Terraformed Skies

by Anna Lewis

  “You’re enjoying yourself too much,” she said, making no move to stop him.

  When he was satisfied that she was dry, he wrapped the towel around his own waist, leaving her naked in the center of the room. He took one last look at her and smiled.

  “You’re beautiful naked.”

  “You’re pretty sexy yourself,” she retorted.

  “In a perfect world, you’d never wear clothes.”

  He reached into a small wardrobe in the corner, pulling out a bathrobe and helping her put it on. The fabric felt great against her skin. It was warm and fluffy and obviously expensive.

  He grabbed her hand, clad in only a towel, his hair still dripping. Lilly looked longingly at the bed, wishing she had time to curl up in the decadent robe and take another nap.

  “I need my clothes,” she said.

  “They’re in the washer. I figured you’d like to leave my house in clean clothes and I’m making you breakfast.”

  “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “It’s no big deal. They’re probably ready for the dryer. If you’ll switch them over, I’ll get breakfast ready.”

  He pointed Lilly in the direction of the laundry room and went to the kitchen without waiting for her response. Lilly switched her clothes, surprised to find such an eclectic array of laundry products available. She chose a dryer sheet that smelled of warm air and fresh rain and tossed it in with her clothes.

  Already, she could smell the scents of breakfast filling up the house. Her stomach growled and she hurried to finish so she could join him.

  ***

  Lilly was chewing on the last bite when her phone rang. She looked at the time; still over an hour before she typically left for work.

  “Detective Bruce,” she answered, giving Jason a stern look to silence him.

  “Lilly, it’s Adam. My phone died so I’m using another phone.”

  “Hey, Adam. What’s up?”

  “Can you come in early? I need you to meet me in South Arlen.”

  “Of course. What’s going on?”

  “We found Tom.”

  “Well, that’s something good at least.”

  “Not really. He’s dead.”

  “Oh. Any idea what happened?”

  “It looks like a suicide.”

  “You don’t sound so sure.”

  “That’s why I need your eyes. There’s something suspicious, but I’m getting a little push back.”

  “The locals?”

  “Yes, but just the Deputy Sheriff. He is a little too eager to get this cleaned up and ruled a suicide while the rest of the town is still asleep.”

  “I’ll be there as quickly as I can. Shouldn’t take me more than twenty minutes.”

  “Great. Thanks Lilly. Hopefully, I can keep them from touching the body until you get here.”

  Lilly hung up, startled to see Jason coming down the hall with her clothes still warm from the dryer and her shoes.

  “I’m going to guess you’re leaving,” he said.

  “They found Tom.”

  “I feel like there’s a ‘but’ in there somewhere.”

  “He’s dead.”

  Jason didn’t really react, just bowed his head a little as if he was sad, but not surprised.

  “I can’t say that I’m surprised. It was only a matter of time before something happened to him, the way he was living. Is he the only fatality?”

  “It wasn’t a car crash. I don’t know what it was exactly, but it appears to be a suicide.”

  “Appears?”

  “Adam has doubts.”

  “Do you?”

  “I won’t know until I see him, but it seems a little suspicious.”

  “I guess I’m a suspect again.”

  “No. Not unless you managed to kill him and return here before I showed up. It’s possible, but highly unlikely. Plus, he accused you already, killing him would just bring more suspicion down on yourself. It’s more likely that someone is afraid he’ll keep running his mouth and wanted to stop him before he accuses them.”

  “At least I have that going for me.”

  He handed her jacket to her and kissed her on the cheek.

  “You aren’t going to ask when you’ll see me again?”

  “You’ll call me when you’re ready. Besides, I think I’m still blocked.”

  Lilly’s face flushed.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t have a chance to fix that.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you when you have a free moment. Until then, I’ll miss you.”

  He kissed her again and she walked out the door, closing it behind her quietly. She got into the car, letting her head rest on the steering wheel for a moment before turning on the engine and putting the car into gear.

  “What have you gotten yourself into, Lilly?” she asked, knowing that there was no easy answer.

  She headed for South Arlen, enjoying the quiet of the dark, deserted streets as she went. She rolled up on the scene in less than twenty minutes, noting the tense posture of the men gathered around the porch where the body had been found.

  Lilly rolled her eyes, preparing herself to lay on a thick layer of Southern Charm. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the vehicle, flattening imaginary wrinkles from her pantsuit as she walked.

  “Good morning, Gentleman,” she said, noticing Adam raise an eyebrow when he noticed she was wearing the same clothes as the day before.

  “Morning, Ma’am,” they said in unison.

  “Can I get a look at the body?”

  “Are you a medical examiner?”

  “I am,” she put her hand out and introduced herself.

  She squatted down beside the body, using her pocket flashlight to illuminate the body. A small caliber gun rested a few inches from the body, an obvious entry wound in the side of the man’s head.

  “Who found him?” Lilly asked, taking in the overgrown yard, broken windows and warped door that signaled that the property was abandoned.

  “We got an anonymous tip,” the Deputy said.

  “Did the neighbors hear anything?”

  “Neighbors? Ma’am, there isn’t another house for almost half a mile. If anyone heard anything, they probably brushed it off.”

  “That makes sense. Sorry, I have to ask.”

  “Does it matter? It’s suicide, open and shut.”

  “I don’t think so,” Lilly said, pointing to the gun resting beside Tom’s right hand.

  “What do you mean?”

  “This man gave a statement the other day. I watched him write it out myself. He’s left-handed, yet his left hand is tucked beneath his body. This scene is staged. There’s no way he wasn’t murdered.”

  “Ah shit,” the Deputy said, pulling his hat off his head and mashing it between his fist. “I don’t want to deal with departmental squabbles over whose case this is.”

  “Then let us take the lead. This man was part of an ongoing investigation and was obviously killed to silence him. We’ll keep you in the loop, but we’ll take the lead.”

  The Deputy considered it for a moment. Lilly watched him weigh all the options in his mind, and the look of defeat when he realized that the easiest course of action was to step back and let Lilly deal with it.

  “Fine. But if this turns into a cluster, it’s on you and the boys in Brook Ridge. I don’t want this coming back to bite me in the ass later.”

  “Of course,” Lilly said, smiling at the Deputy and all but batting her eyes at him.

  She looked at Adam as they packed into their vehicles and left, leaving their crime scene tape up, and a police car at the end of the driveway to keep out the nosy bystanders.

  “Why does that always work so much better when you do it?” Adam laughed.

  “Who knows. Did you call it in?”

  “Just now. I wanted to give you a chance to look it over before I brought anyone in. Plus, I didn’t know if the Deputy was going to let us in. I didn’t want to bring our people in and cause iss
ues.”

  “Good thinking.”

  “Did you notice anything else on the body?”

  “Not really, except that he doesn’t smell of alcohol. I expected him to reek of it after being forced into rehab.”

  “What about time of death?”

  “That’s going to be harder to nail down. It’s been chilly all week, and even though it didn’t snow, keeping the body at forty degrees can slow decomp. Based on rigor and everything else, and without a liver temp, I’m going to say he’s been dead anywhere from twelve to thirty-six hours.”

  “Are you serious? That’s a huge window of time when you’re talking murder.”

  “It is, but that’s what I have right now.”

  “What about Jason. Did you get anything good from him?”

  She pulled out her notepad, handing it over so he could read all the dirt she had on the other members of the team courtesy of Jason Hathaway.

  “According to this, it could be practically anyone. They’re all potential murderers.”

  “At least now, we have grounds to bring a few of them in, even if their lawyers object,” she said.

  “And our victim had plenty of enemies on and off the field. I’m sure Jason is relieved that he’s not our only suspect anymore.”

  Lilly’s cheeks turned pink, and she was grateful that Adam couldn’t see it in the dark.

  “Can we not talk about that, please?”

  “Suit yourself.”

  “Thanks, Adam. You’re the best partner I’ve ever had.”

  “I’m the only partner you’ve ever had.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So, what are you thinking here?”

  “I think he knew the person who killed him. Or he was surprised,” Lilly squatted down beside the body, pulling on a pair of gloves and gently moving Tom’s arm just enough to see the side of his wrists and under his nails. “There are no defensive wounds and no signs of a struggle.”

  “I also don’t see any sign of blood spatter here. Maybe he was killed somewhere else and dumped here?”

  “It’s possible, but this is such a remote area, who would know this place existed?”

  “Good point. I’ll pull the records and see who owns the property. Maybe we’ll get lucky and something will jump out at us.”

  “Couldn’t hurt.”

  “Are you alright waiting with the body for the team?”

  “Of course I am. There’s a patrol car at the end of the easement, if anyone tries to come this way, they’ll have to go through them first.”

  “The sun is almost up, and the team was about thirty minutes away when I texted them while you haggled with the Deputy. They should be here soon.”

  “I’ll be fine, Adam.”

  “I’ll let you know if I find anything interesting.”

  Adam jumped into his car, driving carefully down the dirt road to avoid kicking up too much dust. Lilly watched him leave, looking at Tom and frowning.

  “I guess your life was in danger after all,” she said. “I just can’t help but think that you would have been fine if you’d stayed at rehab. Who killed you, and why? What did you know that they wanted to keep a secret?”

  He didn’t answer, and she didn’t expect him to, but it would have been nice. She felt guilty, but she knew that she wasn’t responsible for his death. He’d been safe in rehab, and he’d checked himself out of his own volition. Whatever had happened to him wouldn’t have happened if he’d stayed put. But, in Lilly’s experience, people rarely acted logically.

  She wanted to text Jason, but she kept her phone in her pocket. She needed to stay focused, and rehashing the particulars of Tom’s death with Jason, even just to bounce ideas off of him, was a bad idea. She needed to keep that part of her life separate.

  ***

  The wind whipped through the tall brush, offering a clearer view of Lilly, sitting on the front porch, awaiting back up. He crouched in the brush, watching her for a long while before he finally backed away, doing a reverse army crawl back the way he came until he reached the tree line. The tree covered property had provided the perfect hiding place for both the body and the man. And one well-timed, anonymous tip had set everything into motion perfectly.

  He moved through the trees silently, walking more than a mile through the woods before he came to a barbed wire fence that denoted the end of the wooded property. Ten yards from the fence was highway 35, and pulled off the road and onto the bare dirt before the grassy shoulder was his black car. Almost invisible in the moonless night, the first light of morning was just starting to illuminate it. He couldn’t have timed everything better if he’d tried.

  He got in, starting the engine up and heading down the dark highway. He had a lot to do before lunch time, and no time to waste.

  ***

  The late morning sun was almost blinding when Lilly finally left the crime scene and headed back to Brook Ridge. She should have been tired, but she was refreshed. The long sleep and the great sex had worked wonders for her. She felt energized and completely on her game. The case was about to break wide-open, she was sure of it.

  She toyed with the idea of calling Jason, just to hear his voice and discarded it. She was struggling, but it was time to be honest with herself; she was falling in love with him.

  And love made things complicated. Lilly hadn’t been looking for love, but wasn’t that how those things always worked? Now that she’d admitted it to herself, she felt giddy, excited by the prospect of being in love and being loved in return. It was something that hadn’t happened to her in a long time, and she was looking forward to the ride.

  Not that she wasn’t scared. She was terrified, but she knew that Jason would give her the space and the encouragement she needed to ease her way into a serious relationship, despite her trepidation.

  She pulled into the garage, parking in her normal spot and taking the elevator to the bull pen where all the detectives’ desks were located.

  Adam was on the phone when she walked in. He nodded in hello, motioning to the desk where half a turkey sandwich wrapped in white butcher paper lay. Lilly recognized the paper and instantly, her mouth watered. Adam had gone to Caruso’s Deli and picked up her favorite sandwich. She would have to make a point to treat him to coffee sometime during the week to show her appreciation.

  She hadn’t eaten since breakfast with Jason almost eight hours before. Suddenly, she was starving.

  She grabbed the sandwich and sat at her desk, savoring bite after bite while she read the file that Adam had left on her desk.

  It was Tom’s information, including next of kin. Next to each name, Adam had scribbled notes about whether he’d left a message, or if the number was disconnected or the wrong number. So far, it looked like Adam hadn’t been able to get ahold of a single member of Tom’s family, immediate or distant.

  Lilly had no doubt that Tom’s addiction had led to estrangement from many of the people who loved him. She remembered reading more than once about Tom’s personal troubles and was shocked that the team continued to give him chance after chance regardless of how much his poor performance and his negative choices affected the team.

  Still, Lilly was saddened by the man’s self-imposed exile. Nobody deserved to die alone.

  Lilly finished the last bite, washing it down with a bottle of water from the mini fridge before picking up the phone and dialing the first number.

  There was no answer. This time, Lilly didn’t bother leaving a message. She hated notifying family members by phone, but Tom’s next of kin lived all over the country, and making a home visit wasn’t feasible. She knew whoever got the news would be devastated, but she was secretly relieved that she didn’t have to do it face to face.

  Lilly went through the list, going through every number Adam had already called, as well as five more before she finally got a live person on the phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi. This is Detective Bruce from the Brook Ridge police department. Can I speak with Lorett
a please?”

  “This is she.”

  “Hi Loretta. I’m calling about your brother, Tom and—”

  “Is he dead?”

  Lilly was shocked by the callous tone of her voice.

  “Yes, Ma’am. He’s passed away.”

  “I’m not surprised. It was only a matter of time before Tom got himself killed. Hopefully, he didn’t take anyone with him when he crashed.”

  “Ma’am, Tom wasn’t killed in a wreck.”

  “He wasn’t?”

  The surprise in her voice was mild at best, and Lilly shook her head. She understood the callous reaction; his family had probably suffered a lot while he was buried in the bottle. But she still didn’t understand how a man’s own sister could sound so heartless.

  “He was murdered.”

  “Oh. Well, that’s not much of a surprise, either.”

  “Did your brother have any enemies?”

  “I’m going to guess that you didn’t know my brother.”

  “I met him before he died.”

  “Then you know he was a lush, and that he did whatever it took to get his next bottle, no matter who it hurt.”

  Lilly rolled her eyes. She was getting nowhere fast with this woman, and frankly, she was done listening to her uncaring retorts. Everyone deserved dignity in death, and Lilly could tell that this wasn’t going anywhere good.

  “Do you have numbers for any other family members that might wish to be informed? We haven’t been able to get anyone on the line yet.”

  “They won’t answer from your area code. Tom only called when he needed money, and he bled all of us dry while he bragged on social media about the endorsement deals he got and all the free clothes and such. All the while, he blew his money. He didn’t just have a drinking problem; he was also a gambler. I don’t doubt that gambling is where he made the enemy that got him killed, but there are so many options with Tom. Good luck finding out who killed him. You have a nice—”

  “Wait,” Lilly said, blown away that this woman was about to hang up on her. “I’ll have to notify someone to pick up the body, and you’re his closest relative.”