“I really like you too.”
I wasn’t sure how long I stood in that same spot after Gabe kissed me soundly before he left. Diva winding herself through my legs finally pulled me back down to earth. “You want to help me clean the kitchen, Diva?” She walked away from me with her tail swishing from side to side. “I take that as a big no. You have some big cat emergency you need to attend to also? Hmmm?” She didn’t dignify my question with a response, although she probably wished she could flip me her middle claw.
After I cleaned the kitchen, I got ready for bed. I said a silent prayer that Gabe and the other officers stayed safe on the blustery night. I replayed the way Gabe told me that he really liked me and remembering the timbre of his voice made my toes curl. I couldn’t fall asleep no matter how many times I told myself that Gabe was a seasoned veteran and knew his job well. I tossed and turned for what seemed like half the night until I heard my phone vibrate on my nightstand with an incoming text message.
Just got home. Wanted you to know I was okay.He hadn’t promised to text when he got home nor did I ask, but I really appreciated his thoughtfulness.
I’m glad you’re home safe. Thank you for telling me.
I put my phone down and nestled back down under the covers. I felt sleep creeping in as my eyelids got heavy. I thought it was amazing how one simple text could have such an impact on me. Then I realized that nothing about mysomethingwith Gabe was simple, but I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.
IMIGHT’VE BEEN BLURRY-EYEDwhen I returned to the station only a few hours after I left it in the early morning hours, but I was happier than I could recall being in a very long time. It seemed like Josh and I were finally on the same page and things were moving forward – where life was taking us, I didn’t know. We finally admitted that we liked each other and that there wassomethingbetween us. Texting him to let him know I got home safe just felt like the right thing to do. Receiving his immediate response, as if he had been waiting to hear from me, warmed me and made it possible to get a few hours of much needed sleep.
The only dark scourge in my life was the unsolved murder of Georgia Beaumont and the attempt on her ex-husband. Attempt, because the tow truck operator discovered that Rocky’s brake lines had been cut when he pulled his car from where he slid off the road and wrapped it around a tree at the bottom of a sharp incline. Rocky was still clinging to life when I showed up back at the station, but it wasn’t looking good for him.
I would’ve loved to pin both things on Jack Wallace, but we could find no hard evidence tying him to either crime. He voluntarily allowed us to look at his phone records instead of making us get a court order. He seemed sincere when he said he didn’t care if his relationship with Rocky was outed. The question was, did Jack feel the same way after he had found out Rocky was sleeping, not only with his wife and him, but Georgia as well?
Adrian and I hadn’t ruled out the use of a burner phone when Wallace’s records didn’t turn up anything suspicious. We had spent days going through the call logs hoping to find a call or text to Andrew Morningside, but we found nothing.
“The only people who might want Rocky dead and have known ties to a dangerous felon are the Wallaces.” Adrian handed me a cup of coffee, which I accepted gratefully. “I’d bet your next paycheck that one of them hired the hit on Georgia and then Rocky.”
“My next paycheck?” I asked.
“I have a baby coming, partner. I can’t afford to bet my paycheck. Sally Ann has huge plans for a nursery and I’ll be damned if I let her down.” Adrian propped up his feet on the desk. “We haven’t interviewed the wife. I think it’s time we did that.”
“I have to wonder if Jack Wallace was Georgia’s first attempt at blackmail or if she had practice.” There had been absolutely nothing in the contents of her safe deposit box that her lawyer turned over to indicate that Georgia had been up to no good. Her entire estate was to be sold with the proceeds going to various charities for children. There seemed to be no one else who might want to hurt Georgia outside of Rocky, Nadine, and the Wallaces.Unless, Georgia had been trying to blackmail someone else. “Georgia had to have a cache of evidence somewhere in that house. Either the vandal found it or it’s still there.”
“There are probably only a few living people who might know the secret hidey holes in that old house.” Adrian rubbed his chin while he thought it over. “Mrs. Honeycutt is definitely one of them, but she certainly would’ve told us something if she knew it.”
“Not if she was trying to protect Georgia’s reputation,” I replied to Adrian. “We might have to get a little tougher with Mrs. Honeycutt.” I knew I’d have to be the one to do it. “The other person would be Nadine, who was Georgia’s personal assistant for a few years, but she’s got her hands full right now.”
“Still, she should want to help find the person responsible for nearly killing her husband,” Adrian replied. “But let’s start with Mrs. Honeycutt.” He cocked his head to the side and asked, “Did you bring your bad cop with you today?”
“Always.”
Adrian called Mrs. Honeycutt and asked her to meet us back at the house. It was easy to convince her we simply needed to be let in the house since the property had been cleared as a crime scene and she was one of the only persons with a key. The other person was Georgia’s attorney, but he wasn’t quick to do anything. As predicted, Mrs. Honeycutt readily agreed to assist us.
Once inside the house, I turned to face her. “Mrs. Honeycutt, you’ve been very helpful to us so far, but I can’t help but feel you’re holding something back.” Mrs. Honeycutt began clutching her pearls nervously so I pressed on, but not as hard as I went on Jack Wallace. I didn’t believe she would require that level on intensity to tell the truth. “Now, it’s come to our attention that Georgia might’ve had possession of some documents that were damaging to certain people’s reputations and they could be the reason for her death.”
Mrs. Honeycutt shook her head hard enough to loosen her bun. “No. Rocky killed her. I just know it.” She wanted it to be so, but that didn’t mean it was. “That’s probably why he wrecked his car while driving drunk.” There had been no alcohol in his system so either she was speculating or that was the early morning gossip. We weren’t sharing with anyone that Rocky’s accident wasn’t an accident at all.
“We’ve been told that some of the documents that Georgia had incriminated Rocky in illegal activity,” Adrian said, lying through his pretty white teeth. “They might be the motive that he had to have her killed.” Lying to an elderly lady wasn’t fun, but it was necessary to get to the truth. “Please help us, Mrs. Honeycutt.”
She closed her eyes for several long seconds as she pondered what to do. I could see the confliction in her eyes when she reopened them. “I think I know where they might be.” We followed her to the library where she moved a few books on a shelf to reveal a button hidden in the panel of the bookcase. “This house was part of the Underground Railroad and was used as a safe haven for slaves as they made their journey north.” Mrs. Honeycutt pushed the button and the entire bookcase swung outward to reveal a staircase down to what appeared to be a cellar.
“I hate dark, dank places,” Adrian said.
I didn’t like them either, but I knew we were on to something. I didn’t find a light switch, but I wasn’t surprised because the house was built before electricity had been invented. It had been renovated many times since then, but the only way this secret room remained that way was because it had not been included in the renovations. “We’re going to need flashlights,” I told Adrian.
“I’ll get them,” he replied.
Mrs. Honeycutt wrung her hands nervously. “I’ve never been down there before, but Georgia was very familiar with the room. If she wanted to hide something that she didn’t want discovered, then this would be the place.”
“You did the right thing by telling us,” I told Mrs. Honeycutt, although I wished she’d done it sooner.
Adrian returned a few minutes later. “Here you go, partner.”
I took the flashlight he offered and tested it to make sure it worked before I led the way down the ancient steps that creaked and moaned with every step we took. “We’ll go back up one at a time,” I told him, concerned our combined weight might cause it to collapse.
