“I can’t leave tomorrow,” she said. “Lee’s funeral is tomorrow afternoon. I’m keeping Griff out of school. I can set up the trip for Friday and we can come back on Sunday.”
He thought about it. As much as he wanted to be with her, he knew it wouldn’t be fair to Griff. The boy needed his mom right now.
“Set it up for next week. We’ll fly down Tuesday morning, go out to the rig on Tuesday, come back Wednesday morning. That gives us a couple of days together, and you’ll still have the weekend with your son.”
He caught the flash of emotion in her eyes. He knew she was worried about Griff. From what she’d said, the boy had taken his father’s death harder than she’d expected. Lee’s murder had been all over the news. Griff was waiting for the police to find the killer. He wanted justice for his dad.
So far he didn’t know his mother was the number one suspect.
“I’ll set it up,” Kenzie said. “But until we can get out of the city, we need to be careful. You have your job to think of, and I have Griff.”
He nodded. She had a family to consider. Why the hell did everything have to be so complicated?
They worked till lunch, had a quick meal sent in to his office, then Kenzie returned to her desk to finish out the day. She was gone by the time he cleared his desk and left for home.
Reese was sitting in the back of the black SUV, Reggie Porter behind the wheel, when his cell phone rang. Chase’s name popped up on the screen. With a sigh of resignation, he pressed the phone against his ear.
“So I guess you saw the paper,” Reese said.
“I didn’t see it. Mindy did.” Chase’s receptionist. “Not a surprise. We knew it could happen. That’s not the reason I’m calling. I’ve got something for you. I’d rather talk in person. I’m at the office, but I can meet you wherever.”
“After the day I’ve had, I could use a drink. How about Clancy’s?” The Irish pub just down the block from Chase’s office, a place The Max crew hung out.
“That’ll work.”
“I was on my way home. I’ll have Reggie swing by and drop me off.” Fifteen minutes later, he walked past the old-fashioned etched glass windows and strode into Clancy’s. The interior of the pub was all dark wood, with wooden booths and tables in the dining area and a long oak bar with at least twenty different beers on tap.
Chase waved as he approached, a bottle of Lone Star already sitting in front of him. Reese took off his suit coat, hung it on the brass hook at the end of the booth, and slid onto the seat across from his brother. Seconds later, a waitress with short curly blond hair arrived to take his order.
“Jameson,” Reese said. “Neat.”
The blonde flashed him a smile. “I’ll be right back.”
Stretching his legs out in front of him, he leaned against the back of the booth. “What’s up?”
“Aside from your fame in the tabloids?”
He grunted. “Yeah.”
Chase took a drink of his beer. “So how are things going with you and Kenzie?”
“I have no idea. In the office, she’s all business, which is good because it keeps me focused. We haven’t been anywhere together except the police station since this began.”
“If you’re seriously interested in her, you need to fix that.”
He sighed. “I know.” Were his feelings for Kenzie serious? She already meant more to him than any woman he could recall, but until he spent more personal time with her, he couldn’t be sure.
“Haines’s funeral is tomorrow,” Reese said. “I haven’t talked to Kenzie about it, but I’m planning to go. We won’t be together, but at least she’ll know I’m there.”
Chase nodded.
Reese’s drink arrived and he took a grateful sip, felt the burn of the alcohol loosen his muscles and joints. “So why are we here?”
Chase set his beer bottle down on the table. “Hawk called. He’s out of town. Got a lead on a skip he’s been hunting, so he gave me the info he had, figured I could follow up.”
“And?”
“Nobody knows anything about Haines’s murder. No rumors, no speculation, nothing. According to what I could get out of Heath Ford, the cops don’t have jack, either. No prints, no blood evidence, absolutely nothing left at the crime scene. The only thing they have is the murder weapon, registered to Kenzie, found two blocks away. It was wiped completely clean. Other than that, zero, zip, nada.”
