Chapter 8 #3
Holly’s shoulders slumped with relief. “Thank God for you, Granny. When Travis called me about the wreck, the first thing I told him was to call you, because I knew you could get here quicker. You are our rock. You always have been. You always will be.”
Trudy gave Holly’s hand a quick squeeze. “Family matters. Never forget that. Now you get some rest. If you want food later, there are countless leftovers in the fridge. Help yourself.”
“I will, Granny. Love you.”
Trudy smiled and patted her knee. “Love you, too, sugar,” she said, then left Holly on her own.
Holly’s relief was huge. She logged out of her laptop, turned off the lamp beside her bed, then crawled beneath the covers and closed her eyes, unaware that Gunner was already gone.
* * *
When Gunner stopped to refuel, he checked his phone again and found an innocuous message from Cliff, thanking him for the notes on the hanging-man case, that they’d arrested the brother’s partner, and that Gunner had been right all along.
It was a good message to receive, knowing they’d brought another killer to justice, and then he thought about how he was going to feel, no longer being a part of that world. Am I going to miss it? No. These last few weeks have destroyed all the faith and trust I had in it.
The gas pump kicked off. He grabbed the receipt, got back in the Jeep, buckled up, and resumed the trip.
* * *
It was nearly 10:00 p.m. when Gunner drove into his neighborhood. But instead of driving straight to his house, he turned into the alley behind it, shut off his headlights, and used the security lights to guide him into the garage from the back way.
Grateful that the long drive was finally over, he retrieved his bags and deactivated the security alarm long enough to get inside, then reset it.
The timer he’d set for the lights was obviously still working.
The two lamps in the living room were on, and a light was on down the hall toward the bathroom, just as he’d set it.
But if anybody had been watching his house, they should have figured out by now that the lights were on a timer, so he turned off the timer and went through the house, turning on lights as he went.
If someone had been watching the house, they needed to know he was home.
He carried his bags to the bedroom, then went straight to his closet, unlocked the gun safe where he kept his service weapon, made sure it was loaded, and then put it by his bed and began unpacking.
The whole time he was putting up clothes and tossing others in the laundry basket, he was counting on something from Asher that would identify the guilty party and get the target off his back.
* * *
Cliff Beale had just finished typing up the details of the arrest they’d made on the hanging-man case.
It was the notes Gunner left for them that set them in the right direction.
Perry Caldwell, the surviving twin, was enraged and in despair, finding out it was Ron Ames, his own partner, who’d killed his brother, and when the police confronted Ron Ames in front of Perry, he fell apart, admitting it all. Thanks to Gunner, this case was closed.
Cliff leaned back and looked across his desk to the empty chair where Gunner used to sit. That man had saved his life twice in the years they’d been working together, and he considered him a friend and a confidant, as well as his partner.
He missed him. Something had gone wrong between them, and he didn’t know what.
He was hoping when Gunner came back that they would be able to work it all out.
Lieutenant Samuels told all of them not to call him.
But Cliff had sent him a text and wasn’t going to apologize for it.
All he wanted was to see him walking back into the department in his long, hurried stride, with his usual blank-face stare barely visible under that black cowboy hat, and a zero sense of humor.
He sighed, logged out of his computer, locked up his desk, and walked out. Supper would be waiting, and he was on a tight leash with his wife.
* * *
Burgess Dixon was going home. He was fed up and ready for the dinner his chef would have prepared. He’d already sent Whistler to bring the limo around, so he locked up the office and headed for the elevator.
The trip down was swift. As he was moving through the lobby, he saw Whistler through the entrance, standing by the limo, waiting.
He had depended on this man for everything for a very long time, but the man knew too many of his secrets.
And after being taken down by that damn cop, Dixon was beginning to think Whistler was losing his edge.
It was something to think about, but he couldn’t replace the man until he had a surefire replacement waiting in the wings, and one he could rely on to do what needed to be done.
The evening sun was low in the west, but clouds were gathering on the horizon. It looked like rain, which would likely come in the form of thunderstorms, but he’d be home long before that.
Whistler opened the back door of the limo as soon as Dixon exited the building and closed the door after Dixon was seated, then took his place in the driver’s seat.
“Home, Boss?” Whistler asked.
“Yes,” Dixon said, then opened the door to the little bar and poured himself a stiff shot of whiskey for the ride.
* * *
Asher Kingston walked into his house with two bags of food from their favorite Asian restaurant, set them on the kitchen counter, then went down the hall to Nora’s office.
Their son Jake was asleep on a pallet in the corner of the room with a stuffie tucked under his chin and a half-eaten vanilla wafer still clutched in his hand.
Asher smiled at the scene. Their son, blissfully sleeping while his mother’s fingers were flying across the keyboard. She had an eagle-eye fix on her computer screen when he walked up behind her and kissed her on the cheek.
It was like turning off one switch and turning on another when she stopped, stood, and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Ummm, I’m not in the habit of kissing the DoorDash driver, but I can make an exception this time.”
Asher laughed. “DoorDash my ass. It’s your hardworking husband just bringing home the bacon.”
“Smells more like Pad Thai, fried rice, and egg rolls, to me.”
“With fortune cookies,” Asher said. “I’ll get little Jake. I got the noodles he likes. Come eat while it’s hot and tell me you’ve found something I can work with to keep my little brother alive.”
Jake was already waking to the sound of his daddy’s voice when Asher leaned down and gently scooped his son up in his arms.
“Daddy came home,” the little boy said and patted Asher’s cheek.
Asher kissed his little cheek, tasted cookie crumbs, and smiled. “Yep, Daddy’s home. I brought noodles.”
“Noodles!” Jake said and handed Asher the cookie he was holding.
They went into the kitchen where Nora was removing the containers of food onto the table and had Jake’s highchair ready and waiting.
“There’s my sleepy boy,” she said and kissed the top of his head as Asher seated him in the highchair and snapped on a bib.
They began filling their plates, then chopping up some of the noodles in a bowl to make it easier for Jake to manage, and handed him a spoon.
It was only after they’d eaten enough to satisfy the hunger rush, and Jake had abandoned his spoon and was intently focused on chasing down slippery noodles with his fingers, that Asher and Nora began to talk.
She began counting off the people she’d marked for deeper research.
“There are three people in that list who have serious financial issues. One gambles. One is paying alimony to two ex-wives, and one has a child with serious health issues… However, I feel like eliminating the one with the health issues, because their child is at Saint Jude’s Hospital, and those children are treated for free. ”
Asher nodded, listening as he snitched the last shrimp from a bed of noodles and popped it in his mouth.
Nora was still itemizing her suspects. “I was just moving on to seeing if any of their names showed up in offshore databases when you came home. We can’t overlook the possibility that it’s all about padding a retirement fund.
You don’t have to be needy to turn bad. But you do have to be greedy and seriously heartless.
Unfortunately, those traits don’t show up in databases, so it’s going to take more time. ”
“You’re doing a great job, honey, and Gunner and I really appreciate it,” Asher said.
Jake finally caught a noodle and offered it to Asher to eat.
Asher grinned. “You eat it.”
Jake nodded and proceeded to lick it off the palm of his hand.
Nora rolled her eyes. “There’s a piece of noodle in his ear,” she said and dug it out with a napkin.
“You never have to thank me for helping family. And you know how I feel about your youngest brother. He’s such a loner.
I wish he’d find someone he trusted enough to give his heart to.
As soon as we finish here, I want to go back to what I was doing before I lose my train of thought, okay? ”
Asher nodded. “Sure thing. I’ll clean Jake and the kitchen, then bathe him so he’s ready for bed. We’ll watch some TV until he passes out. I’m home now, and you can be on your own time clock here.”
“We have to do fortune cookies first!” Nora said. “You can have my cookie. I just want to read the fortune.”
She cracked it open, pulled out the little slip of paper, read it, and then slapped it on the table in front of him.
“There you are! Wisdom straight from some dude who works at the fortune cookie factory.” Then she got up, blew him a kiss, and headed back to her office.
Asher picked up the fortune and read it. Perseverance will pay off.
He shook his head and began cleaning up the table and his son. That fortune teller, whoever it was, scored with that one. Nora always persevered.