They had loved her.
She’d be missed.
That said a lot about the woman, whose house they were going to search.
As they stood there, the sheriff walked up, keys in hand. “I hope you didn’t have to wait long,” he offered.
“We didn’t,” Nate admitted.
“Great.”
They couldn’t help but notice his icy demeanor.
The man wasn’t happy to be doing this. They got it, but this was the nature of the beast.
Once on the porch, he unlocked the door. Inside, they split up.
Bishop got the sheriff, because she honestly believed Nate and Luke wanted to torment the hell out of her. As she looked around, he didn’t stop talking.
Joe Gilespie was a pain in her ass.
He asked a million things that weren’t pertinent. Bishop was blocking most of them out.
“I looked you up.”
“Uh, okay,” she stated.
“Your husband is rich.”
“Yeah, and?”
“Why are you really working for the FBI? What’s going on here? None of this adds up.”
She played stupid. “I’ve already told you everything I could, Sheriff. We may have had something like this pop up not that long ago elsewhere. We’re covering our bases. The bureau likes to be thorough.”
He wasn’t buying it.
Later, he’d do a little digging. He’d get to the bottom of this if it was the last thing he did. The more he searched, the less comfortable he felt about all of this.
Something was up.
He was sure of it. His gut was screaming.
“Look what I found,” she said, picking up a packet of matches with her bare hand.
“You just contaminated those,” he stated.
She knew that the killer hadn’t been in there. This psychic wasn’t leaving DNA. She was good.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about it. Nate! Luke!”
The two men came around the corner. “Look what I found.” She tossed him the matches. It didn’t give them a killer, but it substantiated what Molly Sparks had said.
Nate studied them. “It looks like I’m definitely taking a trip to ‘Lucky’s’,” he stated.
“I can join you,” Joe Gilespie offered. “I know everyone who goes there. It’s a small town.”
“Actually, I have it under control. We have to eat, so we’ll stop by for dinner.”
Yeah, and lose the cop.
He was making it hard to investigate. They were already being cautious with their words.
Besides, he had to plan.
He was going to take Avalon. She rarely got out, and he wanted to give her something special to add to her memories of their courtship. They’d be married soon, and he didn’t really get to take her out on a date.
In a town like Happy, he should be able to hide her in plain sight.
“Did you find anything?” Bishop asked.
“Nope. This place is pretty tidy.”
“Brianna was like that,” Joe offered. “She was always someone who liked pretty things. I can’t believe she’s gone. I was just talking to her at the corner store last week. She was buying flower seeds to plant in her garden. This is tough on all of us.”
They didn’t doubt that in the least.
Losing someone you loved was always hard.
“You said your deputies were working on something for us,” Bishop reminded the man.
“Oh! Yeah! I almost forgot. I have a lead for you. I looked into the deaths last year, you know…of the other ladies.”
“We’re with you,” Luke stated. “Go on.”
“Three of them had long term rentals here in Happy.”
Nate wasn’t sure what the hell that meant. “Can you specify a little more?”
“They weren’t from here originally, so they didn’t have homes here. They rented cabins, just like Doctor Faust. They used the same landlord. He actually owns them all, including the one the doctor is staying in too. That’s something that connects them, right?”
It absolutely did.
Avalon said that the killer had to have crossed paths with the women. He didn’t pull them out of the air, so that was another good lead to follow.
Surprisingly, the man had handed them something they could actually use in the investigation.
“Thanks, Sheriff,” Nate said, holding out his hand to shake his. He was trying to play nice, and so far, it was working.
“No problem. I also have the issuance to exhume the last coroner. His widow wasn’t happy, but she let me talk her into it. Let’s just hope Doctor Faust can find something.”
He pulled out the form.
“I stamped it with the coroner’s stamp.”
The irony wasn’t lost on Nate as he read the form. The dead man’s name was at the top, being exhumed, and at the bottom, as the one authorizing it.
In a big city with lots of bureaucracy, that wouldn’t fly. Someone would have flagged it and heads would roll.
“If there’s something to be found, Roxy will find it,” offered Bishop. “She’s a damn good coroner.”
“Yeah, about her. Is she really with child?” he asked.
“Why?”
“Well, I asked her out, and she told me she was pregnant, but she doesn’t look it. Was she trying to ditch me?”
Bishop laughed.
The kicker was that with the old Roxy, she would have jumped the man, used him for one hell of a dick ride, and then DITCHED him.
Now…
She was in love.
It did Bishop’s heart good. She’d known all along that there was someone out there for Roxy—if she gave love a chance. It looked like she was getting her fairytale after all.
“Yeah, she’s pregnant.”
“Where’s the father? What man lets his pregnant woman run loose for months at a time?”
Bishop opened her mouth to tear him a new one, but Luke kicked her in the ankle in warning.
He was right.
That wasn’t their information to tell. If he was going to ask personal questions, it should be directly to Roxy.
“Actually, Sheriff, she’s my best friend and I don’t like talking gossip about her like an old Southern woman on a church Sunday,” she said, adding a drawl to emphasize that she was talking about him.
It shut him up.
“I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“I’m sure you didn’t, but that doesn’t mean I’m going there,” she offered. “I hope you understand.”
“I do.”
Bishop didn’t know what it was, but this man rubbed her the wrong way.
BIG TIME.
“Thanks for your help,” Nate offered, leading them out. He pretty much knew the woman’s house would be a bust, but he did learn something interesting.
“You do a really good accent,” he stated. “My southern momma would be proud,” Nate said, letting the southern slide back into his voice. He and Callie, his sister, were both from the South, and they got it.
“He bugs me.”
“Do you want to talk about it over dinner?” Nate asked, folding the paper up to slip it into his pocket.
Luke stared at him with his mouth open. “Seriously? Did you just ask her out on a date?”
“What?”
“I’m flattered,” teased Bishop.
Nate went red. “Wait! I meant with her and Lucian, and me and Avalon. I figured we could talk.”
Luke got it now, but he still loved busting his ass. It was fun. He loved flustering his best friend.
He started laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Bishop asked.
Luke didn’t answer. What was he going to say? He knew what was coming, and if Bishop and Lucian joined the team, it was going to be interesting.
He couldn’t wait to see Maura’s face.
There was going to be another tough woman in the henhouse. It would never be the same again.
“Well?” she asked.
She stared at Nate. “What the hell does he mean by that?” she asked in confusion.
Nate said nothing.
What could he possibly say?
* * * O R A C L E * * *
Ravenswood
Mayor’s Office
When he answered the phone, he was glad to hear from his ‘guy’.
Good help was hard to find.
Richie was a good man to have around when things needed to be handled.
He was the best at taking care of ‘issues’ that popped up.
This was one of those times.
Silas couldn’t believe that his granddaughter had gotten pregnant. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that big of a shock. He was well aware that she tended to be promiscuous, but there was no one to blame but the filthy asshole son-in-law who molested her, and Silas’s pathetically weak daughter.
It disgusted him.
Now he had to rein in his family as he tried to fix the mess that was brewing.
First, he needed to find Roxanne, and then he needed to figure out who had gotten her with child.
He was going to get to the bottom of this, and fast.
“We found her,” Richie stated over the phone. “She’s in a small town in Texas. She’s acting as coroner there until the town council finds a permanent replacement.”
“Good.”
“Do you want me to go and fetch Miss Roxy, boss?” Richie asked. He wouldn’t mind. He really liked the woman. She was feisty and funny. She made him laugh.
“That’s okay, Richie. I appreciate it, but I’m going to take a trip and bring her home. She’s having a baby, and this isn’t the way a woman behaves. I raised her better than this. If you show, she’ll ride your ass. If I go, she’ll know I mean business.”
“If you need me, sir, let me know.”
“You can do me a favor.”
“What, boss?”
“You just mind the town while I’m gone. You make sure it stays peaceful.”
“On it, sir.”
“Thank you, son. I appreciate your good work. You’ll get your payment.”
“Thanks, Silas.”
He hung up.
Roxanne Marie Faust was a handful, but Silas loved her to death. She needed him. He’d heard it in her voice, and now it was time to fetch her home.
“I'm coming, baby girl. Granddad will take care of this, and once you tell me who got you with child…I’ll take care of him next.”
And he would.
God help the SOB.
He would pay if it was the last thing Silas did on this Earth.
Chapter Ten
Thursday
Late Afternoon
When they arrived back at the cabin, Avalon was inside and she was laughing with Lucian. Both Bishop and Nate looked at each other. Apparently, there had been some kind of joke, and from both of their significant other’s amusement, it had to be a good one.
Nate cleared his voice to get his fiancée’s attention.
Yeah, and to warn the other man he was in the room. Yes, it was a tad bit territorial of him, but Nate had to be himself.
“We’re back.”
At the sound of his voice, she scanned the room for him. “Hello, handsome,” Avalon said, focusing on the familiar aura. She’d know it anywhere. The second he saw her, the colors morphed to match hers.
That’s how she knew they were soul mates.
“Hey, baby.”
When she got up, she was stumbling her way toward him, trying to reach his side. As soon as Nate realized she wasn’t using her gift of utilizing Lucian’s eyes, he went to her.
“Are you okay?”
She went into his arms and felt safe. She’d missed him all day. The calming scent of his cologne helped Avalon find her balance.
“I’m good. I had to go back to being blind to avoid a headache. I didn’t want to be cranky for when you got back. How was your day, dear? Want a bourbon and sex?”
It was so out of the blue and unlike Avalon that he knew where it had originated.
He pointed at Maura. “Stop telling her to say things like that when I get back. Last week it was tequila and a quickie.”
Maura was amused. “I can’t help it. Ask him if he wants a happy ending.”
“MAURA!” Luke and Nate both said at the same time.
She found that amusing, as did Avalon.
“That’s my revenge for the whole anal sex thing. Remember that episode, my friends, where you sicced her on me to explain that one?”
Bishop went to her husband and sat in his lap. She was amused by them. She genuinely liked being around the whole group. There wasn’t one person there that she didn’t like.
That was odd for her.
Plus, they accepted her husband and his gift, she didn’t have to worry about protecting him. That was precious and one hell of a gift.
In fact, he was actually smiling.
Three months ago, both of their lives were vastly different. They were each alone in the world. Now they were forming a circle. She loved every second of it.
Still…
She couldn’t let them know that.
“Hey, babe, this group scares me,” she teased.
He gave her a kiss.
Just that moment of reconnecting was perfect.
“What were you doing while we were out fighting crime?” she asked.
“We both crashed and took a nap, we worked on finding some information, and then we had lunch. That’s about it. Avalon was telling me about the one time when she was put in the closet at the Whitehouse because the president’s wife…”
Maura cleared her throat.
“Classified.”
Avalon grinned, ignoring her friend. “It was after his wife found the secretary in the shower. Jagger was actually in there with me. It was one hell of a fight between them. It took him a week to explain it all to me.”
Nate gave her a kiss.
He could only imagine all of the questions she’d had for him. It probably horrified him. Instead of going there, he tried to focus on work.
“Did you find anything out while you were playing detective?” he asked.
Avalon chimed in, “Maura hates sitting in trees, Lucian is a really sweet guy, and Jagger got laid.”
They didn’t blame Avalon for that one either. They knew who to point the finger at when it came to that kind of language.
“MAURA!”
It didn’t faze the Marine. She simply grinned. “I love my job. Fight fire with fire, my friends.”
It was perfectly timed.
Jagger walked in with Roxy holding his hand. They all looked over at him.
“What?” He looked down at his fly to make sure it was up. “Did I do something?”
Avalon opened her mouth, and Nate did the only thing he could think of. He kissed her to shut her up.
It worked.
“Lucian was about to tell us what he and Avalon found,” Luke said, helping his partner regain control of the mayhem.
Bishop wasn’t letting it go.
It was her duty to ride ass on this one, and Roxy had it coming for all the times she tormented her. “You have brush burn all over your face, Roxy. Did you trip and fall on a Marine?”
Jagger tensed.
He expected her to deny it.
“Yes, and it was the highlight of my day. I suggest you ditch the B.A.S.T.A.R.D and find one of your own. Oohrah!”
Lucian refused to set his wife free.
“I can practically guarantee that is never going to happen, Doctor, and definitely not in this lifetime. She’s married and stuck with me until death do us part. She already promised.”
Yes, yes, she had, and Bishop was more than okay with that. There could be no one else but him in her life.
Jagger relaxed as Roxy wrapped her arm around his waist. He was grateful that she didn’t make what happened sound like a mistake. It was the highlight of his life
.
“What did you all find?” Jagger asked, trying to get them to focus.
Lucian took this one. “We hit up social media, and we found that our dead reporter, Kathleen Hale, was a tad bit crazy.”
“Can you define crazy?” Nate asked. They already had an idea, but he needed confirmation. Social media was a hotbed of information.
He tossed his tablet to Nate so he could read it for himself. He was going to be just as entertained as they were.
Nate skimmed the article.
Well, it was official.
“Yeah, her boss and co-worker said about as much. She was definitely paranoid. We all know that psychics don’t really exist,” he teased.
Avalon giggled and then she grabbed his ass.
He didn’t even complain.
Why would he? She liked touching him, and he loved being touched. It was a win-win for the man.
Bishop grinned. “Yeah, they don’t exist. Meanwhile, we have two really strong ones right here.”
“People like Kathleen grasp at straws,” Maura stated.
Lucian didn’t buy that. In fact, neither did Avalon. “Avi, tell them.”
“In order for her to know that this town is where women are being killed by a psychic, she had to run into our killer. Think about it. She’s number one for this cycle of women. Something tipped her off since she nailed most of it on the head.”
Avalon had a point.
“This cycle?” Jagger asked.
Nate knew where this was heading.
“He’s not likely going to stop. He’s going to get addicted to the deaths.”
Avalon agreed.
Well, that didn’t bode well for Happy at all. The place was a loaded pond with eligible women waiting to be hooked.
Luke knew what that meant.
“Avalon was right. The killer had to have been face to face with them.”
“Or Kathleen was psychic herself. Think about it. Who can pick out a psychic but another psychic?” Avalon asked.
“Can you really pick each other out?” Roxy asked, glancing over at her best friend’s husband. She didn’t hate the man, but she was skeptical of men in general.
They hurt you.
Then she focused on Jagger.
Well, not all of them.
Oracle Saving (The Phoenix Files Book 3) Page 18
