“Thom had made arrangements with an auction house to sell the contents in the household, but he also set up a meeting with a local woman to give her first crack at the things she wanted to buy for her store. Is it possible there was a family heirloom worth a significant amount of money?”
“Was the local woman little Maegan Miracle?” Mr. Hubert asked. I didn’t like the way he lit up a little and suddenly sat straighter in his chair.Little Maegan Miracle?Little as far as height maybe, but that woman was larger than life when it came to personality and sex appeal.Yeah, IEDs could be little too, but look at the damage those bastards caused!
“Yes, it was Miss Miracle. In fact, she and two other people were the ones who discovered Thom.”
“Oh no!” He sounded horrified at the prospect, so I rushed to assure him that Maegan was okay.
“She didn’t find Thom’s body,” I explained. “She saw the blood and called nine-one-one.”
“Still, she must be traumatized.”
An image of Maegan arched over the side of the couch and grinding her pussy against my face sprung to mind. If I wasn’t careful, other things would get sprung. “She’s a trooper, Mr. Hubert. What about an heirloom or anything else you can think of?”
Mr. Hubert scoffed. “The only thing Betsy and I inherited from our side of the family was high cholesterol, but I can’t speak about Charlie’s family. He was from Georgia, and I don’t think I’ve seen his family since the day he married my sister. They met while attending the University of Kentucky. Charlie’s family never approved of my sister or our family. We weren’t good enough for them.”
“You didn’t see them at his funeral?” Wen asked.
“Not even then.”
“Do you know if Thom was able to contact anyone from the Renzo side after his father passed?”
“Thom told me that they didn’t bother with his dad while he was alive, nor did they show up for his mother’s service. He said they didn’t deserve to be notified that Charlie passed away. He didn’t want false platitudes to ruin his father’s memorial.” I could understand his sentiment. “Charlie just gave up on life after Betsy passed away.”
“Were their deaths close together?”
“A few months apart,” he answered.
“Did either your sister or brother-in-law have any property disputes with anyone?” I asked.
“Nothing that they ever told me about, Detective. I’d surely tell you if I knew.”
I’d be willing to accept that Thom’s homicide had nothing to do with his parents’ estate if it wasn’t for the timing. Unfortunately, there was no one alive to ask about missing items from the estate. Unless, Maegan had knowledge of specific items that were no longer on the premises. She had expressed her eagerness to pick through the estate, but why? What did she know that Stanley Hubert didn’t. I made a note to ask her the following morning.Why wait until morning? She made it clear that I was welcome back there if I stopped freaking out.
Wen and I asked a few additional questions, but we didn’t learn anything of value. Hubert provided the name of the estate attorney who represented both of Thom’s parents. I added his name to the list of people I wanted to interview the next day. I couldn’t think of anything else to ask Mr. Hubert right then, so I expressed my condolences once more and thanked him for his time.
“What time do you want to get started tomorrow morning?” Wen asked once we were back in his car.
With Adrian gone on vacation until Monday, I was grateful to have his help. I was just sorry that I had to cut into his time off with his family. “Does nine o’clock work for you?” I asked.
“Yeah, that works okay for me.”
It was almost eight in the evening by the time that Wen dropped me off at my truck. I thought about going to the diner for a piece of pie, but I didn’t feel like company.Liar.I wanted company, but not the kind I’d find at the diner. I wouldn’t mind spending some time with a certain blonde-haired minx but saw that she had company when I pulled onto our street. I’d never seen that silver Cadillac parked in her driveway before and couldn’t help wondering if it was that putz I met in her shop. Instead of calling the station to have them run the license plates, I grabbed my blanket and slippers off the porch and went inside.
I thought about Stanley Hubert and the sadness that rolled off him in waves when I kicked back in my recliner to watch college hoops with a cold beer in my hand. Was that what I had to look forward to in the future? How were my circumstances any different than his?Age and choice of alcohol.
“I’m not lonely.”Liar.
I fell asleep after halftime and didn’t wake up again until after one in the morning. I didn’t recall covering myself with the blanket that Maegan returned to me, but her fresh floral scent tickled my nose as soon as I opened my eyes. One of the anchormen on ESPN was talking about the biggest upset in college basketball history when I hit the remote to turn off the tv. Normally that would interest me, but my brain wasn’t the only thing woken up by Maegan’s perfume. My dick reminded me of how close we’d come to the promise land only to be denied by honor and duty. I knew damn well I wouldn’t go back to sleep with a dick that hard.
I went upstairs and turned on the shower to let it run for a few minutes before I considered removing my clothes. I had learned quickly when I moved in that it took a long time for hot water to travel along the old pipes in my rental house. January wasn’t the time of year to stand around naked and wait. The hot water heater was in the basement, but you’d have thought it was a good thousand feet beneath the earth for as long as it took. In the mornings, I could brush my teeth and shave my face before the water reached tepid temperatures.
I wasn’t about to climb into a cold shower in the dead of winter, so I crossed the room and looked out my bedroom window to kill time. I tried to convince myself that it was to check out the neighborhood, but I released the curtain I’d pulled back the second I saw that Maegan’s SUV was the only one parked in her driveway.
I felt the smile tugging at my lips as I made my way back to the bathroom because I knew where my first stop would be in the morning. I tested the water to make sure it was hot enough then stripped out of my clothes. Once beneath the hot spray, I gripped my cock and stroked it while thinking about all the naughty things I could do to Maegan on her sturdy-looking desk in her office. Then I recalled the sounds she made as she jerked and came apart beneath me earlier that night. It felt so real to me that I could almost taste her on my tongue again as I shot my load onto the black tile.
I braced one arm against the wall while I let the hot water beat down on my head, neck, and shoulders. I wished like hell Maegan was sleeping in my bed so I could kiss her awake and make love to her slowly since I took the edge off my desire. A week ago, I panicked because of the things that Maegan made me feel. And while I wasn’t ready to completely throw caution to the wind, I wasn’t willing to blow my second chance with her either.
Baby steps, Markham.
