Scene of the Crime

by Carla Cassidy

  “Yes. Ed’s brothers came by to play cards and got snowed in until this morning. I made them a big breakfast of sausage and French toast and the strawberry syrup that’s Ed’s favorite.” She reached a hand up once again to pat her hair and her gaze shifted slightly above Jordon’s head.

  Interesting that she’d used almost the precise same words that Ed had used when he’d described the morning meal. Gabriel would love to get a look at her phone to see how quickly Ed might have called his wife after they’d spoken to him.

  “You do realize we’re searching for the person who has killed three people in cold blood. If you know anything about these crimes or if you’re lying about Kevin and Glen being here last night, you could go to prison for a long time,” Gabriel said.

  Millie shot back in her chair as if he’d physically struck her. Her lower lip trembled slightly, and this time when she reached up to her hair, she grabbed a strand of it and twirled furiously.

  “I’m not a liar. I’m not,” she replied. “I’d never risk going to prison for anyone, especially the likes of those two. Me and Ed, we’re good people.”

  “Sometimes good people make mistakes when it comes to protecting their family,” Jordon said softly.

  “I wouldn’t do that and now I think it’s time you both leave.” She stood and looked at them expectantly...and defiantly.

  The mouse had roared, Gabriel thought. He didn’t know whether to be amused or ticked off. He and Jordon rose from the sofa.

  “Mrs. Rollings, if you know anything about these murders, anything at all, now is the time to speak up,” Jordon said.

  “I can’t help you and if you have any more questions you talk to Ed.” She opened the front door. “Now, please go.”

  “What do you think?” Jordon asked when they were back in the car.

  “I honestly don’t know what to think.” He started the engine and then pulled away from the house. “She might be telling the truth and she might be lying.”

  “Have you heard any rumors about her being an abused wife? Is it possible that she’s scared of her husband and so would say anything to us that he told her to say?”

  “I haven’t heard any whispers of abuse,” he replied. “But you never know what goes on behind closed doors.”

  “True. Maybe we should check with the neighbors. Maybe somebody saw or didn’t see the cars here that would either prove Millie truthful or a liar.”

  It took them almost an hour to check with the other people who lived on the same street as Ed Rollings. Unfortunately, it had been a night where most people had hunkered down and weren’t paying attention to what their neighbors were doing.

  “Now I need to eat,” Jordon said as they drove back toward the main strip. “Breakfast seems like it was served a lifetime ago.”

  “What sounds good?” he asked. Another night in her bed sounded good. Another night of holding her sweet, soft body against his sounded great. “How about a juicy steak?” He hoped his voice didn’t betray his physical frustration.

  “Hmm, perfect,” she replied.

  It was almost six when they pulled into a popular steak house where Gabriel often ate. There were only two cars parked in front of the building despite the dinner hour.

  As they got out of the car, Gabriel was struck by a bone-weariness. Between the trauma of the night before, the shoot-out with Billy and all the other events that had occurred within the past twenty-four hours, it was no wonder he was tired.

  This case was eating him alive, and when he wasn’t thinking about murder, he was thinking far too much about Jordon. Before he’d gone to sleep the night before, he’d been determined to put a little distance between himself and his partner. However, they’d shared another bout of lovemaking in the middle of the night, and so far the distance he’d thought he’d be able to maintain wasn’t happening. Hell, he wanted her again right this minute.

  The owner of the restaurant, Bob Carson, greeted them at the door. “Slow night with the weather, Chief. You’ve pretty much got your pick of tables or booths.” He held out two menus.

  “Thanks, Bob.” Gabriel took the menus and then led Jordon to a booth toward the back of the restaurant. There was only one other couple seated at a table in the same general area.

  They had just gotten situated and peered at the menus when Bob appeared at the booth with an order pad. “My waitresses didn’t show up tonight due to the snow.”

  “Does this mean you’ll also be cooking our meals?” Gabriel asked with a touch of humor.

  Bob laughed. “No. You’re in luck—the chef actually made it in along with one busboy. Now, what can I get for you two this evening?”

  Jordon ordered a strip steak and a loaded baked potato and Gabriel got the rib eye with creamy mashed potatoes. They both ordered soft drinks and then Jordon leaned against the high, red leather booth back.

  She looked achingly beautiful but her eyes appeared tired and slightly hollow.

  “You look exhausted,” he said softly.

  “I am,” she admitted.

  “I think we’ve done enough today. After we eat I’ll take you back to your room, unless you’re finally ready to agree to get a room at another motel,” he said, desperately wishing she would agree to go someplace safe.

  She laughed, the slightly husky sound that stirred him on all levels, and shook her head. “You’re nothing if not consistent, Chief Walters.”

  “Jordon, I care about your safety,” he replied.

  “I care about my safety, too, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to run and hide. Ed fixed the window lock, and if it makes you feel better then you can walk me to my door each night and check the room before I settle in.”

  “Do you have some sort of a death wish?”

  “Of course not,” she replied quickly. “I’ll admit I take some risks, but they’re always calculated ones.”

  Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of their meals. Unlike most of the meals they had shared, Jordon was unusually silent and appeared distracted.

  Gabriel didn’t know if it was because she was tired or if he might have made her angry with his death-wish question. Although he would have liked to prod her into telling him more about herself, about her current mood, instead he gave her space and remained quiet.

  They were halfway through the meal when she placed her fork down and stared at him thoughtfully. “Something has been bothering me all afternoon and I finally figured out what it was.”

  “What’s that?” he asked curiously.

  “Ted.”

  Gabriel looked at her in surprise. “What about him?”

  “I’m just wondering how hard Joan really had to twist his arm to move here.” Her eyes darkened slightly. “I’m wondering what lengths he might go to in order to get back to life in Oklahoma City.”

  Gabriel sucked in a deep breath. Was it even possible? Would Ted sabotage the family business by killing three people in cold blood to ruin his wife’s dream and get her and their children back where he thought they belonged?

  “That’s sick and it’s crazy,” he finally said.

  “I know, right?” she replied. “But we knew we might be chasing crazy. Ted lives right across the street. He’d have access and intimate knowledge of the area.”

  “But he had a solid alibi for Samantha Kent’s murder. He was having breakfast in the dining room with other people when she was killed,” Gabriel protested.

  “The medical examiner only has to be wrong about the time of the attack by twenty minutes or so. That would have given Ted time to stab her, clean himself up and appear for breakfast.”

  She leaned forward, her eyes blazing with the spark of life that had been missing before. “Ed mentioned that he’d told Ted about the window lock not working a month ago and yet he put me in that very room. Why
not one of the other empty rooms? I know we checked into their backgrounds, but we were looking at it from the viewpoint that they were victims. I’m just saying maybe we need to approach an investigation into Ted from a new angle.”

  She picked up her fork once again and Gabriel set his down, his appetite gone as he realized they had managed to take one suspect off their list but had just added another one.

  Chapter Ten

  Another week passed far too slowly. The cases had all gone cold, and although the investigation continued, they were grasping at straws. One of the only good things that had happened was the weather had warmed up and the snow had finally melted away.

  Jordon now sat in the conference room alone. Gabriel was attending to other duties in his office and she’d been reading through the interviews and the background material they’d gathered throughout the past week.

  They’d spoken to Glen’s, Ed’s and Kevin’s neighbors and friends in an effort to get a handle on the three brothers who topped their list of suspects.

  They’d also spent hours on the phone speaking to anyone they could find who had been in Ted’s and Joan’s lives in Oklahoma City before they’d bought the Diamond Cove. This time the investigation wasn’t seeking to find somebody who was an enemy of the couple.

  Much of their efforts had been focused on digging into Ted’s past to see if there was any indication that he harbored a dark and twisted soul. He had no criminal record other than a speeding ticket he’d received four years ago.

  They’d spoken with former coworkers, and Jordon had spent hours digging into social media where he was fairly active. She’d studied his posts and stared at his photos for so long he invaded her dreams, but she’d found nothing out of the ordinary.

  She’d not only delved into Ted’s social media, but had also looked at Joan’s. She’d even been desperate enough to study Jason’s and Hannah’s online presences, figuring sometimes children might share something about family tension.

  Joan had posted fairly regularly when she’d been a teacher but had apparently put her blogging efforts into the official Diamond Cove website when they’d moved here. Her cheerful, inviting blogs had fallen off after the first murder.

  Jason posted irregularly, mostly sharing things that teenage guys would find interesting. He had been unhappy about the move and talked about leaving his friends, but later posts indicated that he’d adjusted okay and had made new friends. Hannah had little social media, which was rather surprising for a fifteen-year-old girl.

  Jordon sighed and cast her gaze out the nearby window where dusk was just beginning to paint the world in deep purple shadows. Another night nearly gone and they weren’t any closer to solving the case.

  However, she had definitely grown closer to her partner. He invaded her dreams, as well. They were not just sizzling erotic dreams, but also sweet and filled with all kinds of wonderful that she knew she’d never have in her real life.

  She’d grown to care about him deeply and she had a feeling he was feeling the same way about her. That only made her need to solve this case more pressing than ever.

  Even though they’d known each other for only a little over two weeks, they had probably spent more time together than most couples who had been married for six months or so.

  They’d learned each other’s little quirks. She knew he liked his burgers without ketchup and with extra mayo and that he refused to drink cold coffee. His energy level fell somewhat in the late afternoons, but he got a second wind after eating dinner.

  Those were just the superficial things she’d discovered about him. She’d also learned he had a kind heart, that he had a secret passion for supporting animal rights and that his eyes softened and lightened in hue whenever he gazed at her.

  The very last thing she wanted to do was break his heart. He was such a good man and he deserved a good woman. As much as she’d like to think otherwise, that woman would never, ever be her.

  A wave of loneliness, of quiet sorrow struck her, piercing through her heart and bringing an unexpected sting of tears to her eyes.

  She’d once had such dreams of sharing her life with a special man. She’d once believed she’d have a husband who would be her soft place to fall, a man who would be by her side until death. But those dreams had been stolen and she refused to believe in anything like that ever again.

  This case was definitely not only getting to her on a professional level, but also on a personal one. Angrily she swiped at her eyes and sat up straighter in the chair. She was good alone. That was the way it was supposed to be and there was no sense getting all teary-eyed about it.

  The conference room door opened and Gabriel swept in, filling the room with his solid presence, with his male vitality. “Now, where were we?” he asked.

  She shoved the files away. “At the same dead end we were at a week ago,” she replied with an uncharacteristic pessimism darkening her tone. “It would be nice if we could just identify somebody with the means and a clear motive, but I’m beginning to wonder if any of our suspects are really good for these murders.” She released a heavy sigh.

  He frowned. “That doesn’t sound like the kick-butt partner I’ve come to know and love.”

  “I guess I’m just not feeling it right now,” she replied.

  “Has all work and no play made Agent James a grumpy woman?”

  “Possibly,” she admitted.

  “My recommendation is we grab our coats, get out of here and go someplace where we can kick back and have a couple of drinks,” he replied.

  She immediately stood and pulled her coat from the back of her chair. “Just lead me to the nearest bar.”

  He grinned at her. “Now, that’s the go-get-’em spirit.”

  Fifteen minutes later he pulled up in front of a small tavern off the main drag. A wooden sign across the doorway proclaimed the place to be Joe’s.

  “I know, it’s a bit of a dive, but it’s my favorite place to come and unwind,” he said as he turned off the car. “The music is low, the drinks are good and strong, and here nobody expects anything from me except that I pay the tab before I leave.”

  “Sounds like the perfect place to end a fairly depressing day,” she replied.

  They got out of the car and he ushered her inside with his hand in the middle of her back. It was just one of many of the casual touches they’d shared since the night they’d made love, but tonight she felt particularly vulnerable and it affected her more deeply than ever before.

  Joe’s held a long polished bar with a dozen stools. Two men sat on opposite sides of the bar and an older man with a graying beard stood behind it and nodded in greeting to them as they entered.

  Gabriel led her to one of the handful of booths where a small bowl of peanuts was the centerpiece. A country song about lost love and a broken heart played on speakers overhead. Jordon took off her coat and then slid into the black leather booth.

  “What can I get for you?” Gabriel asked her.

  She frowned thoughtfully. “A gin and tonic with a twist of lime,” she finally replied. She didn’t want a civilized glass of wine. She wanted...needed something stronger to take the edge off her uncharacteristic blue mood.

  She watched Gabriel as he walked to the bar. It wasn’t her growing feelings for him that had her so discouraged. It wasn’t, she told herself firmly.

  The real problem was that she was afraid she’d be called back to Kansas City before they caught the bad guy. The job was the only successful part of her life, and she was afraid she’d leave here as a failure, and she’d already been a failure in so many other areas of her life.

  He returned to the booth with their drinks and sat across from her. “What is your poison tonight?” she asked.

  “Scotch and soda. My father introduced me to the pleasure of fine scotch when I got old enough to have
an occasional drink with him.”

  “You’re close to your parents?”

  “Very,” he replied. “They moved from Chicago to Florida several years ago, but they come up to visit me at least once a year and we stay in touch by phone.”

  “They must be very proud of you,” she replied.

  He smiled. “They are, but I think they’d be proud of me no matter what I chose to do for a living.”

  The front door opened and she glanced over to see Glen Rollings come in. The relaxation that had been about to take over her came to a screeching halt as every muscle in her body tensed.

  Gabriel followed her gaze and muttered a small curse under his breath. “What in the hell is he doing here?”

  Glen ambled over to their booth with a wide smile. “What a small world. Chief Walters, I didn’t know we shared the same drinking hole. I was just driving by here and saw your car and thought I’d stop in to say hello.” He winked at Jordon. “Figured I’d take the chance at seeing the hottest woman in town one more time.”

  “Hello and goodbye,” Jordon replied, not attempting to mask her irritation.

  “Move it along, Glen. We’re busy here,” Gabriel said, his eyes narrowed as he glared at the blond-haired man.

  “Jeez, you guys don’t have to be so unfriendly,” Glen replied.

  “We’re both not feeling too friendly right now,” Jordon said.

  “Wow. Okay, then. I guess I’ll just see you later.” Glen turned around and headed for the bar, where he sat on one of the stools.

  “In all the times I’ve been here, I’ve never seen any of the Rollings brothers,” Gabriel said. “I don’t like this sudden appearance.”

  Jordon cast Glen another glance. He had a beer in front of him and was half-turned on the stool so that he could see them. She looked back at Gabriel. “Do you think he followed us here?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe he is a regular here and I’ve just never seen him.” He took a drink and then grabbed a handful of peanuts. “Just ignore him.”

  For a few minutes they sat silently. Jordon felt Glen’s steady gaze on her, making it impossible for her to just ignore him as Gabriel had advised.