“You must be worried if you’re encouraging me to consume sugar,” I joked.
“I just know it’s going to be a long day. You’re going to need to have something in your stomach. As soon as my twelve o’clock class is done, I’ll give you a call and we can meet up.” I saw Vince look away when Aria mentioned that. He loved his wife sleuthing with me about as much as he loved someone breaking into his home in the middle of the night. I avoided looking directly at Vince when I told Aria that her plan sounded good.
Speaking of plans, I needed to track down Kat. She hadn’t texted or called me back last night, although that wasn’t too unusual. Like I said before, she was a bit of a firecracker and seemed to operate on her own timeline. I tried calling her again, but there was still no answer. The bar where she worked wasn’t open yet, or I would’ve tried to call them as well. As it was, as soon as I checked in with Agent Cooper, I’d be heading to Kat’s apartment and then her place of employment. One way or another, I was going to track the girl down. I knew she would be a big help in this case if I could just talk with her.
I also needed to stop back in to Sugar & Sass and make sure things were running smoothly today. Thankfully, Anna was standing by my side and running the store as if it were just another regular day—even after I debriefed her. Even better, she thought Finn was innocent. I couldn’t tell her how grateful I was for her support. Good help could be hard to find, but I was lucky to have some awesome ladies work for me.
And whether I wanted to or not, I needed to talk to my parents. I knew my mom was tired of my elusiveness and she was probably driving my dad absolutely nuts. For that, I was sorry because the woman could be insistent when she is upset about something. I was quite positive that she had knitted or quilted something by now. I would love to wait to check in with them until I had something more positive to share with them, but I didn’t think I could hold on much longer.
I left Aria’s house and was about to dial Agent Cooper when my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, but I answered it anyway.
“Mrs. Hudson?” a male voice asked.
“Speaking,” I said as I navigated pulling through Aria’s circle driveway. I was driving solo. Captain Jack had decided Aria’s couch was preferable to bumming around with me. I didn’t blame him.
“This is Adam Cunning from TV—”
Click.
I hung up. I was not about to talk to the press. Not now, anyway.
I waited until my line was clear and dialed Agent Cooper.
“Agent Cooper,” he said when our lines connected.
“Hey, it’s Ziva Hudson. I was wondering if you had some time to meet up this morning.”
“Finn ready to surrender?” Agent Cooper asked. I was suddenly rethinking my phone call. I should’ve contacted Detective Brandle instead. I thought of hanging up and doing just that when Agent Cooper said, “I have time in about an hour. Would that work for you?”
“It could. Are you out of the Savannah office?”
“I am right now. Would you like to meet me here?”
“That works. I’ll see you in about an hour.”
Finn’s sister’s apartment was on the way. It would give me time to pop in and hopefully chat with her before meeting Agent Cooper. I’d like to have more knowledge before meeting with the special agent again. Knowledge was power, and I needed all I could get in dealing with this man. Besides, I hated being in the dark. It was humiliating on so many levels and I hated the way he cast a shadow on my relationship with Finn, as if it was somehow unauthentic or one-sided. I knew it wasn’t, no matter how much Agent Cooper insinuated that it was.
Kat lived in a no-frills tri-level complex. Each unit was as basic as they come, with Formica countertops and linoleum floors. In-unit washers, dryers and dishwashers were the appliances of dreams. But the rent was decent, and Kat said it suited her freestyling life just fine.
The red brick building located just off Highway 17 was in a straight-up working-class neighborhood. The parcel of land across the street held a two-pump gas station and laundromat. A cash-only taco stand, an empty parking lot and an off-brand grocer took up the rest of the space.
My little pickup truck rocketed over a pothole as I pulled into the complex’s driveway. I sucked in a breath as my truck rocked side to side. Carefully, I navigated the rest of the pothole-riddled parking lot and slowly pulled into a space. Right off the bat, I spotted Kat’s little black Honda Civic. I took that as a good sign. I wished I had the photograph Agent Cooper showed me yesterday to share with Kat, but I hoped if I described it, she might know who the other two individuals were. I had a feeling Finn had spent a lot of time with them.
I walked up the complex’s cracked sidewalk and in through unit two’s main door. Inside the mixed scents of spicy Asian food and bacon greeted me. A unique combination to be sure, but it made my mouth water all the same. I was a sucker for Asian food, Thai being my favorite. Give me some green chicken curry and spring rolls and I’d be a happy camper.
I jogged up the worn industrial-carpeted stairs and knocked on apartment 2B, taking a step back in anticipation of Kat answering the door, but after a minute I was still standing on the outside waiting. I knocked again, louder this time. My nerves started to pick up, making me antsy. I fidgeted from foot to foot until I realized what I was doing and forced myself to stand still. I stood silently then, trying to pick up any sound from the other side of the door. All was quiet. Perhaps a third time would be the charm?
“Hey, Kat, you home?” I rapped three times on the door and waited, ignoring the dull ache in my shoulder that seemed to crop back up.
“Kat. You here?”
More silence.
Crud.
The neighbor across the hall opened his door and was suddenly behind me.
Sweet sugar! I slapped my hand over my heart. “I didn’t hear you,” I said to the elderly man as he bent down to get his newspaper.
“What?” he asked.
“Sorry I didn’t hear you,” I said.
“No, I can’t hear you,” he replied.
I smiled in response.
“You looking for someone?” he practically shouted.
“Kat.” I motioned with my thumb to the door behind me. “Have you seen her?”
“Who?” he asked.
I could tell he was trying to read my lips. A challenging task to say the least. “Katherine. Your neighbor. She lives right here.” I pointed to her door again. “Blond hair, blue eyes, about a foot taller than me?” I used my hand to demonstrate the height difference.
The gentleman seemed to think for a moment. “Not lately.”
“Okay, thanks.”
I watched the neighbor tuck his newspaper under his arm and disappear back inside his apartment.
I turned back to Kat’s apartment and knocked again. This time I pressed my ear to the door but didn’t hear anything. I blew out a sigh and hoped that if Kat was home, she was only sleeping and not something worse.
If antebellum architecture, Spanish moss-draped oak trees and cobblestone streets are your thing, you would love Savannah, Georgia. And don’t tell Mrs. J., but I think the Savannah Candy Kitchen makes the best pralines on either side of the river. Fresh cream, rich butter, fine sugar and southern pecans combine to make the sweet, deliciously chewy candy. They were a favorite of Finn’s while the chocolate variety were mine. I thought about picking up a tin of pralines while I was downtown in hopes of sharing them with my honey when he returned home. I was determined to be optimistic, no matter what the FBI thought and even if I didn’t understand what was going on.
The FBI field office was located just off Bay Street in an area that I knew well. I parallel parked my pickup on the main drag and walked the block over. The receptionist rang back for Agent Cooper to let him know I was there.
He didn’t leave me waiting.
Agent Cooper appeared and nodded for me to follow him.
“Thought you’d have your attorney with you,�
� he said as we weaved between cubicles and entered a small meeting room along the right-hand side wall. The fluorescent lighting automatically turned on once we entered the room.
“Don’t make me regret it,” I replied.
A rectangular conference table sat in the middle of the space with four chairs. Agent Cooper sat at the head of the table, putting his leather notebook down and opening it to a blank sheet of white paper. I sat to the left of him and then took my phone out of my purse and accessed my email. As promised, Vince had sent me a secure link to access the footage from last night.
“I’m staying at my girlfriend’s house, Aria Delgado,” I said. As expected, Aria’s last name got a reaction from Agent Cooper. Like I said before, Vince was a heck of a businessman. He’s a good guy, but he’s not to be trifled with. If Agent Cooper tried to play any games with him, it wouldn’t end well. Of that I was certain.
“Last night, a little after 11PM, I heard someone try to break into the pool house where I was staying.” I held up my hands in a stop motion. “I know what you’re thinking, and no, it wasn’t Finn. But the intruder did set off the alarm, which tripped the front security and led us to check the security footage. I wanted to show you what we found.”
I clicked the link and waited a second for the video to load before putting my phone in front of Agent Cooper and hitting play. I watched him while the 10 seconds of critical footage played out. Agent Cooper replayed it more than once, seeming to nod his head in agreement with himself.
“What, what is it?” I asked him.
“You don’t know who this woman is?” Agent Cooper asked me.
“No, not a clue. Do you?”
“Interesting.” The agent tapped his pen on the blank piece of paper before him. I noticed he didn’t answer my question, but instead, asked one of his own. “What did you think showing me this video would prove?”
I didn’t hesitate. “That Finn could be a victim. Whoever this woman is, she’s obviously capable of breaking into someone’s home and murdering them, or I assume so by the looks of her moves.”
Agent Cooper thought some more. “Okay, I’ll give you that, but what if I told you she was an accomplice with Finn. That she too is wanted for questioning in relation to a previous crime?”
I snapped my mouth shut and pulled my phone back, unsure what to say in response.
“I think you’re in over your head here,” Agent Cooper said. “You might want to consider getting out of town for a little bit or even letting us assign an agent to you as a safety protocol. At this point, I don’t think it’s safe for you to be alone.”
It wasn’t the first time an authority figure suggested that I seek refuge. But I had never taken one up on their offer before and I wasn’t about to start now. I was still counting on Finn getting in touch with me, and he would have a much harder time doing that if I had babysitters. More than ever, I wanted to speak with him.
“I’ll think about it,” I said to Agent Cooper, putting my phone back in my purse.
“Can you send that footage to me?” Agent Cooper asked
“I’ll let Vince know and see what he can do about it.” I stood up to leave. “Any chance this woman could’ve taken Finn hostage?” Even as I said the words, I knew it sounded ridiculous.
“Not unwillingly.” And for the first time I saw pity in Agent Cooper’s eyes. I hated him for it. Finn had too many secrets and apparently I wasn’t privy to any of them.
I left the FBI field office and completely forgot about the pralines. In fact, at that minute I was more inclined to get an alcoholic slushy from Wet Willies in a to-go cup than candy. Speaking of alcohol, there was still another place I could go to look for Kat and that was the bar. The staff would be there right now prepping to serve the lunch crowd and hopefully she’d be one of them.
Gravel crunched under my pickup’s tires and dust swirled around me as I pulled into Red’s and parked. Red’s was an unremarkable hole in the wall with cinder block walls and slits for windows. The only decor was faded beer signs advertising dollar drafts and Keno. Two other cars were in the parking lot. Neither one I recognized, but then again Kat’s car was still parked back at her apartment.
I stepped into the bar and allowed my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. Randy Redmond, AKA The Boss Man, was working behind the bar. That should’ve been my first clue that this conversation wasn’t going to go well. The man hated tending bar, which was ironic seeing he owned the place. Actually, I take that back: It wasn’t serving drinks that he didn’t like, it was interacting with the customers. A good bartender was like a therapist—he would listen, offer advice and medicate you (albeit with alcohol). Randy only had the alcohol part down.
“What do you need, Ziva?” Randy asked.
See? Not a people person in the least. At the other end of the bar, Carl, one of the resident drunks—I mean, frequent patrons—was nursing a beer and staring at Randy and me as if he were watching a daytime drama. I tried to ignore him.
“I’m looking for Kat. Have you seen her?” I asked.
“Thorn in my side,” he replied.
“What?” I asked, not following.
“Everyone’s looking for her,” he said.
That piqued my interest. “Really, like who?” I asked.
Randy stopped stacking glasses and really looked at me. “You talk to your husband?” he asked.
“Not lately,” I confessed.
“Huh,” was all Randy said for a minute. He went back to stacking and wiping down glasses. When he saw I was still standing there waiting, he said, “Finn stopped in here two nights ago around closing time. I told him Kat was in the back cashing out. That’s the last I saw of ’em.”
Wait, what?! My brain raced to put the pieces together.
“They leave together?” I asked, proud of how calm I sounded even though my insides were a mess.
“Not a clue. I didn’t see ’em leave and I haven’t seen ’em since.”
“You said closing time. What time’s that, 2AM?”
“About that.”
Two nights ago was the night Cody was murdered. Could Finn have murdered his friend and then raced to pick up his sister and get out of town? I couldn’t believe it, but no other explanation was coming to me.
“You said everyone’s looking for her. Who else?” I asked.
Randy grunted. “An FBI agent and some woman.” He shuddered. That was saying something, seeing the man was six feet five and easily pushing 250 pounds.
“I remember her,” Carl chimed in. “The black cat.”
“Black cat?” I asked.
“He means because of all the black leather.”
“She was bad to the bone,” Carl said to me.
I raised my eyebrows in response. I had a feeling I knew the woman. I was betting it was the same one who tried to visit me last night.
“I wouldn’t mess with her. Well, unless she wanted me to,” Carl said with a lopsided grin. I was thinking that was smart on Carl’s part, unless he wanted to die a slow, painful death.
“She didn’t by chance leave a card, did she?” I asked. Did assassins have cards?
“Nope,” Randy replied. “But if you see Kat, tell her to get her butt back to work. I’m not doing this another day.”
“I’ll pass it on. Thanks, guys.”
5
The sun was blinding when I stepped back outside. It was only noon and it already felt like the longest day ever. Aria was right, I was going to need sugar to get through the day.
Speaking of which, Aria called while I was still in the parking lot of Red’s. Her timing was perfect. If I ever needed to talk to my best friend, it was right then.
“What’s up? You want to meet me for lunch?” Aria asked.
“At this point, I’m more likely to drink my lunch, but I’d love to meet up with you. You’re not going to believe what I found out.”
“Oh no, that doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s not. Where do you want to meet?
” I asked.
“Where you at right now?”
“In the parking lot of Reds’, but I can be downtown in twenty.”
“Okay, let’s meet up at Asian Blossom,” Aria replied.
“Oh, well in that case, maybe I will eat.” Hadn’t I just said I had a hankering for green chicken curry and spring rolls? At least one thing was going right today.
Walking into the Asian eatery had me doing a double take. The same man I saw Mrs. J. arguing with was waiting for a table in line in front of me. His apparent love for Hawaiian print was a dead giveaway, not to mention the glowing orange skin. The unflattering hue had my beauty brain going into overdrive. I had previously developed an organic sunscreen stick, but what about self-tanners? How had I not thought of this before? Perhaps this would be the new product breakthrough I was looking for. It felt good to think about work and push the stress aside. Even if it lasted only a nanosecond.
“This way, Mr. Devonshire,” the hostess said.
“About time,” the man replied as he moved about the place with an air of entitlement. I didn’t know who he was exactly, but I was betting he was used to people waiting on him. I could see why he and Mrs. J. had clashed so strongly—neither one of them would compromise.
Aria had already nabbed us a table and ordered me a Coke by the time I arrived. Seeing an icy glass of my husband’s favorite beverage left me feeling a strong range of emotions. Anger, hurt, frustration—they were all there. I wasn’t sure which one was strongest.
“I guess I could’ve picked up a couple of little bottles of rum to pour into that Coke,” Aria said, reading the look on my face.
“Girl, let me tell you, I’ve never been more confused on a case before in my life.” I went on to try to explain my morning, but the waiter popped in just at that moment to take our orders. Thankfully, we both had our old standbys and the interruption lasted only a second. I put in that spring roll and green chicken curry order, while Aria had gone for a spicy vegetable dish, extra vegetables and light on the sauce. Steamed rice on the side, of course. I got back to debriefing Aria the second the waiter was out of earshot.
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