Rian rocked in the seat, the leather squeaking with each jarring movement. “I’ve not asked him yet, but Evan’s being a poophead.”
Oookay. It was moments like this he wished he had his mother’s wisdom in handling Rian. Taking a steadying breath, Rhys knew the next question could either anger Rian at feeling like he was digging or help his brother clarify the sudden change. “Did you have an argument?”
“No, but he’s decided he likes Ashley.” Rian kicked the dash again his frown returning.
“Rian,” Rhys said sharply. “Last warning.”
This one rule, he strictly enforced. In the car Rian could not allow his aggression out. Most times Rian’s anger degenerated into punching and kicking. At over six-foot, Rian forgot how strong he was when his emotions became volatile.
“Sorry,” Rian grudgingly replied. “It’s just he wants to be her friend and now he’s invited to her birthday party and it’s the same weekend as our camping trip.”
He finally understood the situation and relaxed, this he could handle.
Evan was making new friends and Rian was jealous, but if Evan had bailed on camping after three months of planning it with Rian . . . Yeah, he could see why his brother was upset. For the girl to be Ashley, Rian had to be hurting. He had a crush on her and Rhys made a mental note to discuss it with Rian’s therapist.
There would be other trips the boys could go on, but this was the first Evan’s parents had allowed him to take them alone. It had taken two years of monthly dinners for Evan’s parents to build up enough confidence to trust him with Evan. Two years of learning how to interact with the boy so he’d listen and obey when Rhys enforced the rules. Two years to learn the boy’s triggers and how to manage them so Evan could meltdown in a safe place.
A headache brewed behind his left eye. Dammit. His brother was just coming to terms with their parents’ death and now the girl . . . woman, that Rian had a crush on, was being stolen by his best friend. Though the group Rian was enrolled with were technically adults, some of their disabilities made it hard for Rhys to remember they weren’t children. His brother’s body was that of an eighteen-year-old and biologically it reacted to stimuli like any young man’s did. But his mind hadn’t progressed much past twelve in his impulse control and reactions.
“Okay, you’ve not talked to Adam. Have you said anything to Evan?”
He had hesitated at wrangling two special needs kids in the middle of the woods, but Jim had said he’d come and help. The second Jim confirmed, Rian became excited, claiming the trip was now for ‘boys only’. It’d taken them a few months to align both Rhys’s and Jim’s schedules in order for them to have the same days off. Now, if Evan decided to go to this birthday party instead of camping, then Rhys would do what he could to support his brother in whatever he wanted. Even if that was spending the next several months learning Adam’s triggers.
Rian’s teeth dug into his bottom lip again. “Well, no.”
“How about us getting home, then we’ll call and talk to Evan. It may be that he’s making new friends, but it doesn’t mean he’s not coming camping with us. You two have been planning this for three months, I don’t expect him to ditch you for a girl.” At least he hoped the kid wasn’t going to ditch his brother.
Rian shrugged his left shoulder. “I guess.”
“Okay.” He wanted to sigh in relief but held it. Dealing with an adult teenager was like riding a unicycle blindfolded in the middle of a minefield while juggling hellcats. He never knew what to expect at any given moment.
As soon as he opened the door between the kitchen and the garage, Rian was inside snagging the cordless phone from its charger. Two thumps told him that Rian had kicked his shoes off in the hall closet. Instead of reprimanding him, Rhys kept quiet. He toed off his own shoes as he set his briefcase on the small office station in the kitchen. After slipping on his house shoes, he pulled out one of the casseroles Marta, their housekeeper, premade for them.
While Rian continued to talk to his friend, Rhys turned on the oven and kept an eye on him. Five minutes into the conversation his brother was back to his happy self, bouncing on the balls of his feet. A broad smile spread across the planes of his face when he finally said bye to Evan.
“Well?”
“He isn’t going to a dumb girl’s party. He said his mom told him he needed to make more friends, and he was trying to do what she wanted. But he didn’t want to go to an all pink princess party.”
“Good enough. Now unpack your bag, go wash up and come set the table. Dinner will be ready in half an hour.”
Rian smiled brightly. Unpacking his bag, he chattered about what all he wanted to do on the camping trip and what foods he wanted them to cook. Then he disappeared down the hall and returned a few minutes later to set the table.
Rhys placed their dinner on the table and took the chair next to Rian. It hit him how different his home life was now compared to two years ago. Their father should be taking Rian camping. Their mom should be the one making dinner, while he visited between classes and residency at the hospital.
Instead, he left his residency program to take over the care of his little brother. At least Rian had their parents for four years before Rhys was forced to take over. Those years had been stabilizing as their parents had found one of the best adult programs in the state of Alabama. Without that program, those counselors, and Rian’s friends, he didn’t know if he and his brother would’ve made it these last two years. He shook off his melancholy and dished up the food.
“Bring the tea, Ri. I’ve got everything else for us.”
Rian hopped up from his chair and brought the pitcher of sweet tea to the table.
~ ~ ~
While he cleaned up from dinner, Rian took a shower. The rapid slap of bare feet heralded his brother’s entrance.
“Super Mario?” Rian asked.
“Sure.”
“Woot!” He spun with a squeak and darted toward the game room.
A few hours and many games later, he was ready to call it a night. “Come on, it’s time for bed.” He powered off the game. “We can play more tomorrow.”
A loud yawn and Rian headed off to get ready for bed. He stood with a stretch and then went off to check the locks set the alarm. Done, he headed to his suite to get cleaned up. His mind wandered to Jo.
Would she be willing to accept Rian? Or would she be like his ex-fiancée? An ex-fiancée who claimed to love him until his parents died and he needed to take care of his brother. The second Sharon discovered he wouldn’t be admitting his brother to a home, she left. No way would he ever put his brother in a home. But was it fair to ask someone else to take on the responsibility?
He felt a connection with Jo. She had a gruff exterior, but he smiled at how snarly she could be. He’d also heard she gave up several off-weekends a month to work. It’d taken a bit of digging to discover those weekends freed other officers up to spend time with their families. For them to be able to attend little league games, follow through on camping trips, or take their kids to the zoo. This proved, to him, that Jo might be all growling bark on the outside, but inside beat the heart of someone who cared about others.
Someone like that would surely understand about Rian . . .
Rhys hoped.
~ ~ ~
“Come on.” Rian motioned impatiently at the corner while he jabbed the crosswalk button.
Digging his cell from his inside blazer pocket, Rhys released a frustrated breath. He never put it there and the one time he did he thought he’d lost it. “I’m coming. I just need to make a call. Why don’t you get a head start on choosing the next series?”
Rian rolled his eyes but did as asked and darted inside the building.
It’d been a day from Hades. The massive accident had him and the other assistants all over the
place. He’d not had time to breathe, let alone call Jo. Clicking Jo’s number, he plugged his other ear to tone down the street noise.
“Jo,” came a sharp reply.
But her voice was doubled for him. Peeking around the corner, he spotted Jo at the library door a few feet away.
“Hello? Rhys?”
The voice jerked him back to the present. “Hey, Jo. Sorry got a bit distracted.”
Turning, he faced away from the door and prayed she didn’t come in this direction. He realized in that instant, he didn’t want her to meet Rian until after he explained his brother to her. Because if she reacted badly, he did not want his brother seeing it.
“I was calling to see about that date.” He leaned against the large sand-colored stones that made up the glass and stone building.
Her voice seemed lighter on the phone, not weighted by her solemn expression. “We have a few new cases that we’re running leads down the rest of the week. And I swapped a couple of shifts this weekend with another detective.”
“How about next week?” Worry flowed into him at the thought of her thinking he was brushing her off.
“That’d be great. I can clear my schedule for Friday or Saturday if you want to let me know which one is good for you.”
“Let me get with Dr. Greene in the morning and I’ll give you a call. Daytime would be better for me if we can manage it.” Rhys peered around the corner again and was rewarded with a brilliant smile.
“Sounds great. I look forward to it.” She hung up before he could agree.
Now if he could just figure out what interested her. Maybe lunch and a movie, or go-karts. Waiting until she entered, he counted to ten and then followed.
As he rode the escalator up to meet his brother, he glimpsed Jo’s thick brown hair disappearing into the crafts section. Curious, once he reached the top, he took another escalator back down. She did not look like the craft type.
He saw her at the far end with two books clutched to her chest and flipping through another before putting it back. Its distinctive fluorescent orange cover easily seen from where he was standing. She whirled away and headed to a different aisle. He jogged down the section she just vacated and pulled out the book.
Knitting. Hearing her voice, he quickly returned the book, raced back to the escalator and headed up to find his brother. He knew he was smiling, but he couldn’t stop. That detour helped him think of the perfect date for him and Jo.
Chapter 7
The smile Jo kept trying to wipe from her face, crept up again.
The captain scowled. “You find this funny, Rayburn?”
“No, sir.” She straightened up in the conference room chair.
“Are we not entertaining enough for you?” he pressed.
She knew better than to dart her gaze to Sullivan, Karma, or Maker for help. “Sorry, sir. Just had some good news and—”
“Well, you’re going to have bad news if you don’t get your damned head in this case.”
“Yes, sir.”
Karma nudged her shoulder when the captain focused on Sullivan and Maker. The captain’s gaze drilled into the two men. “You two called florists?”
“Yes, sir. But there’s nothing.” Frustration coated each of Sullivan’s words. “We don’t even know if the flowers are tied to our guy. Because of the thirty-four cases we’ve determined are his, only Karma and Maker can definitively state the flowers were at their scenes—”
“And this last one.” The captain’s gaze never wavered from Sullivan.
“Yes, sir.”
Maker scrubbed a hand through his hair, taking up the explanation, “We’ve ordered the entire files on the thirty-four victims since the stations only sent basic information.”
The captain’s dark gaze landed on Karma and Jo. “And you two? Seems your partners are the only ones running down the leads.”
Jo bristled, but Karma wore her ever present smirk as she leaned back in her chair. A squeak sounded from it as she shifted around. “Now, captain that simply isn’t true. See, while those two were chatting up the women at the shops, me and Jo worked on the new cases she’s been given—”
“I said this one was a priority” He punctuated his words by stabbing his finger repeatedly into the table.
“We understand that, sir,” Jo added. “And we’re treating it as one. We’ve exhausted the lead we have, but Karma and I came up with another—”
“And do I get to hear it?”
She wanted to snap that she didn’t like being interrupted any more than he did but kept the snarky comment to herself.
“The clothes the victims are dressed in are not the ones they were buried in, that means he buys them.” Jo leaned forward and opened the only complete files they had. “See, each one is different. The women he leaves during the summer, they have sundresses. In the winter they’re in something heavier.” The captain put his reading glasses on and dragged the files closer as she continued, “Our thoughts were when we had all the files, see which stores carried these designs and what year they were released. Stores are always updating their stock.”
“Unless he got them on clearance.” The captain’s scowl slowly dissipated to a more thoughtful expression. “But this is good.”
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and he bought in bulk, but we won’t know until the other precincts get us their full files.” Jo felt the smile creep back across her face. Not only was this a solid lead, but maybe they’d luck into a video of the guy buying the stuff.
“We still don’t know how he’s choosing his victims?” Captain Walker flipped through the pages as if the answers were right there. As many times as Jo and her team had read those files, they shed no light on that mystery.
“No, sir. Like with this one, Marie Ledbetter.” Maker rifled through the files and shifted that one toward the captain. “Based on our research there were three other women buried that day that fit his slim profile. But he chose her.” Sullivan passed Maker another file, and he opened the dull blue folder to the printed-out obituaries. “Yet, another woman was actually in better shape than Ledbetter.” Maker passed the page to the captain.
Jo had already seen it. Theresa McNally died due to a brain aneurysm, the damage to her body was minimal. Whereas Marie Ledbetter, on the other hand, was in an auto accident and her arm had to be restitched to her torso before burial.
“Okay, the thirty-four cases, get me a list of each jurisdiction that’s involved, and I’ll light a fire under them to send over the complete files.”
“And birth certificates,” Karma added.
“Why?” Sullivan’s brow furrowed. “We have their DMV—”
Jo met Karma’s eyes and saw a flash of doubt in their depths. Since Jo began working with her sister on this case, she’d learned to read the woman. Based on the look Karma was shooting at Jo, her sister had a hunch, but wasn’t sure how to justify it.
“Right now, it’s better to have as much information as possible,” she said, trusting her sister’s instincts.
A slight tip at the corner of Karma’s lips let Jo know she appreciated the backup.
“Good job you all. Zwart, you and Schumaker are to head back to your precinct tomorrow. Your captain called and said they’ve got cases piling up.”
“But—”
“He also said if something breaks loose and we need extra resources, then we’re more than welcome to request you back.” The captain grinned. “That’s what comes with having in-laws in other states.”
Karma returned the captain’s smile. “Okay, we’re in a holding pattern, anyway.”
“Yes, we are, but hopefully not for long.” With that the captain stood, tipped his chin and strode from the room. Probably to make those phone calls if the determined look was any indication.
“What
had you smiling while your boss is scowling at you?” Karma’s lips held a teasing cast.
“She has a date,” Sullivan answered as he and Maker gathered up the files. “Rhys finally got off his ass and called her yesterday.”
Jo stacked their notebooks together. “How do you know that?”
“Dr. Greene. I called him this morning in case we need him to take a look at the autopsy stuff from the other stations. And he happened to mention talking to Rhys about his schedule for next week.” Sullivan tossed a shit-eating grin at Jo, and she squinted at him. She knew Sullivan’s boastful expression was because he’d discovered the date without her telling him.
“Why not go this weekend,” Maker asked, breaking up Jo’s and Sullivan’s staring match.
“Because she’s on-call for Terry, so Terry and Sam can go to an away game with their son’s football team.” Sullivan picked up the folders.
“Well, since you have all the answers. Do you know where he’s taking her?” Karma pushed out of her chair, her hands busy checking that her tight black shirt tucked into her jeans.
Besides their eye color, Jo and Karma shared the same taste when choosing colors for their clothing. They both defaulted to all black when dressing. The similarities between them alternately annoyed Jo, and also pleased her.
“Nope, but I’m a detective I’ll figure it out.” Sullivan laughed as he left with Maker trailing him, chuckling.
“Swear that man is irritating as hell,” Karma snarked.
“Yeah, he is,” Jo stated.
Nudging her shoulder, Karma sauntered by her. “I’ll give you a call next week to see how the date went and if you hear anything about the Gravedigger let me know.”
“Will do. Have a safe trip back.” Worry twined within Jo, this could end up like the last time she’d watched Karma walk away. Empty promises to keep in touch that ended in hurt feelings on Jo’s part and nothing but radio silence on Karma’s side.
Gravedigger (The Rayburn Mysteries Book 1) Page 6