That hurt. “My sister is gone, Sheriff. I can’t get much deeper than that now can I? I trust you to do your job, but I plan to help too. I want her back, Gabe. I want her home.”
“I know, Colin. But I don’t think whoever did this would have too many qualms about adding another body to their tally. Be careful. If you think you’ve got something, run it by me before going off half-cocked.”
I laughed. “I’m never half-cocked, Gabe, trust me. But I promise to keep you in the loop at all times. Hence the lunch by the way. See you in fifteen?”
“Don’t forget your wallet.” And he hung up.
They had done a good job with the new restaurant. There was an authentic Italian feel to it, right down to the music. I was glad I’d called ahead and let them know to put us on the list. As it was, we had about a half hour’s wait in front of us. We decided to sit in the bar until a table freed up. Not that Gabe could drink, as he was on duty, but at least it got me off my feet.
“So, how long you gonna leave me hanging before you tell me what you found?” Gabe asked. It was an honest question.
I glanced around the bar casually but didn’t see any of Mike’s good old boys hanging around. That was good. I didn’t want it getting to him that he was on my radar.
“It isn’t much,” I said. “But I’m thinking it might be something anyway if that makes sense.”
“At this point, I’ll take anything.” Gabe smiled. “Show me yours and I’ll show you mine.”
If only, I thought.
I pulled the folded up rental agreement out of my pocket and handed it to him. “Mike rented a Cadillac for his trip. He was two days late returning it. Didn’t give a reason as to why.”
Gabe looked it over but shook his head. “Could have been for anything. Maybe he wanted to impress a potential bank client, or he could have been trying to persuade Joan into buying one.”
I looked down at the bar. I had really thought I had something.
“That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth checking out. Was that Caddy on their lot today?”
“Yeah, I checked the plates to make sure it was the same one.” I looked away. “But if you don’t think it’s worth checking into, I don’t want to waste your time.”
“Like I said, right now everything we find is worth it. You never know when that needle in a haystack clue is going to pan out.” Gabe glanced away from me and said, his voice low, “Wednesdays are generally my day off, and I was planning to call it a day at the office. Why don’t we go to Express Rental after lunch and see if they’ll give us a peek at the Caddy’s trunk?”
“That would be great,” I said. “You know, Seals are taught that intuition should never be undervalued. And for some reason, this feels...” I shrugged.
Gabe raised his Coke to my unfinished sentence. “To your intuition then. May it help us bring your sister home.”
I raised my Coke—with a small dash of added Rum—and we clinked glasses. I knew that Gabe was only obliging a grieving brother, but for the life of me, this was starting to feel a bit like a date.
And I’d really love to see his. Which reminded me of the other part of our meeting.
“Oh, did you bring those papers I asked for?”
He handed me an envelope stuffed with papers, but before I had a chance to open it, they announced our table was ready.
I’ll probably never be able to tell anyone just what the food tasted like that day. My mind was on too many other things. The main one being the possibility of bringing Becca home.
The other, somewhat disheartening, thing on my mind was the delectable man sitting across from me.
CHAPTER TEN: A Trace of Evidence (Colin)
I think I managed to get through lunch without saying anything embarrassing, but I’ll admit it was touch and go a few times. If I hadn’t known that Gabe was a straight, divorced man and single father, I’d have sworn there were a few times when he was downright flirting with me.
Maybe my spine wasn’t the only thing hurt in that fall. My brain might have been a bit damaged, too, if I was starting to imagine people trying to seduce me. Of course, it could have just been my serious crush on the man coloring everything he said to me, too.
Leaving a generous tip for the cute little waiter, I followed Gabe out to his SUV. “We might as well travel together. But you’ll want to pay your meter for another couple of hours.” He grinned. “I’d hate for you to get a ticket.”
“Actually, I was wondering if you’d mind following me home first? Then I could leave my car there. I’m thinking it might not be a bad idea to just rent the darn car for a few days. Keep this under our hat.”
Gabe looked at me with a slow smile. “Not bad, Cowboy. Just don’t go over the speed limit. I’d hate to have to give you a ticket.”
On the way to my house, I called Frank and asked if he had the Caddy rented out for the next few days. When he said it was free, I told him to save it for me. That way, we would have more time to give it a thorough going over.
I pulled in the drive of my empty house and got out, walking the few steps back and around to Gabe’s SUV.
Taking my time, I climbed into the Sheriff’s vehicle. Luckily, it wasn’t as hard as I’d thought it would be. I didn’t fall on my ass or anything. Sitting there, proud of myself for making it into the vehicle with dignity, I realized just how bad my physical life had become. From jumping out of airplanes at lower altitudes than actually recommended for the common man to climbing into an SUV.
Pitiful.
We were quiet as Gabe drove. I guess each of us had our own brand of hellish thoughts, but I missed the joviality of the lunch. I could get used to spending time with a man like Gabe.
Ah hell, who was I trying to kid? I could get used to spending time with Gabe.
Frank was waiting for us when we pulled in. “Hey, Sheriff, how’s it hanging?”
I noticed that Gabe got a handshake and not a hug. Must be a status thing. Then I had to suppress a grin when Frank handed him a long flat box with cinnamon wafting out from under the plain brown wrapping paper.
“Something just for you and all you do for the community.” Frank came over and said in a much lower voice, “If I don’t get rid of those brooms soon, I’ll have to burn the trailer down to get rid of the scent. It’s everywhere.”
Gabe, puzzled at our exchange, took an exploratory sniff of his package. “Smells good to me.”
“Yes, doesn’t it?” Frank asked brightly. “Now come on inside and we’ll have Colin sign the paperwork and the Caddy will be all yours.”
He opened the door and ushered Gabe inside. Both of us waited for his reaction. It turned out to be decidedly understated. Gabe stopped, took a look at the wrapped boxes on the table, another look at the one in his hands and nodded. “I see your point.”
Frank chuckled. “Justin’s going to run them around to the businesses this afternoon. I want them out of here as soon as possible. Cinnamon brooms would make a lovely present for your clients, dear, my wife said. What did I ever do to that woman?”
He had the paperwork all filled out, so after taking a copy of my credit card and driver’s license, he handed me the key to the Caddy. “Don’t have too much fun in it, okay?” And then he got serious and lowered his voice. “If the two of you find anything, this rental is refunded in full.” Frank put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “Best of luck, buddy. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
Gabe and I stepped out and he put the box in the back of his SUV. I felt kind of sorry for him not having a trunk. At least the scent was somewhat contained in my car. And I really felt sorry for Justin. I hoped he thought to take a company vehicle for the deliveries and not his own.
I noticed the sheriff was hesitating. “What’s up?”
“I was wondering where the best place to do this would be,” he said. “I’m thinking maybe the garage at my house if that’s okay with you.” He glanced at his watch. “Besides, I need to be home at three to
meet Matt’s bus.”
I shrugged. “Okay by me, but you’ll have to lead the way.”
Turns out Gabe only lived a couple of streets over from me, in a nice little one story ranch house. No stairs. That must be nice.
He pulled to the side and pushed the button on the automatic garage door, leaving me room to get past him and into the garage. I was surprised to see that the second car half of the garage was set up as a workshop. Gabe must be into woodworking. Cool.
He followed me in but left the garage door open. He was holding a small spray can in one hand and his heavy duty flashlight in the other.
“Pop the trunk.”
I did and climbed out of the vehicle. All of this in and out today was giving my back a pretty good workout. So much for my day off therapy.
Gabe set the can down and shined the flashlight into the trunk. Slowly going over every inch of the inside carpeted area. It took quite a while before I finally heard him grunt. “Huh,” he said.
My heart did a double beat. “Did you find something?”
“A question first. You said Becca knew self-defense, right?”
“Yes.”
“Would she know what to do if she was, say, locked in a trunk?”
“Hell yeah, we covered all that. You kick out the...” I pushed him and he stood to one side letting me lever my upper body down to see the taillights. One of them was decidedly newer than the other.
“Now, no conclusion jumping yet. Could be a ton of reasons why they changed out a taillight assembly.”
“True,” I said, not trusting myself to say anything further.
“The bad news is that this car has probably seen quite a few rentals in the past six months. And after each one, they routinely detail the car for the next customer. That means this trunk has been vacuumed multiple times, so any hair or DNA evidence would be long gone. However, there is one more thing to try.”
He picked up the small spray can and directed a fine mist onto the carpet of the trunk, then closed the garage door. A fairly large area of the carpet on the left-hand side started glowing blue.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Gabe said. “That’s blood.”
My heart was doing double time beats now. “Can they get DNA from it?”
Gabe shook his head. “No way. This carpet has been bleached and that would corrupt any DNA left. But something went down with this car.” Then he looked me dead in the eyes. “But that still doesn’t mean we get to confront Michael Lawson with accusations of murder. Too many people have had this car in their possession to point the finger at him. Especially with not having DNA results on that blood. Could be anything from human to deer.”
I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “Who goes deer hunting in a Caddy?”
“Just saying. This is a start, but only that.” Gabe stretched out his back. He’d been bending over for some time checking the trunk. “How long did you rent the car for?”
“It’s due back Saturday morning. Do you need it longer?”
Gabe thought for a minute then shook his head. “That should be plenty of time. I want to call in the state forensics team to take a look at this. Maybe they’ll have more positive news than I can give you. Those guys are pretty thorough. If there is anything there, they’ll find it.”
I nodded. “If you need it longer, just say the word and I’ll call Frank and extend the rental.”
The sound of air brakes outside alerted us that Matt’s bus had arrived.
Gabe opened the garage door and started walking to the bus just as the doors opened. Matt came flying out and into his dad’s open arms. Then the big yellow bus lumbered off to its next stop a few doors down.
I smiled at what was obviously their everyday ritual. It was nice. And if the bus ran in this neighborhood, it was sure to run in mine. That would mean Joshua wouldn’t have to take and pick up Zane.
It would mean that, with Molly now living there, there was no reason for Joshua to stay.
But what kind of douche kicks a man out once his usefulness runs out?
And how long before he can do it without being a total jerk?
Because bottom line, I wanted Joshua out. Truthfully, I'd never wanted him in.
Gabe took Matt inside to drop off his school bag and then he drove me to my house on their way to get pizza. Another Wednesday night tradition with them. Wednesday pizza and Friday movie night. I wondered what other nights had scheduled activities. That might be a good thing to start with Zane. I’d heard that routines were great for kids.
Feeling guilty about wanting to be rid of Joshua, and frankly having to admit that a big part of that was so that I would be free to see if Gabe really was flirting, I decided to make one of Josh’s favorite meals for dinner.
Sue me if I picked the easiest one I could think of. A quick check told me I had everything I needed, so I started browning the hamburger in preparation for a huge pot of chili. I was just adding the meat into my spicy liquid tomato concoction when I heard the front door open and Molly call out.
"I'm in the kitchen," I called.
She joined me, hanging her coat in the closet and laying her purse on the end table as she passed them. "Smells good," she said. "But I thought I was supposed to start doing the cooking around here."
“Don’t worry, this is a one off event,” I assured her. “But if you let me know what you want to make each night, I’ll be sure to lay in the right groceries.”
She opened the fridge and pulled out a cold soda. “I’m still not sure I feel right about you paying for everything. Can’t I at least buy some of the food?”
“Nope, part of the bargain.” After I’d made sure the soup was good and mixed, I turned to her. “So did you turn in your notice?”
She nodded. “Would you believe they offered me a dollar an hour raise if I’d stay? Do you know what that would have meant for me back when I was living with the jerks?”
“Can’t say I blame them for trying to get you to stay. You’re a hell of a worker.”
Molly grimaced. “If you say so. But either way, I’m out of there in a week. They have a stack of applications to choose from and it isn’t like it’ll take any time for them to learn the job. It’s not exactly mentally challenging.”
“Trust me, it isn’t the brain power they’re going to miss—not that you don’t have that in spades—but you have a way of making customers feel special that they’ll have a hard time replacing.”
She cocked her head at me. “I do?”
I laughed. “Why else would I make so many trips there and pay the higher prices instead of just making one trip to the big store a couple of miles away and stocking up for the week?” I stirred the pot again. “In fact, that might not be a bad idea. My schedule might be a bit busier for a while. Getting the shopping done in one fell swoop might not be such a bad thing.”
“I can plan out a few meals and even help you shop if you don’t mind waiting until Friday after I get off. I’m working the morning shift that day.”
“I’m not sure what my plans will be yet. I’ve kind of got a side project right now. But if you get me the list, I’ll see to it.”
She shrugged. “Okay.” She sighed. “One week from today everything changes.” She hesitated. “You know, I’m really starting to look forward to it. But I do feel bad taking Zane’s room.”
“Actually, you’ll be moving into Becca’s old room, if that’s okay with you. Josh is packing up all her things so we can store them for now.” I kept stirring as I didn’t want her to see the water in my eyes.
“What about Josh?” Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper.
I sighed. “I’m working on that.” I shrugged. “I’m working on a lot of things.”
“I was kind of wondering why he was sleeping in the other room. I mean you two are a couple, right?”
I put the ladle down and turned to face her. “He thinks so, yes. But I know he wants more than I can give him, and I don’t feel right leading him on.” I shook my hea
d. “I just don’t see my feelings changing anytime soon.”
“He kind of worked his way in here because of the court thing, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, and now I’ll be the bad guy if I ask him to leave.”
She slipped off the chair and came over to give me a gentle hug. “You both deserve what you want, you know.”
“I know. I just wish what he wanted wasn’t me.”
Like the emotional coward that I am, I put it off for a few more days. Not to mention, of course, that I’d be totally screwed if Josh up and left before Molly’s job ended. The court was pretty specific about me not taking care of Zane alone and right now Molly was putting in too many hours at the store that didn’t coincide with Zane’s school day.
After dinner, Josh asked if maybe I was feeling up to sharing a bed yet. I knew if I said yes that it would make the conversation a few days in the future that much harder. But on the other hand, we had been together lots of time in the past. And I’ve always been straight with Joshua that I’m not good with commitments. An easy going relationship was all I was able to offer.
He knew that going in. Of course, by now I’d seen enough signs from him to know that he was hoping for a change of heart on my part. I hated to disappoint him, but it just wasn’t going to happen. The feeling just wasn’t there.
On the other hand, after spending so much time with the hunky sheriff, I was horny as hell. So, heaven help me, but I said yes. We spent an hour after dinner boxing up the remaining things that Josh hadn’t gotten to yet. It would have taken longer, but Molly chipped in and helped pack things away like the trouper she was.
When I picked up a small spray bottle of Becca’s favorite perfume, I couldn’t resist the urge to smell my sister one more time and sprayed a slight mist in the air. The resulting aroma affected me more than I’d ever dreamed possible. At that point, I was evicted from the packing duties and made to sit in a chair outside and put together boxes for them. Once filled, they would shove them out into the hallway and I would tape them down.
All About Zane (Travis County Legal Book 1) Page 8