As a drug-sniffing K9 in training, it could mean only one thing. “We’ve been set up.”
EIGHT
Nick grabbed a couple of tissues and used them to prevent leaving fingerprints as he pulled the drawer open. Two small bags of white powder and two syringes sat neatly inside. He suspected it was several hundred dollars’ worth of heroin. He stepped backward. “I can’t believe this.”
“Please don’t tell me it’s what I think it is.” Alexis ran to his side and put a hand over her mouth.
Raven put her nose to the carpet and pulled him through the connecting door into his own hotel room. He let her lead until she sniffed near the refrigerator and stood on her hind legs, her nose up in the air. She sat down and sneezed.
Odd. He opened the minifridge. Nothing.
“We need to get out of here, Nick.” Alexis stood in the doorway with her backpack slung over her shoulder. She looked past him to his desk and strode across the room. “Your sketch is gone, too.”
Great. Hours of work, stolen. Nick pulled open the microwave. Nothing there. Maybe Raven had lost her touch, but she lifted her head again as if pointing. “If someone is framing me, I’d like to know exactly what I supposedly did.”
On the countertop, he used the tissues again as he opened the lid of the coffeemaker where the water was to be poured. A clear glass vial about three inches long was propped up on its side. He reached for it and stopped. He leaned forward and squinted at the printed label. “Carfentanil.” A wave of nausea rushed through him at the sight. He blew out a breath and closed the lid softly. “We need to go into the hall.”
In veterinary school, he’d handled the drug only once. And even then, they wore protective outer coverings, masks and goggles. One drop of pure, undiluted carfentanil, either inhaled or touched had the potential to kill multiple people. He’d heard that there was a new trend for drug dealers to lace heroin with fentanyl, another dangerous and potentially deadly opioid, but carfentanil was an entirely differently matter. “Call the police.”
“I did, remember? They’re already on their way, but they’re not coming to help us, Nick. I have a feeling all these little presents we’re finding are connected to Theres—” Emotion overtook her voice. She shook her head. “Let’s go.” She picked up the duffel bag of her dad’s clothes, zipped it and threw it at him.
He lunged for it and caught one of the handles with his left hand. “Careful! If that had hit the coffeemaker, we’d have much bigger problems. At least the vial is closed. We should just tell the police what happened.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Do you think you’re going to have a chance at winning the mayor’s office if you’ve been arrested for drug possession?”
“But I’m not possessing it! And I think it’ll hurt my campaign if I leave.”
She flicked her index finger at him. “You have the means and the opportunity.”
“No motive!”
“No? Seems to me you tried to pin this on our current mayor?”
“I did no such thing.”
“I believe you, but I’m trying to show you what could happen.” She shoved her index finger toward her collarbone. “And I’m a lawyer who has been working entry-level jobs and probably needs to sell this heroin for the money. See? I’m telling you, they’ve got enough to hold us. I say we be proactive and clear our names. Let’s at least go somewhere we can sketch out this scout picture and then regroup. I’m not waiting around for them to decide we should be arrested. If they come to that conclusion, hopefully I’ll have found something to clear our names by then.”
Her reasoning was attacking his first instinct to stay and reasonably plead his case to the local authorities. She strode past him and opened the door. “I’m going with or without you. I need to know who is behind this, for Theresa’s sake.”
He followed her to the stairway. “At the very least, will you call the police and be up front about what we found? Pass on the strict instructions on how to handle the carfentanil. They could die packaging the evidence if they decide to open it and take a sniff.”
She eyed him for a second. “You can talk to them in the car.”
They raced downstairs and out the back door. “What I don’t understand is how someone found us,” he said. “We were very careful to make sure no one followed us here.” He barely made it inside the vehicle before she turned the key in the ignition. She sped through the parking lot and turned into a back alley.
Gravel pummeled the bottom of the car, making rattling noises as she drove. “Two thoughts come to mind,” she said. “Someone might’ve recognized my parents’ sedan in the parking lot.” She shook her head. “But that seems very unlikely to me. It’s been in the garage for months, and they don’t so much as have an air freshener hanging from the mirror. No identifying factors unless someone has the resources to look up license plates easily.”
“The mayor makes that a possibility.”
“Nick, you’re starting to sound like a broken record. The chief isn’t the mayor’s puppet. More likely, my high school reunion in the lobby was cause for gossip, despite asking my so-called friend to keep it quiet. In this town, it’s hard to keep a secret.” She inhaled and shook her head. “I should’ve known.”
Nick wondered if she’d had secrets of her own spread through town before. He didn’t come from a small town, but he knew the same could be true of the little communities within cities, especially in a college setting.
He knew from experience, and he never wanted to be the source of that kind of gossip again.
She took a sudden turn, and her eyes focused on the rearview mirror. The force of her turn sent Raven into his lap. He barely kept his head from hitting the side window. “Do you know where you’re going?”
“The only place where no one would think to look.”
“And that is?”
“Raven’s home.”
That would mean going to the handler’s house. “The police said Joe’s in intensive care in Boise.”
She nodded. “I still have the key from when I picked up Raven.”
“That’s probably a good idea. I imagine Raven is pretty hungry by now.”
Alexis paled. “I hadn’t thought of that. I’m such a horrible dog sitter.”
She turned into another alley and barreled past trash cans and bushes until she turned into a small carport and slammed on the brakes. The moment the car was still, Nick moved to check on Raven’s stitches. “Good,” he murmured.
She opened the door for him. “Come on. I don’t want to be out in the open long. I’m sure no one is looking for us yet, but neighbors will take notice if we’re not careful. If the rumor mill starts operating, we’ll be in trouble.”
“I have nothing to hide.” He stood up straight. “And I’m not going to start acting like I do.”
Alexis stepped up to the back door and unlocked it. Raven tugged on the leash, and Nick let her lead the way. Sure enough, she ran for the full food dish set beside the washing machine.
He closed the door behind him. In the modest but clean home, the room adjoining the laundry room was filled with dog toys and training tools. Alexis made a beeline to the living room, where she found a desk and pulled out papers and pens. “We might not have much time.”
“We haven’t called the police yet,” Nick said.
She took out her phone and pulled up Jeremy’s contact information. “I think I’d rather text him right now than give him a chance to tell me to come in.”
Nick looked over her shoulder as she typed:
I called the police when I saw my hotel room was broken into. We spotted planted drug paraphernalia in our hotel rooms and got out of there to let police handle it.
“Only a lawyer would type out paraphernalia in a text.”
She eyed him. “Do you want to do thi
s?”
Nick tried not to smile at her response. The day had been filled with sorrow and stress. He needed to control his coping instincts to deflect and joke around. Especially since he enjoyed teasing her entirely too much. He dictated the important pieces of information as she texted:
Check the coffeemaker but wear protective goggles and gloves. We haven’t touched any of it.
Her phone buzzed right after she pressed Send.
Where are you now?
She clicked the phone off. “I’m not going to give him a chance to tell me something I don’t want to hear.”
His gut turned to stone. She’d shut the phone off on a cop.
She gestured to the dining room table. “I think we should get drawing.”
His nerves were shot. He rummaged in the cabinets until he found a drinking glass and got himself some water. Surely Raven’s handler wouldn’t mind if he did that. When this was all done, he might even go down and visit the guy in the hospital.
At the moment, it felt like this nightmare would never be finished. He turned around to face Alexis and leaned against the sink. Maybe if they understood why someone would murder her boss, then they would have a clue who planted evidence in their rooms. “Why would someone want to hurt Theresa?”
Alexis let her head drop so that her hair covered her face. At the sound of a sniff, he filled another glass of water and brought it to her. She drank greedily and wiped the gathering tears from her eyes. “I have no idea why anyone would want to.”
She looked on the edge of collapse, but her determined glare made it clear she wouldn’t be taking a rest. He picked up the pen and began sketching again. She followed his example. He took extra care to make it look more like the beady-eyed man who had started this mess and less like a turtle.
Minutes passed with only the sounds of swiping pens on the paper. Alexis straightened and flicked her hair back over her shoulder. Her drawing captured the essence of the man they’d seen. He pushed his paper closer so that they were side by side.
“You got his nose and face shape better,” she remarked.
“But you got the eyes and mouth exactly right.” He passed over his sketch, and they worked for another hour, combining their two sketches and making small changes until they both agreed they had it right.
He stood up, his back tight, and stretched his arms toward the ceiling. “I think that’s the best we’re going to do.”
“Agreed. I’ll send it in.” She turned her phone’s power back on, and it vibrated like crazy. Notifications of text messages and voice mails flashed on her screen. “I’m going to ignore those for a moment.” She aimed the camera’s phone at their artwork and snapped a photo. “Sending this to Jeremy.”
The phone buzzed again. She stared at it. “He’s calling. Should I answer it?”
It’d been only a couple of hours, but Nick was ready to stop hiding. The lack of sleep from the night before was catching up with him. He desperately wanted a nap, and the couch in the living room looked inviting, especially with Raven asleep on the rug in front of it. Sleep often helped him process things, and after the past couple of days, he needed a whole lot of processing. “Yes. Take the call.”
She nodded and pressed the speakerphone.
“Alexis, where’d you get this photo?” An older man’s voice came through loud and clear.
“Chief?” Her eyebrows rose. Apparently the chief had used Jeremy’s phone. “Are you referring to the sketch of the drug scout I sent in?”
“I’m referring to the man I found dead from an apparent overdose twenty minutes ago. They appear to be one and the same.”
Nick grabbed the edge of the chair to steady himself. The scout was dead? It seemed highly unlikely that the scout would die from an overdose. Usually those guys didn’t touch the merchandise so they could be used as chase bait without charges worse than a traffic violation.
Nick leaned over and spoke into the phone. “Did you get the scout’s phone? Could you tell us if he sent our photograph to anyone else? You could figure that out, right?”
The hope that the danger might all be over, that he could begin to rebuild his practice without having to look over his shoulder, filled him with hope.
“Mr. Kendrick is with you, then.” Chief Spencer sighed. “Why don’t you come in, Lexi, and I’d be glad to discuss everything with both of you.”
Alexis pursed her lips and frowned. “Okay.” She hit the End Call button. “Soon,” she added. Her eyes steeled. “If the scout is dead, then why would they plant those drugs in our room? We can’t identify anyone else.”
“Maybe because we spotted the drugs at the mayor’s house? We’re still a threat.”
She worried her lip. “Perhaps...but no, that still doesn’t make sense to me. The mayor isn’t going to get charged with anything. The drugs weren’t there when the police arrived.”
Nick stared at the ceiling. “Maybe Theresa’s killer knew that once an investigation happened, it would become clear that it was murder and not an overdose.”
“Then they would want to misdirect the police. Frame someone.” She leaned forward. “What if the scout didn’t willingly overdose? What if he was killed by the same thing that was sitting in our hotel room?”
He groaned. “Carfentanil.”
She began pacing the room. “Why would the killer want to take out the scout in the first place?”
“Easy. We spotted him, which made him a risk to their operation and expendable. Plus, the killer could’ve seen the sketches in our room when he planted the drugs. Maybe he realized we were getting close.”
She pivoted on her foot and faced him. “So why frame us?”
“Somehow they think we’re still a risk. Maybe we’ve seen something else or—”
“—or might figure something out that they don’t want us to know. I think we need to start by finding Theresa’s mystery man.”
“Won’t the police do that?” Nick asked.
“Not if they take the easy way out and focus on the overdose theory. You said yourself that it looks like an overdose. They won’t act on anything else until an autopsy. It’ll take time for them to figure out it was murder. Thankfully, we’re not waiting in a prison cell on possession charges while they puzzle through it.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “The only way they know there is a mystery man is that I told them. Are they going to believe me after I had drugs in my hotel room?” She shook her head. “Theresa didn’t want the whole town to know she was involved with someone local.”
“It sounds like you knew her well. You must have some idea who she was seeing.”
She shook her head mournfully. “No, but I have an idea of where to start looking.”
* * *
Alexis reached for the leash but didn’t see Nick’s outstretched hand until their fingers bumped over the nylon. Heat rushed up her arm, and she yanked it back. “Probably a better idea for you to take her.” The view from the window showed nothing but bushes, trees and houses. “It’s clear. I’ll drive.”
She drove in silence, taking a roundabout way to Theresa’s house to make sure they weren’t being followed. It was pretty easy as there weren’t many cars on the road. Anyone who hadn’t traveled for the holiday weekend was probably at the End of Summer celebration happening at the park on the outskirts of town.
She took the closest alley to get to the backside of Theresa’s house without using the street. Like many of the older houses in town, Theresa had a carport instead of a garage. The house next door belonged to a family Alexis knew went out of town for every holiday weekend. She parked the car in their carport just in case the police drove by and wondered why there was a car at Theresa’s house.
Nick clicked his tongue and Raven stayed close as they walked together. Nick’s stomach growled so loudly that Alexis flinched. H
is sheepish grin almost gave her the giggles.
“Sorry,” he said. “We missed lunch.”
Judging by the colors in the sky and her hunger pangs, they were getting close to missing dinner, as well. They reached Theresa’s back door, and Alexis stuck her hand into the flowerpot to retrieve the extra key, but her fingertips found only loose soil. She took a knee to make sure she was looking in the right place.
Nick touched her shoulder. “Alexis,” he whispered. “I think someone is already in there.”
“What? Who?”
He shrugged and shook his head.
Her skin electrified as all her senses heightened. Who, other than the police, would be in Theresa’s house? She straightened and tiptoed to the side window. A lone lamp was on, and a shadow crossed the room. “Not the cops,” she whispered.
A guttural sob seeped through the thin windowpane. She met Nick’s alarmed expression. “Someone is hurting in there.” Nick grabbed the doorknob, and it turned easily.
“Wait,” she cried. Raven and Nick rushed ahead of her.
She followed him inside, several paces back. Nick’s spine stiffened as he reached the entrance to the living room. Alexis quickened her pace until she could look around him.
There, in the middle of Theresa’s faded navy couch, Mayor Gerald’s shoulders shook over the teddy bear clutched in his hands as he cried.
“You?” The word slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself.
Gerald startled. His mouth hung open as tears ran down his cheeks. Confusion clouded his features. “Lexi?”
She pushed past Nick and Raven to face him. “You were her mystery guy?” She tried to recall everything Theresa had said about him. “You?” she said again. He was the last person she could imagine with Theresa.
Gerald leaned forward and pulled out a tissue from the box on the coffee table. He wiped his eyes. “I’ve known her forever. I’ve always—” He choked on his words and took several deep breaths. “She was the love of my life.”
Tracking Secrets Page 10
