Blazing Summer (Darling Investigations Book 2)

by Denise Grover Swank

  “I’ll take leave if I have to, but I’d rather keep this aboveboard.” He paused. “But there’s no sense in you two working separately from me. We’ll save time if we work together.”

  “Don’t trust him, Summer,” Teddy said. “He hurt her before. He’ll do it again. Besides, you can do things he can’t. Working with him could slow us down.”

  “Wait. Teddy’s right,” I said. “What will they focus on in their investigation? The fact that Dixie was convicted of arson before?”

  Luke swallowed, and his face lost color. “April Jean was clutching a necklace. It was dangling from her hand. The clasp was broken, like she’d grabbed it during a struggle.”

  “So?” Teddy asked, but he didn’t sound as defiant.

  “It was Dixie’s, Teddy,” Luke said, his hand tightening on my shoulder. “It was the one you gave her for her eighteenth birthday. With three charms—a yellow tulip, a D, and an infinity sign.” He pushed out a breath. “It was hers.”

  Rage filled Teddy’s face. “How do you know about that necklace?”

  “Because I’ve seen her wear it before. She was so happy when you gave it to her. She’d just come back from serving her time, and you welcomed her home with open arms. Your belief in her made her believe she could get past the things she’d done.”

  “And you were there for her too,” Teddy said. “Why? Waitin’ for her to screw up so you could arrest her again?”

  Anger darkened Luke’s eyes. “No, and you damn well know it. She’s a good kid, and I could tell she’d gotten caught up in something out of her control. I hated arresting her. I hated that losing her was one more blow to you, Teddy. You’d already lost your parents. And I hate that she lost two years of her life for a stupid mistake. When she got out, she needed all the support she could get, and I knew you were the only one who was goin’ to give it to her. Your grandmother’s grudges run deep. Dixie killed her only son and her husband, whether she intended to or not. She wasn’t gonna forgive that overnight.”

  I moved away from Luke. My own guilt was smothering. While Dixie and Teddy had been going through hell, I’d been going through my own pity party in Hollywood.

  “So you befriended her because you’re just that selfless of a guy,” Teddy goaded.

  Luke groaned. “I know you don’t trust me, Teddy, and I know I’ve given you plenty of reasons not to. But I swear to you, I genuinely care about Dixie, and I want to help her.”

  Teddy turned at the waist and glanced at the smoke rising into the air behind the police station.

  “I didn’t have to tell you about her necklace,” Luke said. “In fact, I could get fired for it.”

  “You want me to fall to my knees with gratitude?” Teddy sneered.

  “Teddy,” I barked. “Stop it. Luke’s right. He could have kept this to himself.” I turned to Luke. “So why did you tell us?”

  Luke’s eyes pleaded with mine. “I know she didn’t do it, and I know you’ll be working day and night to prove as much. Let’s work together.”

  Luke was right about the press. This would be big news, and Dixie would be the easy, big-name arrest. Partly because of me. And her necklace was the perfect plant to prove she’d done it. Just like drenching her with gasoline had been the perfect piece of evidence to prove she’d set the barn fire.

  “Fine, you can help,” I said.

  “Summer!” Teddy shouted.

  I held Luke’s gaze. “On one condition.”

  “What is it?”

  “I’m not only interested in proving her innocence for this murder. I aim to prove she didn’t start that fire nine years ago. You have to agree to help with that too.”

  Luke’s face went blank. “What are you talking about?”

  “Dixie didn’t start the barn fire, Luke. And I’m going to prove it.”

  “Do you have any leads?” Teddy asked, sounding hopeful.

  I lifted my gaze to his. “As a matter of fact, I do. And I’m pretty sure I know who started it.”

  Luke’s brow lowered with suspicion. “Who?”

  I shook my head. “I’m not telling you anything until you agree to my terms. There’s more.”

  “What?”

  “If you start to think she may be guilty, you have to bow out of our investigation.”

  His eyes hardened. “What does that mean?”

  “If you find compelling evidence against her, you have to tell me, and we’ll part ways on our investigation.”

  “Summer . . .”

  I shook my head. “Teddy, let’s go.” I started to walk toward his truck.

  “Summer!” Luke called after me. “Wait.”

  I stopped and turned around to face him.

  His eyes met mine. “If we prove she didn’t start the barn fire, then that means I put an innocent girl in juvie for two years.”

  The anguish in his eyes proved that the thought alone was killing him.

  I walked toward him. “I mean to prove it with or without you.” I stopped in front of him and lowered my voice, putting my hand on his shoulder. “Dixie herself believes she did it, and the evidence all pointed to her. I understand why you didn’t dig deeper.”

  Luke’s voice broke. “I’ll help you. With all of it. What do you have?”

  “You agree to my terms? Because I realize your job is to find the truth and arrest the arsonist, but my job is to protect Dixie. At the first sign that our goals are going in different directions, I need you to remove yourself from our investigation.”

  He nodded, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Yeah. I agree.”

  I turned to Teddy. “You in?”

  “You’re standing there asking me if I want to save my sister?” The contempt in his voice hurt, but I knew it wasn’t really aimed toward me. He turned to Luke and pointed a finger in his face. “If you try to hurt Dixie, I swear to God, I will do whatever it takes to bury you.”

  Luke’s eyes hardened. “Literal or figurative?”

  “I’ll let you figure that one out.” He motioned to the building. “Now get your ass in there and do whatever you need to do. If you’re not out in five minutes, we’re goin’ without you.”

  I rubbed my forehead. “Teddy’s right. We need to find Dixie, and I know where to start.”

  Luke’s face went blank. “What do you mean we need to find Dixie? Where is she?”

  “If we knew, we wouldn’t have to find her, now would we?” Teddy asked in disgust, then turned to me. “Why do you want to work with this guy?”

  “Because he really does care about Dixie, and he’s been doin’ this a hell of a lot longer than I have. We need all the help we can get.”

  Teddy flicked a finger toward Luke. “You have four minutes and thirty-nine seconds. Go.”

  The two of them working together was going to be a disaster, but I didn’t see any other option.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Teddy’s eyes were glued to the screen on his phone, and I realized he’d set a timer.

  “You’re seriously timing him?”

  “You bet your ass I am.” He glanced up at me, his eyes full of pain and fear.

  “Oh, Teddy.” I threw my arms around his neck and clung to him. “I’m sorry. We’ll find her. We’ll prove she didn’t do this. I promise.”

  His arms tightened around my back, and he buried his face in my neck. “I can’t lose her again. I can’t . . .”

  I leaned back and stared up into his face. “You won’t.”

  He dropped his arms and took a step backward. “Why do you want to work with him, Summy?” He motioned to the building. “He may have experience, but you know what you’re doin’. Your investigation flushed out Cale Malone. What happened to our agreement? Dixie before everything else?”

  I groaned in frustration. “Luke’s the one who told us she’s a suspect. He could have kept that to himself. We’re getting a head start because of him. He’s going to investigate whether he’s with us or not, even if he’s not supposed to.”

 
“You’re dating him, Summer. Can you really cut him loose if he starts to believe she’s guilty?”

  My voice hardened. “Dixie comes first.”

  “You’re willing to give up Luke to save her?” he asked.

  “I hope it doesn’t come to that, but Dixie comes first. I refuse to let her down again.”

  He studied me for several seconds before he said, “Okay.”

  I pushed out a breath, ready for the next fight. “Luke doesn’t know about Dixie bein’ drugged. As far as I know, he doesn’t know anything about the party last night. But if we want his help, we have to tell him.”

  Teddy frowned, and I took it as a good sign that he didn’t say no. His gaze shifted to the police station, and irritation filled his eyes. I turned to see what had caught his attention.

  Luke was walking out of the building wearing jeans and a dark-gray T-shirt that clung to the muscles of his arms and chest. I couldn’t help staring at him as he headed toward us.

  “Priorities, Summer,” Teddy muttered in disgust.

  He was right. There would be plenty of time for ogling later.

  “You changed clothes,” I said as Luke reached us.

  He opened the door to his truck and tossed his folded uniform inside the cab. “I figure I’ll blend in more this way. You said you know where to go first?”

  I glanced up at Teddy, then back at Luke. “I figure we should try to find out who saw her last.” After looking around to make sure no one was listening in, I motioned for Teddy to move closer so we were in a huddle. “Which means we need to talk to Lauren. I say we go to the train station and see if they’re there.”

  Luke’s eyebrows rose, but Teddy looked pissed.

  “Why would she be with that witch?” Teddy asked.

  I leaned closer and whispered, “Because I sent Dixie to work with them.” I paused, guilt stealing my breath away.

  Teddy looked furious, but Luke spoke before he could, keeping his voice low. “Why would you send Dixie to work with Lauren and Connor? Did you two have a fight? Because punishment is the only reason I can come up with for you to send your cousin to those scumbags.”

  “She couldn’t be with us while we were investigating,” I said. “We shouldn’t talk about this next part outside.”

  “Let’s go into my office.”

  Teddy and I followed him inside, and once he shut his office door, I told him about Dixie calling me in the middle of the night and how out of it she was when I picked her up at the lake. I left out the part about her smelling like smoke.

  “Why didn’t you call me?” Luke asked, sounding hurt. He shot an angry glance at Teddy before turning back to me. “I understand him not calling me, but you?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Teddy glared at him. “Take your damn feelings out of it.”

  “Dixie was drugged,” Luke said in a no-nonsense tone, his voice beginning to rise with his anger. “You have to know that. She could have been raped. She should have been drug tested. Given a rape kit. What you two did was completely irresponsible.”

  “She refused to go!” I argued. “But we convinced her to pee in a mason jar, and Teddy took it to the county lab.”

  Luke shot Teddy a dark look.

  Teddy glared back. “I have friends.”

  “Have you gotten the results yet?”

  “No.”

  “Do you think she was raped?” Luke asked, his words tight.

  “She didn’t think so, but we all know that doesn’t mean anything. The last thing she remembers is . . .” I took a moment to regroup. How much did I want to tell him?

  “You still don’t trust me,” he said, and there was no denying the pain in his voice this time.

  I pushed out a breath of frustration. “You’re a cop, Luke. You’ve always wanted to be a cop. I’m not sure you’re capable of separating Luke my boyfriend from Luke the cop.” I gave him a tearful smile. “I need Luke my boyfriend right now, because I’m scared. I’m scared something really bad happened to her.”

  His face went blank. “Why do you think something happened to her?”

  “She never turns off her phone, but she won’t pick up. And I saw a man running out of that burning building, Luke, not Dixie. That guy set her up, and she’s either hiding somewhere, or he’s kidnapped her.”

  Luke shook his head. “Summer, that’s a stretch. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation. We’ll find her and figure out how April Jean got ahold of her necklace.”

  “They had an argument last night at the party.”

  “Who? April Jean and Dixie?” When I nodded, he rested his hands on his hips, but I could tell he was frustrated. I hadn’t told him everything, and we all knew it. “What did they fight about?”

  “April Jean was jealous over Dixie and Trent. I think it might have gotten a little physical. April Jean didn’t tell you when she came to you about her trailer being burned down?”

  “No. I stopped her as soon as she showed up and told her to talk to the sheriff because he was in charge of the investigation.”

  “The last thing Dixie remembers from last night is her disagreement with April Jean, but I talked to someone who was at that party, and she said Dixie fell asleep in her chair after the fight.”

  “Who told you this?”

  “I promised not to say.” Although in hindsight, it would be easy for him to figure out. We ate at Maybelline’s, so he only had to ask around . . . or even check Maybelline’s Facebook page.

  I had so much to learn about subterfuge.

  “That was your interview before you saw the arsonist,” Luke said, putting things together. No wonder he was a cop. “You didn’t bring the cameras with you.”

  “We’re wastin’ time we could be usin’ lookin’ for my sister,” Teddy said. “Let’s go. I’m drivin’ my own truck.” He stomped out of the office, leaving me feeling torn between following him and staying.

  Luke put his hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay. Go with him. He needs you right now.”

  I reached up on my tiptoes and gave him a kiss. “Thank you.”

  “We’ll prove she didn’t do this, Summer. I promise.”

  At the moment, I was more worried about finding her.

  Teddy had started his truck by the time I reached it, and I’d barely gotten the door closed before he backed out of his parking spot.

  I studied him as he took off. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

  “None of this means anything unless we find her,” he said.

  I grabbed his hand and clung to him. “We will.”

  “I have a really, really bad feeling about this, Summer.”

  “I do too,” I admitted.

  He pulled up to a stop sign and turned to catch my gaze. “Luke agreed to your rules, but I never agreed to shit. I will do whatever it takes to find her and prove she didn’t do this.” He leaned closer, and his voice deepened. “Do you understand what I’m sayin’?”

  The blood rushed from my head. “Gettin’ her back doesn’t mean squat if you’re in prison for doin’ something you’ll regret, Teddy.”

  He turned back to face the road and drove through the intersection. We didn’t say anything as we continued to the train station. I tried to come up with a plan for confronting Lauren, but all I could think about was Teddy’s threat. How far would he be willing to go? Based on the extreme measures he’d taken to get her drug-dealer ex out of the picture, I was thinking he’d go pretty far.

  Teddy parked in a space a half block down from the train station, and Luke pulled in next to him on my side. I hopped out and met Luke as he started to open his door.

  “Luke, you need to stay out here. Teddy, you can come in with me.”

  “What?” Luke said.

  I shook my head. “We can’t all go inside, and you’re a whole lot more intimidating than Teddy. We’ll tell you what we find out.”

  He gave me a skeptical look, not that I blamed him. I’d pretty much admitted I didn’t fully trust him
, so he had no guarantee I’d be honest about what I found out.

  “You have to trust me, Luke. Just like you’re asking me to trust you.”

  I knew he could push the issue. He was the police chief, but he searched my face, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll wait out here.”

  Teddy didn’t waste any time heading for Connor’s office. Based on the cars parked in front of it, there were at least a few people inside, but I only needed one person: someone who’d seen her and could tell me where to find her.

  I slipped my phone out of my pocket, giving it one last look to make sure Dixie hadn’t gotten back to me, then stopped a few feet from the front door and glanced up at Teddy. “Let me do the talkin’.”

  Teddy didn’t say a word, instead reaching for the front door and holding it open for me to enter.

  I strode through the door and stopped in the middle of the room. Connor was sitting at his desk. His hair was damp and freshly washed, and he’d changed shirts. He was watching a video of himself on his computer while Lauren and Karen stood behind the film editors. Their screens were full of videos of the fire on Pine Street.

  “There!” Lauren said, pointing to a screen. “Freeze that screen. Is that a body?”

  “Seriously?” I asked before I could stop myself.

  Lauren stood upright and turned to face me. A smug look covered her face. “Ready to throw in the towel?”

  “Not a chance,” I said in a dry tone.

  Teddy stood behind me, and Lauren’s gaze lifted to take him in. “Hey, Teddy. What brings you into town again? Two days in a row. I thought you liked to stay out on that farm of yours.”

  “I’m lookin’ for Dixie,” he said. “Summer seems to have misplaced her, so I thought I’d check here.”

  So much for letting me do the talking, but he had a good approach. And Lauren was far more likely to spill to him instead of me.

  Karen rolled her office chair away from her desk. “We haven’t seen her since this morning.”