“Widow Creek has a bit of a reputation. I thought it might be some sort of a scam. You know, where I get out here and somebody hits me over the head and takes any money I might have with me.” She barked a laugh. “Although the joke would be on them, only thing I have in my wallet is my driver’s license and an old picture of Blue, the first dog I ever owned.”
“Why would you worry about somebody knocking you over the head?” Lexie asked.
“Drug fiends,” Linetta said in a lowered voice. “This town is full of them.”
Lexie looked at the older woman in surprise. “What kind of drugs?”
“Rumor has it Widow Creek is the place to come if you want meth. They make it and sell it out of their bathrooms, their sheds, their closets.”
“Who does? Who makes it and sells it?” Lexie asked. Her mind boggled at this new piece of information.
Linetta’s big shoulders moved up and down in a shrug. “I don’t know who. It’s just rumors. I heard it from my grandkid. He’s sixteen and he’s been told I’ll take off a stripe of his hide if I ever hear he was in or around Widow Creek. Now, let’s go take a look at those dogs.”
As Lexie followed her to the pen her mind worked to digest what she’d just heard. Was it possible there was a major meth operation here in Widow Creek?
She knew enough about the making of methamphetamine to know that it could be manufactured in a bathroom or in a shed. The ingredients were easily obtained and it certainly didn’t take a chemistry degree to put them all together. But here in Widow Creek? Wouldn’t Nick have heard rumors about such a thing?
It didn’t take long for Linetta to leave the pen and return to where Nick and Lexie awaited her. “They’re terrific. They have friendly personalities and their overall health looks to be good. I’m sure I can find homes for all of them with no problems.”
Minutes later Lexie watched as Nick and Linetta loaded the dogs into the cages waiting in the back of the breeder’s truck. When the final dog was loaded and Linetta waved a goodbye and got into the truck, Lexie felt as if the last pieces of her sister were driving away from the house.
Nick looped an arm around her shoulder and she leaned against him and watched until the truck disappeared from sight. “You ready to head back to my place?” he asked.
She nodded and stepped away from him, her mind still working to process what she’d just learned from Linetta. It wasn’t until she got into Nick’s pickup that pieces began to fit together in her mind.
A rush of adrenaline filled her as Nick started the engine. “Did you know that Lauren was about to start training drug-sniffing dogs?”
“No, I didn’t know that,” he replied. He fastened his seat belt and then turned to look at her. “I seem to be asking you this all the time, but what are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking I might have just stumbled upon a motive for murder,” she replied and watched his eyes widen in surprise.
Chapter Nine
“Think about it,” Lexie said. “There’s a big drug operation going on in the area and the people behind it discover that my sister is about to start training drug-sniffing dogs.”
They were back in Nick’s kitchen and seated at his table. Zeus was sleeping at Lexie’s feet and Taz was chewing on a rawhide treat.
“And maybe the people in charge of the operation saw Lauren’s newest venture as a threat to their business,” Nick replied. “The last thing they’d want is a drug-sniffing dog running around town alerting on people and places. What this theory doesn’t tell us is who is responsible…and it is just a theory,” he reminded her.
She looked more alive than she had since the discovery of Lauren’s body. Her green eyes snapped with life and a wild energy radiated from her, an energy that called to him, that made him want to sweep her into his arms and carry her up the stairs and into his bedroom.
Instead he tried to keep his mind focused on the conversation at hand. “But, it’s the first real theory we’ve come up with,” she replied. “And now what we need to do is prove or disprove it.”
He frowned. “And how exactly do you intend to go about doing that?”
“I need to spend some more time in town, ask some subtle questions and see what kind of answers I get.”
He gave her a wry grin. “You aren’t exactly the subtle type, Lexie. I just don’t want you to stir up somebody who decides to take potshots at us in the night again. The next time they might get lucky and actually hit one or both of us.”
As much as he liked her, there was no doubt in his mind that, if what she believed was true, her style of asking questions would put a very large target on her back. Lexie was about as subtle as a pit bull.
Her cheeks grew pink. “You’re right. But if I just hang out in town I should at least be able to tell if somebody is using or not. People using meth aren’t able to fly under the radar very well.”
“Euphoria, paranoia, acne, sores, weight loss, a lack of personal hygiene.” He smiled as she looked at him in surprise. “Don’t worry, I learned everything I know about it from a documentary on television. I like documentaries—it’s one of those nerdy things about me. You know, we could ask Gary what kind of a problem drug use is in the town.”
She shook her head. “I’d rather keep this to ourselves for the time being.”
“You still don’t trust Gary?” he asked.
Her beautiful green eyes held his in a gaze he felt pierce clear through to his heart. “The only person I have left in the world that I trust without question right now is you, Nick.”
In that moment Nick felt as if he’d been given a precious gift. He had a feeling Lexie wasn’t a woman who trusted easily, and the fact that she trusted him made him want to jump up and grab the moon for her if that’s what she needed.
“So, what’s the game plan, Agent Forbes?” he asked.
She gave him a tight smile. “I’m thinking we go to the café for dinner tonight and then maybe find out if we can figure out where the young people hang out when the sun goes down. If anyone knows if there are drugs available here in Widow Creek it’s probably going to be the teenagers.”
Nick leaned back in his chair, a slow burn of anxiety beginning in his gut. “If what you think is true, then these people are very dangerous. They’ve killed Lauren and could have killed both of us.”
She narrowed her eyes slightly. “So, does that mean you want out? Nick, I’d certainly understand if you do. This isn’t your battle to fight.”
“Of course it’s my battle. This is my town.” It was the easy answer, but the truth of the matter was it had become his battle the moment his mouth had taken hers on the night they’d made love. It had become his battle when he’d held her in his arms as she’d cried over her sister’s death.
“I think maybe I’ll take a little nap, if you don’t mind,” she said as she pushed back from the table. “It’s been kind of a stressful morning.”
“Go on, get some rest,” he replied. “We’ll talk about everything else later.”
As she disappeared from the kitchen Nick remained seated in his chair. He realized that saying goodbye to Lauren’s dogs had been more difficult for her than she’d let on.
It had been the same for him when he’d donated Danielle’s clothing and shoes to a local charity. It had been almost six months after her death and he’d thought he was ready, but folding the clothes and placing them in boxes, picking up the shoes and remembering when she’d worn them last had slammed his grief back into him in a way he hadn’t expected.
His mind shifted back to his conversation with Lexie. Drugs in Widow Creek? Nick didn’t want to believe it, but during the past year he hadn’t spent a lot of time in town. He’d isolated himself too much, he realized. He’d pulled his grief around him and wallowed in it and it was past time he changed that.
It was time he find out what was going on in his hometown, time he stop isolating himself and truly integrate himself back into life in Widow Creek.
Every town
probably had a drug problem of sorts, but Nick knew from the documentary he’d watched that meth had become the scourge of small-town America. Meth labs were dangerous not only because of the drug they produced, but also because of the chemicals needed to make that drug.
He got up from the table and went up the stairs. He passed the guest room where Lexie had gone. The door was closed and he hoped she was resting peacefully. Between the funeral yesterday and the shooting and then giving the dogs away today, she had to be emotionally exhausted.
He went on into his bedroom and instantly saw the photo of Danielle on his nightstand. As always his heart squeezed at the sight of her, but this time his grief wasn’t the cutting, breath-stealing force it had always been. It was simply the ache of loss that was natural after saying goodbye to a loved one.
Was his desire to help Lexie his need to somehow find some sort of redemption as she’d suggested? Did he believe that in being there for Lexie he could mitigate some of the guilt he felt about Danielle?
He didn’t believe it. The minute he’d seen Lexie she had touched him in a way he hadn’t been touched in a very long time. That night that he’d met her in Lauren’s house it should have been easy for him to walk away from her, but he’d been unable to do so.
Her awkwardness drew him, her quirky little smile warmed him and there were moments now when he couldn’t imagine what his life would be like when she was gone.
But he knew he couldn’t think that way. Lexie didn’t belong here. She had her life, her work in Kansas City. Once she had the answers she needed to find peace, she would be gone. And besides, he had already made the decision that he was destined to live here alone.
Zeus came running into the room, chased by the rascal Taz. Both dogs stopped in their tracks at the sight of him, as if they were two kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Deciding they both could use a run outside, he placed the picture of Danielle in the nightstand drawer and then left the bedroom and headed downstairs, the dogs close at his heels.
He sat on the deck and watched the two dogs frolic in the fallen leaves and went over things in his mind. He didn’t know what to believe about Lauren’s death and the drug angle. All he knew was that he was in this until the end…even though he knew that in the end he would have to tell Lexie goodbye.
It was almost six o’clock when Nick and Lexie left the house to go into town for dinner. She’d awakened an hour earlier and had showered and changed, but had been unusually quiet since leaving the bedroom.
“You should be starving,” he said once they were in the truck and headed into Widow Creek. “You slept through lunch and you didn’t do much more than pick at your breakfast.”
“I wasn’t sleeping the whole time. I called my boss and checked in with him and then called a friend of mine, a fellow agent, Amberly Nightsong, and yes, I am a little bit hungry, but I’d rather get information than food.”
“Let’s hope we get both,” Nick replied.
They fell silent once again and not for the first time Nick wished he could get inside her head, see what she was thinking, know exactly what she was feeling.
When had it happened? When in the course of the five days since he’d met her had her thoughts become so important to him? When had his need to know everything about her become so intense?
She remained quiet through their meal at the Cowboy Corral, eating very little and instead keeping her attention focused on the other diners.
Nick saw nobody that he thought might be under the influence of drugs. He also saw none of the teenagers of the town inside the restaurant.
“You might try eating some of that food instead of moving it around on your plate,” he said.
She looked down at the chicken-fried steak dinner she’d ordered and then up at him. “You’re food obsessed.”
He smiled. “And you don’t eat enough to keep a bird alive.”
“That’s not true. I can eat my weight in hot wings.”
He laughed. “I’d like to see that.”
“I should probably warn you, it usually involves a six-pack of beer at the same time.” Her smile fell and once again her gaze darted around the room.
“You know, we might have more luck tomorrow night,” he said as they lingered over coffee. “It’s Thursday night and school is in session. It’s doubtful any of the teens would be out late tonight doing illegal activities. We’d probably have better luck tomorrow or Saturday night.”
“That makes sense,” she agreed reluctantly. She picked up her cup and took a sip. “Maybe Linetta Stone’s rumors were just that, silly rumors with no fact.” Her voice held a weariness of spirit that reached inside him and squeezed his heart.
“Lexie, just because we didn’t find what we were looking for in a two-hour meal on a Thursday night doesn’t mean that what we’re looking for isn’t here.”
“You’re right,” she replied and sat up straighter in her chair. “I’m just impatient. Lauren used to tell me all the time that unlike my computer where things happen with the click of the mouse, real life requires more patience.”
“We’ll come back tomorrow night,” he promised. “And the night after that and the night after that. We’ll do this however long it takes for you to get some peace of mind. And after we eat dinner if we don’t see anybody who might give us some answers we’ll drive around town and find out where the kids all hang out.”
“Where did you hang out when you were a teenager?” she asked when they were in his truck and headed back to his house.
“When I was young there was a bowling alley and a movie theater and most weekends that’s where all the kids gathered. But both of those businesses closed down years ago. What about you? Where did you hang out?” he asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from drugs and Lauren’s death at least for a few minutes.
“I didn’t hang out a lot when I was a teenager. Occasionally Lauren would twist my arm and I’d reluctantly go with her and some of her friends to a pizza place where a lot of the kids hung out. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’m not at my best in a crowd, so I didn’t go often. I spent a lot of time with my dad,” she replied.
“What was he like?” He cast her a quick glance and saw the softening of her features as she thought of her father.
“He was the best,” she replied. “He took us fishing and painted our fingernails. He baked cookies for school functions and taught us how to play basketball. He was both mom and dad to us and did a good job at being both. He knew I struggled with my shyness, with my awkwardness, but he always made me feel special. When he died I knew I’d lost my best champion.”
“There hasn’t been any other important man in your life?”
She gazed out the side window. “Only Michael, and I already told you about him.” She turned back to look at him. “I thought he might be my one real Cupid’s arrow, but he was just a silly misfire.”
She sat up straighter in the seat as he pulled into his drive. “I just wish I knew whether we were onto something here or if we’re just spinning our wheels.”
“Hopefully we’ll know by the end of the weekend,” he replied. “If we take each troubling incident separately they don’t add up to much. You saw somebody in the back of Lauren’s place lurking in the middle of the night right before her body was found. You believe that Lauren’s body was placed on the creek bed long after she was killed. Somebody shot up Lauren’s place. When you add them altogether and throw in a drug angle, it’s all more than troubling. It feels criminal.”
“So, you don’t think I’m crazy?” she asked.
“Definitely not,” he replied as he pulled up in front of his house.
As they walked inside Taz and Zeus greeted them with happy barks. Nick tried not to think about how right it felt for Lexie to be by his side, tried not to notice how the house filled with her very presence.
It was going to be hard for him when she went back to Kansas City. The house would once again radiate with the emptiness that had become all
too familiar over the last year of his life. Dogs were great companions, but they didn’t quite take the place of human beings.
“You want some more coffee?” he asked as they went into the kitchen. “I could make a pot.”
“No thanks. I drank enough coffee for one day.”
“How about a glass of wine?”
She hesitated a moment and then nodded. “Sure, that would be great. White if you have it.”
“I do,” he replied. “Why don’t you make yourself comfortable in the living room and I’ll bring it to you.”
“Sounds like a plan.” She left the kitchen with the dogs trailing at her heels.
Nick poured them each a glass of wine and then carried it into the living room where she was seated on the sofa. He handed her a glass and then sank down next to her.
Throughout the evening he’d been acutely aware of her on a physical level. He’d found the familiar scent of her intoxicating and couldn’t help but notice the way her green sweater hugged her breasts.
It had been difficult for him to keep his mind on the reason they had been in the café, difficult to keep his mind away from the night they’d made love.
He wanted her again. He wanted to taste her lips, feel the warmth of her naked in his arms. It was more than a simple want, it was a growing need that was getting more and more difficult to ignore.
“Tell me about the fall festival,” she said. She took off her glasses and set them on the coffee table and then leaned back against the sofa cushion. “You mentioned it was one of the things that brought the whole town together.”
“It’s always the first week in November. The stores close down for the day and Main Street becomes a playground for everyone. The mayor’s office provides a bean feast with pots of beans and corn bread. There are pie-eating contests and carnival rides and something to bring a smile to everyone’s faces.”
“Sounds wonderful,” she replied.
“It’s definitely small town at its best.” He stared down into his wine glass, recognizing that in all probability when the fall festival in less than a month occurred Lexie would be long gone. “Maybe you could come back here for the festival.”
Scene of the Crime: Widow Creek Page 12