Zander waved off his concern. “That’s fine. We’ve been caught a bunch of times. We have lies already prepared.”
Nick’s forehead wrinkled. “Lies?”
Harper nodded. “Sometimes we’re birdwatchers. If the person we’re spying on doesn’t know us, we pretend to be a couple who likes to have nookie in the woods.”
“I don’t know why anybody would want to roll around on pine needles, but it gets some people off,” Zander said.
Maddie could no longer contain her laughter. “Nick and I have nookie in the woods all the time. In fact, there’s a field right by our house and we have picnics there three times a week. There’s almost always nookie if the weather is good.”
“Way to spread our business, Mad,” Nick groused.
“I’m going to need to hear more about this field nookie,” Zander said gravely. “We’ll have time while we’re spying. I think you might be abnormal, though. Be prepared to have to give me the nitty-gritty details.”
Maddie’s smile was wide enough she looked like the sun. “I think I can do that.”
“You cannot.” Nick was beside himself. “You’re a prude, Maddie. You never talk about that stuff.”
“Oh, lighten up, Nicky.” Maddie patted his arm. “You’re acting as if they don’t already know we do it. I mean ... I am carrying your offspring.” She gestured toward her belly.
“I don’t even understand what is happening here,” Nick muttered. “I feel as if I’ve fallen into an alternate dimension.”
“You can still feel that way when we’re spying,” Harper offered. “We need to get moving, though. The faster we get set up, the better.”
JANICE WAS ALL ATWITTER WHEN MEL AND Jared walked into Morton’s practice.
“I wasn’t sure what time you guys were going to show up,” she announced.
“I thought the message we sent indicated that it would be first thing in the morning,” Mel said.
“That could mean anything, and if you think this is the first thing in the morning, you obviously don’t keep doctor’s hours.”
“Obviously not,” Jared agreed dryly. “What do you have for us?”
“These are what I have.” She pointed toward a stack of files on the front counter. “Those are the only people I can find who complained about the doctor’s work after the fact. You’re going to find notations in there, our findings on their complaints.”
“Were any of the complaints legitimate?” Jared queried as he grabbed the first file.
“No. Dr. Morton was a professional.”
A hiked eyebrow was Jared’s only response.
“Some people complain just to complain,” Janice insisted. “You’re never going to make some people happy no matter what you do.”
“I don’t disagree with that,” Jared said. “The thing is, nobody is perfect. I consider myself a good detective, but I still make mistakes. Are you telling me that Dr. Morton never made a mistake? That seems unlikely to me.”
Janice hesitated and then shook her head. “I really don’t think he did. He was a fantastic doctor, one who never looked beyond the next surgery. He made that his full focus.”
She seemed to zero in on that point so Jared opted to explore it. “Is that a problem in this field? I mean ... the surgeries don’t take as long as other types and to make money you have to move multiple clients through.”
“It’s not about making money,” Janice insisted.
“Oh, come on now,” Mel complained. “If you go to school to become a plastic surgeon rather than specializing in cardio or some other life-saving field there has to be a bit of concern about money in there.”
“No.” Janice stubbornly shook her head and folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t think I like what you’re implying.”
“We’re not implying anything negative,” Jared reassured her, shooting a warning look toward Mel. So far, Janice had been cooperative. The last thing they needed was her putting up a fight and making it difficult to access client files.
“It sounds to me like you are.”
“Well, we’re not.” Jared was firm. “We want to find the individual responsible for this. That’s our only concern. Complaints don’t have to be about Dr. Morton’s failures. It could be about perceived failures.”
“That’s why I said you can’t always make everybody happy.”
“And you’re right.” Jared’s smile never wavered. “You led us to Cady Barton. She was definitely unhappy with her surgery.”
“Which wasn’t Jeff’s fault,” Janice insisted. “He told her she would look stupid, but she refused to listen. He did his absolute best. He was patient with her, to a fault, and laid everything out. He even showed her what she would look like on this computer program he had. She insisted that’s what she wanted no matter how he argued. If you ask me, the man was a saint.”
She was so emphatic it niggled something in the back of Jared’s busy mind. “Were you two involved?”
Whatever she was expecting, that wasn’t it. Janice jerked up her head and fixed a pair of fire-filled eyes on Jared. “Why would you ask that?”
It wasn’t a denial, Jared mused. She seemed surprised he would jump to the conclusion but she didn’t scoff at the suggestion. “Because you seem rather fond of him.”
“He was my boss. Aren’t you fond of your boss?”
“Not in the same manner you are.” Jared searched for the right words. “Dr. Morton wasn’t married. If you two were involved, there’s nothing alarming about the situation. It’s not like you were breaking any rules or putting yourself in an ethical quandary.”
“That shows what you know.” Janice’s temper was on full display now. “This is a private practice. It’s one Dr. Morton owns. Despite that, we still have to work under the auspices of a hospital. It’s a professional relationship.”
“And what hospital would that be?” Mel queried. “He used to work for Detroit Mercy Hospital. Do they have a no-fraternization policy or something?”
Jared shrugged. “I have no idea. I don’t see why they would.”
“There’s no policy,” Janice insisted. “When there are limited employees, though, it’s frowned upon to engage in romantic relationships.”
“So ... you and Dr. Morton had to keep your relationship a secret,” Jared surmised.
“No.” Janice fervently shook her head. “We were not involved. I don’t know why you think that we were, but we weren’t.”
“Fair enough.” Jared and Mel held gazes for a beat and then collected the files. “We thank you for these. We’ll bring them back when we’re finished.”
“Don’t bother.” Janice’s tone was low and dark. “Those are copies. I can’t give you the original files. I stayed late last night to make copies of everything for you, and that’s what I came up with.”
“We thank you for the copies,” Jared said hurriedly.
“Whatever.”
Jared and Mel remained silent until they landed outside the building.
“She’s lying,” Mel said as they loaded the files into his cruiser.
“She’s definitely lying,” Jared agreed. “I wonder why.”
“Maybe he was dating multiple people and she killed him because she got sick of him cheating on her. Didn’t you say the dude likely had a wandering eye?”
“I think he definitely had a wandering eye,” Jared agreed. “Maybe we should dig a little deeper on Janice.”
“It can’t possibly hurt.”
NICK AND ZANDER CARRIED THE CHAIRS to the small crop of trees located kitty-corner from Cady’s house. Apparently Harper and Zander were so adept at spying they knew exactly where to set up shop. While he was still annoyed that it had come to this, he had to admit they’d picked exactly the right location to see the front door and driveway.
“Thank you.” Maddie beamed at him as she sat in one of the chairs. They’d picked a spot in the shade so she wouldn’t get overheated.
Nick opened his chair and placed it direc
tly next to hers and then immediately rested his hand on her stomach as he urged her to drink the water they’d brought with them.
“If I drink this I’ll have to pee,” Maddie pointed out.
“You always have to pee,” he reminded her. “I don’t want you getting dehydrated. It’s warm out today.”
“We’re in the shade.”
“Mad.” His tone was serious.
“Nicky.” She mocked his tone perfectly and then cracked open the bottle of water. “You’re such a mother hen sometimes.”
“That’s because I love my wife and baby. If that makes me a bad guy, I’m fine with it.”
When Maddie glanced toward Harper she found the other blonde rolling her eyes. “He’s sweet,” she insisted.
“Oh, he’s definitely sweet,” Harper agreed, her heart warming a bit at the way Nick rubbed Maddie’s stomach. They were a tactile couple, something she enjoyed seeing. “He’s also annoying. You need to train him up, Maddie. Let him know you’re the boss.”
“Oh, right.” Zander made a snorting sound that had Harper glaring at him. “Like you don’t kowtow to Jared’s wishes all the time.”
“I don’t. I do what I want.”
“You do ... sometimes,” he conceded. “Other times you insist compromise is key and that we have to work with him because otherwise he’ll melt down.”
“He doesn’t often melt down,” Harper assured Maddie. “He’s a good guy, too.”
“I can see that,” Maddie replied. “You guys seem happy.”
“We are. I think he’s the perfect guy for me.”
“Other than his nipples,” Zander muttered.
Confused, Maddie drew her eyebrows together. “What’s wrong with his nipples? He doesn’t have a third one or something, does he?”
“There’s nothing wrong with his nipples,” Harper said. “They’re perfectly fine nipples.”
“They’re huge,” Zander countered. “They’re like clown nipples or something.”
“I didn’t know there was such a thing as clown nipples,” Nick said, working overtime to hide his amusement. He didn’t think Jared would appreciate the nipple talk, but it was so surreal he couldn’t hide his smile.
“Oh, Jared’s are like circus nipples. They’re freaky.”
“Don’t listen to him.” Harper placed her hand over Zander’s mouth. “He just likes messing with Jared and he’s positive Nick will pull Jared aside at some point and bring up the nipples. Then Zander will have won.”
“I don’t think that I can have a conversation with Jared about nipples,” Nick said. “In fact ... .” He trailed off when Cady’s front door opened. The woman who appeared on the front porch couldn’t be mistaken for anybody but the individual they were looking for, at least if Jared’s description was accurate.
“Wow,” Harper intoned, their earlier conversation forgotten. She dropped her hand from Zander’s mouth. “She asked for those things?”
“Speaking of circus folk,” Zander intoned. “How does she not fall down?”
“I’m no expert, but I have to think I’d be really angry walking around with those things all day,” Maddie admitted, darting her eyes to Nick. “What do you think?”
“No way.” Nick was adamant as he shook his head. “There’s no way I’m saying a word.”
“You have to have an opinion,” Maddie insisted. “I mean ... you can’t look away from those things.” She cocked her head. “They’re almost mesmerizing.”
“We should put Jared’s nipples on her,” Zander said to Harper. “Maybe she’d be willing to do a trade.”
Harper lightly cuffed the back of his head but didn’t move her attention from Cady, who appeared to be approaching a car parked on the opposite side of the road. “That’s not her car.”
“No,” Nick agreed, straining his neck for a better view. “Her car is in the driveway, and there’s a guy in that car waiting for her. I wish it was parked in the other direction so we could see a license plate.”
“It looks like she has something in her hand,” Zander noted as he watched Cady cross the road and stop in front of the driver’s side window. “What is that?”
“It’s an envelope,” Maddie replied after a beat. “It’s a big, thick envelope.”
“What do you think is in it?”
“I have no idea.” Maddie looked to Nick, who remained focused on the scene. “You’re the detective, what do you think is in it?”
Nick hesitated and then shook his head. “I honestly don’t know. I think the options are limited.”
“It’s probably a payoff,” Zander volunteered. “Whoever that guy is — and can anybody make out his features? — he probably killed Morton for her and she’s paying him off.”
“We don’t know that,” Nick shot back. “We need facts, not guesses.”
“My guesses are fact.”
“Ignore him,” Harper said. “He always jumps to the wrong conclusion.”
Annoyance bubbled across Zander’s face. “Um ... what conclusion have you come to that’s somehow better than mine?”
Harper worked her jaw. “I haven’t come to a conclusion. I’m still waiting for more information.”
“Well, we have several facts we can sift through.” Zander feigned civility, but it was obvious he was ready to pick a fight with his best friend. “A woman who was known to have a problem with our victim is handing an envelope full of something to a strange dude in a car.
“We can’t see much of the dude, but he has long hair,” he continued. “You know what that means.”
Nick found he was intrigued. “Why does the length of his hair matter?”
“Zander is convinced that only a handful of men can have long hair and not be evil,” Harper volunteered. “Right now the list of non-evil, long-haired men includes Jason Momoa, Norman Reedus, Tom Hiddleston, and Keanu Reeves.”
“That’s it?” Nick had to swallow his laughter. “Everybody else in the world with long hair is evil.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Zander drawled. “Just the other men with long hair.”
“Oh, well ... .” Nick chewed on his bottom lip as he watched Cady converse with the man in the vehicle. They didn’t look particularly friendly, but they were obviously having a deep conversation. “Whatever they’re talking about looks intense.”
“Murder-for-hire would be intense,” Zander pointed out.
“We don’t know what we’re dealing with right now,” Harper insisted. “We have to watch and wait. There’s nothing more we can do.”
13
Thirteen
Nick managed to catch a photo of the vehicle when the driver departed and when he ran the license plate through the system on his phone he came up with a name.
“Heath Partridge.” He kept his eyes on Harper for her reaction. “Do you know who that is?”
Harper nodded dumbly. “He’s a local kid. Well, man, now. He would have to be a grown man these days.” She looked to Zander for confirmation.
“He’s an adult,” Zander agreed. “He’s in his early twenties now. He goes to Shawn’s gym sometimes. He’s all tatted up and rough looking.”
“What’s he do for a living?” Nick queried.
“I’m not sure.” Harper shifted in her chair and watched as Cady plodded back to her house. “She has something in her hand.”
Maddie craned her neck to see. “It looks like a brown paper bag.”
Nick felt an odd burning sensation in his stomach. It was one he recognized as suspicion. “Harper, can you do me a favor and call Jared to ask what he knows about this Heath guy?”
“Sure.” Harper dug in her pocket for her phone. “What do you suspect?”
Nick hesitated and then held out his hands. “There’s only one thing that pops to my mind.”
“Drugs,” Zander volunteered. “I mean ... she took what looked like an envelope of cash to a car and came back with a brown paper bag. It has to be drugs.”
Harper’s forehead wrinkled
. “You don’t know.” When she risked a glance at Nick she realized he seemed resigned to the same answer. “You think it’s drugs, too.”
“I think it’s what makes sense,” Nick cautioned. “I wouldn’t mind some confirmation.”
“Fair enough.” Harper, her phone pressed to her ear, waited for Jared to answer.
“Do you miss me already?” he asked by way of greeting when he picked up.
“Every moment without you is torture,” Harper confirmed.
“That’s good to know. I feel the same way.”
“Aw.” Harper’s tone was teasing, but she was serious underneath.
“What is it?” Jared queried, correctly reading the temperature of her response. “Did you find something?”
“Maybe.” Harper told him about Cady’s meeting with Heath, including how Nick snapped the license plate and ran it. “Do you have anything in your files on Heath?”
“Hold on.” Jared was quiet for a beat, the only sound belonging to fingers on a keyboard.
“Are you in the office?” Harper asked.
“Yeah, we’re going through the files Janice provided us with.”
“Anything good?”
“Not really.” Jared muttered something under his breath and then continued. “She got angry at us because we correctly surmised she was having an affair with Morton. For some reason she wanted to keep it secret.”
“Maybe there was a non-fraternization rule.”
“Maybe, but she denies that. Right now, we’re not sure what’s up with her. The files she provided us with are pretty basic so far. Most of the complaints revolve around mild scarring after the fact. That doesn’t seem reason enough to kill someone.”
“No, unless you’re dealing with an irrational human being.”
“Here we go,” Jared said as the typing stopped. “Um ... Heath Partridge. It looks like he has an interesting rap sheet. He’s been arrested multiple times for drugs.”
Harper darted a look toward Zander, who was watching her with expectant eyes. “Selling or using?”
Ghostly Graves: A Harper Harlow and Maddie Graves Mystery Page 13