by Sara L Foust
ZACH’S BIG-BROTHER protectiveness over her had always made her feel safe. Like knowing he had her back meant there was at least one safe place in the world for her to hide.
He couldn’t protect her from this though. Hard to keep her from her own emotions and imagination attacking.
“Be nice. He is still my husband.” What was she saying? Of course he was. “I have no proof of anything! What am I talking about?” She hit the steering wheel with her palm. “Forget I said anything.”
“Yeah, ’cause that worked so well before.” He winked.
She smiled. “You’re a pest. But, seriously, you can’t be mad at Dave for my crazy thoughts.”
“Righto.”
“Your tone gives you away, friend. Dave is a good man. Honest. Dependable. He would never do what I am accusing him of.”
Zach’s tone softened. “I can be mad at him for making you even think it in the first place, can’t I?”
She hadn’t looked at it that way before. “I suppose.”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
“Me?”
“Your marriage is in trouble, Annalise. If you don’t address it now, and things get worse, you will regret not talking to him now.”
Sometimes Zach knowing her so well was irritating. “When did you get so wise?”
“Dunno. Just comes natural, I guess.”
Her laughter floated out the window and probably rolled around on the leaf-dotted asphalt. “Thanks for making me smile, Zach.”
“My pleasure.” He opened his door. “Now, what about that food?”
ANNALISE SWALLOWED another refreshing sip of her soda. What was it about fountain drinks that was so much better than bottled or canned?
“Why are we going to Nashville?” Zach took another massive bite of his burger.
“Um, the gun.”
“Yeah, but why not have it tested at our lab?”
“Oh. Ours is booked solid, plus we aren’t sure it was used in a crime, so there’s no way to expedite it. But Nashville said they could get results to me in seventy-two hours.”
“Why is it so important in the first place?”
“You haven’t worked in Norris.”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“I live and work in a modern-day Mayberry. Nothing more than an occasional parking ticket or a missing pet happens here. It’s...wonderful.”
“I don’t believe you.”
She didn’t believe her either. She sighed. “It’s boring.”
He clapped his hands. “Ha! I knew it. Come on, Annalise, you have to take this job. You’re perfect for it, and it’s perfect for you.”
“What about Dave? I can’t ask him to move again.”
“Why not?”
“His business.”
“He’s about to lose his business, remember?”
“We don’t know that.”
“Okay, he has cancer and he won’t be able to work soon anyway.”
“We don’t know that either.”
“Okay, there’s another woman, and you must relocate him as far away as possible so as to avoid temptation.”
Her breath hitched in her throat, stopping the French fries on their way down dead in their tracks.
“Too soon?”
She swallowed hard, took a drink of her soda, and cringed. “A little, yes.”
“Sorry.”
“A lot, actually.”
“Won’t happen again.”
Yes, it would. She could count on Zachary Leebow to be brutally honest with her, to never tread lightly on her feelings, and to call her out when she was in denial. And, for that, she was grateful.
“If Dave agrees to move, it isn’t you forcing him. He isn’t a child.”
Ouch. “I suppose that’s true, but I just asked him to leave a city where he was happy and his business was doing well. For me.”
“You’re worth it.”
Heat rose into her cheeks. She dipped her head. “Thanks, but that isn’t the point. What if he’s made enough sacrifices for my career already?” She thought her last job in Memphis was “the one.” What if she didn’t truly know what she wanted? What if she never found satisfaction in a job? What if Dave got tired of following her around?
“Stop it.” Zach wadded his hamburger paper into a tight ball.
“What?”
“Thinking all the worst what-ifs. If Dave loves you and wants what’s best for you, moving for your job won’t be a burden, it will be an honor.”
“Where on earth did you learn all this, Mr. Forever Single?”
His eyes widened, and he cocked a lopsided grin. “You forget how observant I am. And intelligent. And handsome.”
A laugh burst out. “Yes, I’m so sorry. I have forgotten.” She paused. “I’ve missed this, Zach.”
“Me too. But seriously, Lise, ignoring your fears and problems won’t make them go away. It will just drive wedges between you, like my mom and...never mind.” He jerked to his feet. “Just tell Dave how you feel and that you’re taking the job.”
“Yes, boss.” Except that she couldn’t.
Chapter Six
“WHEN’S DAVE GONNA BE home?” Zach, leaning against her kitchen counter, munched on some pretzels.
“Do you ever stop eating?”
“Nope. You know this about me, and you still love me.” He winked.
She giggled and sank into a kitchen chair with her coffee in hand. The drive to Nashville and back had taken more out of her than she would like to admit. Probably wasn’t the drive itself but the worry niggling in the back of her mind. She shouldn’t have been surprised to come in at seven and find Dave still out, but she was. Some part of her had hoped her fears were imagined and that he would greet her at the door with a kiss like the old days.
“Earth to Annalise.”
“I don’t know.” Three little words, snappier than she intended. “Sorry.”
“No worries. You up for looking at my map?”
“Map?”
“Yeah, that’s what I needed your help with.”
“I completely forgot. But, yeah. What do you have?”
He pulled a laminated piece of paper, sealed in a small, clear evidence bag, from his pocket and handed it to her.
“Definitely a portion of a trail map. Hang on.” She grabbed two three-inch binders from the bookshelf in the den and returned. “Here.”
“That all trail maps?”
“Yep. Been collecting them over the years. This one is Smokies only, so we should probably start there.”
He took the chartreuse one and leafed through. “This may take all night.”
She smiled. “More coffee?”
“Please. And snacks.”
She rolled her eyes. “I should have known.”
Three hours later, they had eliminated only about a third of the trail maps. She yawned, and Zach matched it with one of his own.
“I’m too tired to drive you home, Zach. Why don’t you just borrow my car? I’m off tomorrow, and you can bring it back after your shift.”
“Sure.”
“Your last day as a regular old officer, eh?”
“Yep. Should be yours too.”
“I’ll think about it. Here.” She handed him the keys and hugged him briefly. “Be safe.”
“Keep this.” He shoved the map piece into her hand. “See what you can come up with for me, please?”
“Of course. You know I love puzzles.” She didn’t walk him out. There was no need. They’d known each other far too long to need to do those kinds of guestly things. She carried her mug to the sink and washed it.
The front door swung open again.
Seated at Annalise’s feet, Millie lifted her head. Her ears perked, but she didn’t make a move to rise.
“You forget something?”
“I live here.” Dave’s deep voice sounded from the living room.
“Oh, hey, hon. I’m in the kitchen.”
He clom
ped through the house and stopped in the doorway, leaning against the frame and crossing his arms over his chest.
“You’re home late.” She hoped the smile she had forced made her tone as light as it should be. A joke. Not a worry.
“How long has Zach been here?”
Seriously? Why did it matter? “We drove to Nashville for work today. Then worked on something for one of his cases.”
“So you’ve been together all day.”
It wasn’t a question or a statement. More an accusation. Of what, she wasn’t certain. She moved to the table before she answered. Stalling for the right words, the right tone that wouldn’t zing his head clear off.
Millie followed and plopped down, her head resting over Annalise’s left shoe. “Yeah. Since when are you jealous of Zach?”
“I’m not.” He kissed her on the forehead as he brushed past. “I’m going to bed.”
He’d never had a problem with Zach before, had he? Why all of a sudden now? She dropped her head to the table and closed her eyes. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. They had a utopian marriage in a utopian town. He’d been out late working, doing his best to provide for them. Preparing for a family in the near future, if his comments several months ago were still true and that was still his desire.
Wait.
He’d been out until ten, and he’d marched in and had the gall to act like he should be upset about Zach? Her eyes snapped open, and she lifted her head. He’d intentionally deferred the spotlight from himself. Ugh. That couldn’t be a good sign. She may not be a trained interrogator, but she’d learned enough by osmosis over the years to know that tactic meant the party felt guilt over something.
Her shoulder muscles tightened, so she raised a hand to massage the most painful of the two. Her body seemed to know what her heart wasn’t yet ready to admit.
SOMETHING BRUSHED AGAINST the window, and Cody jumped, lifting his head from the math textbook he’d been slaving over for three hours. He was never going to understand pre-algebra. Never.
He paused the music playing from his laptop.
A burst of thunder crackled in the sky.
Good. It was the wind brushing the holly bush against the panes. Same noise he’d heard every storm for years.
“You dork. You’re jumpy since you found that gun.”
Speaking aloud let some of the pent-up anxiety out, but it didn’t really exhaust the never-ending supply.
He should never have listened to Paul and Braden. The gun spelled trouble from the moment they’d lifted it from that dude’s campsite. Good thing he’d gotten rid of it before Braden could talk him into any more brilliant ideas.
His phone beeped, and he retrieved it from his desk.
“You coming or what?”
He typed a quick reply. “Yeah.”
His mom working a rotating shift had one big benefit. There was no one to stop him sneaking out after dark on a school night. If she wasn’t at work, she was sleeping and getting ready to go back. In this Podunk town, where nothing ever happened, what she would be keeping him from was a mystery anyway.
Braden waited at the corner next to the library with four rolls of toilet paper and a broad grin.
Cody rolled his eyes. “Really, Bray? TPing again?”
“Nothin’ else to do.”
That was true. “All right, who’s next?”
“Coach Huntley.”
Cody chuckled. Nobody liked Coach Huntley. As good a target as anyone. Sometimes it paid to live in the same town as all their teachers.
Other times not so much. Like last summer when his dad made him mow every one of their yards because he’d gotten detention on the last day for being disrespectful. Whatever. His dad had said his punishment would teach him better manners. All it really taught him was where everyone lived, for moments like this.
“You ever find your dad’s credit card?”
Cody shook his head. He’d lifted it from his dad’s wallet six months ago, before Dad had moved out. Never used it, but Braden didn’t need to know that. Just having it in his possession was enough to make Cody feel like the world was at his fingertips.
But he’d lost it somewhere on his and Braden’s big weekend in Gatlinburg. Oh, well. If someone found it and started running up the amount, it’d serve his dad right for leaving his mom.
They started down the nicely lit and well-manicured sidewalk farther into this particular cul-de-sac neighborhood. Cody took a roll of toilet paper Braden offered, but he couldn’t shake the feeling someone was following them. Dork. Grow up, will ya?
Chapter Seven
IT WAS SEVENTY-EIGHT degrees by eleven a.m. Unusually hot for early October, just like the sweltering summer had been. But the perfect day to call it his last as a Gatlinburg Police Department officer. Not that he hadn’t liked his job. He had. But Zach was ready for whatever God had planned next.
Including calling it off with Jo. When she got home Monday. That kind of thing shouldn’t be texted or done over the phone.
He walked into the police department and stopped under the air conditioning vent. Ah, that felt good.
“Hey, Zach. Congratulations,” one of the other officers said as he passed.
“Thanks, man.”
He swung into the breakroom for a cup of coffee. A banner above his head read, “Congratulations!” And a cookie cake on the table said, “We will miss you, Officer Leebow.”
He hadn’t expected any kind of goodbye. Was he making a mistake leaving the friends he’d made here? He shook his head. Nah. No looking back. With a corner of the cookie cake in one hand and coffee in the other, he was stopped by Captain Smith just short of his desk.
“Get on down to the ME’s office, Zach. Got some info for you.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Oh, and hey, this case will be transferred to your new task force as of today. Congratulations. You all have your first case.”
Zach thrust his shoulders back. “Thank you, sir.” If only he had Annalise on board with a definitive yes. Maybe this case would be her tipping point. If it weren’t for that jerk of a husband, she’d have jumped on the opportunity.
He drove the forty-five minutes to the Knoxville office and entered the front. “I believe Doc’s waiting for me?”
“Hey, Zach,” Andrea said from behind the receptionist’s desk. “You can head on back. He’ll be happy you’re finally here.”
“Why? Something exciting?”
“Must be. He’s all worked up.”
Zach’s pulse spiked as he made his way down the long hallway and through the metal door. “Hey, Doc.”
“Zach, so glad to see you. Come,” he waved his hand, “see what I’ve found.”
Zach leaned over the body and looked where Doc pointed.
“The bullet entered here, exited in back. It’s from a .357. The bullet burst into too many fragments to try to match striations, and I suspect there may have been more fragments at the scene.”
If they could find the campsite, maybe there would be more evidence. It seemed like a long shot.
“See this tattoo?” Doc lifted the man’s arm to reveal an odd marking over the man’s left ribs.
“Yeah. What is that?”
“It’s the mark of the Moonshine Mafia.”
A chortle escaped his lips. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I’m deadly serious.”
“How have I not heard about them?”
“They have been dormant—or at least we thought they were—for more than half a decade.”
“Okay...”
“This is a fantastic clue as to the man’s identity, young Zachary. The Moonshine Mafia was led by a man named Jimmy Vern Buchanan.”
“You’re joking, aren’t you? Pulling my chain?”
“I’m really not. He went to prison on a variety of charges but was released on probation last year.”
Zach shook his head. “They couldn’t have come up with a better name? It sounds like a cartoon.”
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Doc shrugged. “The point is, if this victim has this particular tattoo, he is linked to Mr. Buchanan.” Doc chuckled. “Though I would use the gentlemanly term ‘mister’ loosely where he is concerned.”
“Thanks, Doc. This is a great start.”
“One more thing. I found this in his pocket.” Doc held up a small, plastic, black-capped tube.
“A water filter.”
“Yep.”
The man was most likely a backpacker then. He needed to get back to Annalise’s and figure out which map section he’d found.
A KNOCK ON THE FRONT door woke Annalise. How was it already noon? Sleep had not come easily last night, but the last time she’d slept past eight was during her teenage years. “Just a minute!”
Dave hadn’t kissed her goodbye this morning like he always had. His whiskery chin always stirred her awake, and she hadn’t felt his light peck on her forehead. Actually, she couldn’t remember him kissing her goodbye in the last several days. Or weeks. How long had it been? And why was she just now noticing?
Her phone beeped with a message.
“Get up, lazy bones. I’ve got news.”
Figured. She rolled her eyes but smiled. Maybe Zach would have a bagel and coffee? “Key is under the frog thingy. I’ll be out in a minute. Did ya bring me breakfast?”
“Nope.”
She chuckled. Oh well. She threw on some sweat pants and a clean t-shirt and padded into the living room.
Zach held out a Panera bread bag and cup.
“Thought you didn’t bring me breakfast.”
“I didn’t. Brought you lunch.”
His crooked smile made her laugh. “Fine. So I slept all day. What’s your point?”
“No point. Here.”
She took the bag and inhaled the sweetness of a cinnamon bagel. “Mmm. Thank you.”
“Your favorite.”
“My favorite.” She took a sip of coffee and sighed again. “What’s up?”
“Coroner found a strange tattoo of a little whiskey bottle on the dead man. Believes he’s part of the Moonshine Mafia. Ever heard of ’em?”
“Seems like I remember something. Not sure though.”