlets around her face from the damp weather. “You know what’s good for that?”
“What?”
“All-night sex.”
It made her smile.
“Seriously though, the best thing for a cold is noodle soup from Lee Fong’s Palace.”
“That does sound good.”
“How about I take you back to the hotel and stop at Fong’s along the way. They’re open until eleven.”
“You’ll stay with me tonight, won’t you?”
He leaned over the console, placed a kiss on her brow. “Absolutely.”
Back in Anniston’s hotel room, Garret recognized the shock hadn’t yet worn off. He got the shower running and helped her peel out of her clothes. He made sure she was settled, gave her enough time under the hot spray to let her emotions play out before stripping off his clothes and joining her.
As the water sluiced over their bodies, he held her while her shoulders shook and the tears came again.
“I’m sorry. I don’t seem to be able to stop.”
“Shhh, it’s okay. If only I could take the pain away, I would.”
“You’re doing great. You’re here with me and that’s what counts. This is how you’ve been feeling these past weeks, isn’t it? I’m so sorry. I’m sorry if I’ve been anything but supportive to you and your family.”
He framed her face in his hands. “Where’s this coming from? You’ve been great. I think your grieving process is kicking in and doesn’t know exactly which way to take you.”
“I know. I’m having a hard time trying to balance the sadness with the anger I feel. If these assholes think they can kill a cop, a man that was my friend, I’m going to show them different.”
“I’m counting on it.” He nibbled gently at the corners of her trembling mouth, drew her into a slow, simmering kiss. “All I can do is try to make you feel better, take your mind off what you saw tonight.”
He slathered fragrant soap along her tense shoulders, worked the foam down to her breasts. His hands massaged her knotted muscles.
She let out a moan as she began to relax and let her mind drift to other things. She took her turn, running her hands along his chest and down across his firm ass, enjoying the feel of each toned
muscle.
Lathering each other became secondary.
His blood scorched with need. His teeth scraped over her breasts. On a sigh and a hurried clip of breath their bodies joined. With the scent of vanilla and jasmine hanging in the air, against a slippery shower wall, he pumped everything he had into the moment. And could only thank God when they dragged each other through the blinding light.
Chapter Sixteen - Heat
Garret had a rough night sleeping. He wouldn’t admit it to Anniston, but he kept picturing Dack’s vacant eyes and the way they’d stared back at him. It was the first dead body he’d ever seen up close. He hoped it would be his last. In death, Dack’s face reminded him of what his sister and her children must’ve endured, how they must’ve looked inside that barrel. It was a disturbing thought that left him unable to think straight.
Anniston’s eyes popped open to the unmistakable warmth of a male body nestling against hers. Last night he’d been there for her. When she’d needed to forget, he’d seen to it. He’d done things with his mouth that had made her unable to think. It was exactly what she’d needed.
When she realized he was already awake, she ran her hands along his chest, toyed with a few hairs. “Thank you.”
Garret nuzzled her throat. “Now that’s one way to start a morning. Grateful. What did I do?”
“You stayed with me and helped me get through the night.”
“Let’s see, I got sex out of the deal, multiple times. I showered with a beautiful woman, slept beside her. I’d say I’m the one who should be thankful.” He fixed his mouth to hers and worked out a nice little hum of appreciation. “So how do you like your eggs? I’m starving.”
“The kitchen downstairs makes a delicious eggs benedict. I’ll take that.”
As she made a mad dash to the bathroom, he picked up the phone on the nightstand, placed the order. “And could you send up some aspirin with that? Thanks.”
He hung up, crawled out of bed and yanked on his pants. A drumming headache forced him to take a seat on the bed. He had to tell his family about the speeding minivan and the burglar alarm. It didn’t seem to him that the madness would ever end.
When she came back into the bedroom, she dropped down beside him and took his hand in hers. “I just realized something. Death makes you face the fact that life is far too short. Dack didn’t wake up this morning with Shonna, didn’t get to make love last night like we did, didn’t get to eat his supper or have a night to himself to relax.”
Garret nodded, still feeling a bit dazed. “I keep thinking that of all the siblings, Livvy had it made. She seemed to be living the most normal life. Do you have any idea how difficult it is for me to learn the secrets she carried around? I always thought of her as the typical, busy soccer mom with two kids. Now it seems I discover her life was anything but normal or typical.”
“It’s hard to accept that these were regular people—Livvy, two little kids, Ryan, Dack—and now they aren’t here anymore.”
He put his arm around her. “I think we have to stop putting them up on a pedestal. Livvy, Walker, Dack, they were just people going about their everyday lives doing the best they could to get through it.”
“Until they crossed paths with their killer. Yesterday I sent off the tissues that I took out of Dandridge’s wastebasket to the lab. They should know something the first of next week. Hopefully, we’ll get a hit in CODIS as to Dandridge’s true identity.”
“That’s another thing about coming back here where I grew up. I used to think this place was the classic small town, a place where the likes of Jimmy Stewart would fit right in. Now, I have to accept that the town’s obviously been hiding felons for years.”
“Is anything really what it seems?” Anniston asked, as her cell phone chimed with a text message. “My brother’s ETA is about fifteen minutes away.”
Garret got to his feet. “Then I’ll head on out and give you some time to get him up to speed. Why don’t you bring him by the house later and we’ll brainstorm about the next step.”
“It sounds like you’re leaving.”
“I think it’s best. Offer him my breakfast. I need to head home anyway and play catch up with my brothers. They’ll need to know the blow-by-blow details from last night. And I have a lot of errands to take care of before the memorial service.”
Sebastian Marcelli rolled into town in a pissed off mood. It wasn’t every day he lost a friend like Dack. The two had gone to high school together, played sports together, had lost their virginity within weeks of each other.
A good cop had been executed, plain and simple.
Sebastian wanted to get his hands on the person responsible. He drove to the Mainsail Lodge in a Ford Explorer similar to the one his sister owned. According to her, it’d be a waste of time to stop and have a chat with the chief of police. Anniston had emailed him the dossier on Sinclair. It was an ugly history she’d uncovered showing Sinclair’s time spent with the highway patrol had been anything but heroic.
When he walked through the double doors to check in, he was surprised to see Anniston waiting for him in the lobby.
She took one look at the guy with the dark hair that matched hers—he still wore it cropped in a longer version of a police cut, but today he’d stuck a Marlins baseball cap on his head, and little tufts of wispy strands poked out. He’d turned the cap around, probably to look cool, she noted, as she threw her arms around her big brother’s neck. “You’re early. I’m guessing it’s because of what happened to Dack.”
He picked her up off the ground and whirled her around. “Good to see a welcoming committee. After you talked about this place I wasn’t so sure what kind of reception I’d get.”
“Most everyone’s nice.” She pointed to the cute redhead behind the front desk. “That’s Molly Flax, she’s a sweetheart. You’ll find most of the locals friendly. But a few are downright…”
“Killers? I get that. After your phone call last night, I tried to sleep. I couldn’t. So I got up at three this morning, threw my stuff in a suitcase and drove the six hours straight through from Daytona.” He cocked his head to study his sister. “You look less stressed than I thought you would.”
Anniston decided it was too soon to tell him about Garret. Instead, she led him to where Molly could check him in and waited around while he went through the process of handing over his credit card. “You did ask for a room near mine, right?”
Sebastian gave the attractive clerk the once over. “You’ll have to ask this beautiful lady.”
Anniston watched young Molly’s face blush crimson. “You watch out for this Italian charmer, Molly. Promise me you won’t go giving the likes of him your heart.”
Molly’s eyes twinkled with delight, enjoying the flirtatious attention. “I put you on the same floor down at the end of the hall. It’s quieter.”
“Appreciate it,” Sebastian said. “Is everyone around here as pretty as you are?”
Molly blushed and handed over his cardkey. “If you need anything you let me know. I’m on until three.”
Anniston shook her head and led him to the elevator. “What are you gonna do if Molly shows up outside your door wearing nothing but her raincoat?”
“Ah. That case in Pensacola really heated up after that.”
She punched him in the arm. “No distractions. Breakfast is on its way up. I thought we could sit down over food and I’ll tell you what I know.”
“I talked to Dack’s supervisor, Paul Briggs. He’s as broken up about the murder as we are.”
“That’s odd because Dack mentioned his captain wasn’t exactly supporting his efforts down here.”
Sebastian sent her a strange look just as the elevator came to a stop on the third floor. “Paul left that part out.”
When they reached her door, she slid her room key into the reader. “I bet he did. Your room is that way, end of the hall. But come on in, breakfast should be up any minute.” After getting settled, she went into a catalog of the crime scene, t
rying to think of the smallest detail to share.
Because it was too early for the maid to come around and she hadn’t taken the time to straighten up the bed, it was as messy as when she and Garret had crawled out of it. Sebastian seemed to take notice.
“You weren’t alone last night.” It wasn’t a question. He cocked a brow, stared at his sister. “Not at the rest stop either. You took the client with you to meet with Dack? Why?”
“One of them. And he wanted to go.”
His forehead creased into frown lines. “Are you having trouble with the case because you’re already sidetracked with this particular client?”
“Sidetracked? I’m not.”
“Are you certain? Because it’s difficult to maintain focus when you’re involved. You’re sleeping with this guy, aren’t you?”
“That’s unfair. And don’t start with me,” Anniston tossed back. “You’ve been here five minutes and formed an opinion already. It’s none of your business.”
“It might be if you’ve been distracted. Maintaining a relationship takes all kinds of added energy and always takes away from the case. And this case might be one for the record books. Even Dad says so. Any time my partner doesn’t keep her eye on the ball, it’s cause for concern.”
“Oh stuff it. If you’re hinting I won’t have your back because of Garret, that’s ludicrous. You’re completely off base. And I resent the implication. Try to start that crap with me and you can just head on back to Miami without bothering to unpack.”
His lips curved up. “That’s more like it. That’s the fiery emotional heat I expect to see out of a Marcelli. Anything less and I start to worry. Do I need to have a brotherly talk with this treasure hunter?”
“What?” She laughed at that about the same time there was a knock on the door, indicating breakfast had finally shown up.
The Indigo Brothers Trilogy Boxed Set Page 51
