CHAPTER TWENTY
Franks opened the door and smiled at Amy. "Morning. Come on in." He stepped aside. "Coffee's hot and there are donuts."
"Where'd you get donuts?" Amy made her way into the kitchen, then stopped, seeing her sister at the kitchen table.
"I picked them up on my way over here last night. Figured you two would be in a rush and need something to eat before you started your day." Gretta held up a glazed donut. "I got your favorite."
Franks refilled his coffee, then poured a cup for Amy and handed it to her. He smiled as he watched her pull a sprinkled chocolate donut from the box on the counter. "Didn't take you as a sprinkle girl."
Amy flipped him off before taking a seat beside Gretta at the table. "You living here now?"
Gretta shrugged. "I'm floating between your place and his. Got to admit the bed in the guest room here is more comfortable than that old thing at your place."
Amy narrowed her eyes at Gretta. "Guest room? You really expect me to believe you two aren't sharing a bed?"
"Want to go check? My things are all in the guest room. Franks has been a perfect gentleman."
Amy snorted. "Since when?"
Franks took a seat. "I told you I wasn't sleeping with your sister. I'm not a liar."
Amy sighed. "No, you're not. But I just can't understand why you're here and not at my place."
Gretta set her coffee mug down. "Maybe because I feel like I'm in the way.
You're married. You and your husband don't need me hanging around getting in your way.
Here, I can do my own thing and not worry about what time you're getting home, or whether I'm ruining date night or some movie night habit you and your husband might have.
I was never meant to stay with you long-term.
Franks has offered to let me move in here and pay rent. I'm going to take him up on it."
"But—" Amy started.
"No buts. I'm happy here. There's more than enough room for the two of us. His cat loves me, and my bad habits don't disturb his bad habits." Gretta grinned at Franks.
Franks smiled but didn't say a word. The last thing he wanted was to get in the middle of this conversation. It was one he'd hoped Gretta and Amy would have when he wasn't around.
"You're sure? You're not in the way at our place. We like having you there." Amy reached over and covered Gretta's hand.
"Thank you for that, but I'm sure. You guys have been great to me, but it's time I do my own thing.
I was looking for an apartment, but Franks offered the guest room and I accepted.
I'd rather pay him rent than some landlord I don't know.
I can plant a garden next spring in the backyard.
I can cook and make sure he eats something healthy once in a while.
You know how badly I've always wanted to cook and garden. "
Franks was shocked to find out that Gretta hadn't been allowed to do either of those things while she was married.
They'd had a chef to cook all their meals, and a landscaper handled everything in the yard.
He hadn't realized just how rich Gretta had been during her marriage or how controlled her entire life had been.
If he ever met her ex-husband, he'd punch him straight in the face for the way he'd treated Gretta.
"If you're sure." Amy sighed.
"I am. It's not like you'll never see me. We'll get together, and you come by work a lot. The only thing that changes is my address. You'll see this is for the best." Gretta grinned.
Amy glared at Franks. "You take care of my sister."
"I don't need anyone taking care of me." Gretta pointed a finger at Amy.
"Alright, enough." Franks had enough. This wasn't how he wanted to start his day. "We need to get going." He stood and set his coffee cup in the sink before grabbing another donut. "You driving, or am I?"
"You are." Amy stood, paused to lean down and give Gretta a quick hug, then turned back to Franks. "We're meeting with the baker first thing this morning. At one, Avery Corpus is coming in to give a formal statement."
"Good. I want to ask him a few more questions.
That case was on my mind all night and I just can't rid myself of the feeling that we're missing something.
" Franks had read Lance's text as soon as he'd woken up and was relieved to know his gut instincts were still spot on.
He wasn't sure how he'd prove the kid shot his parents, but he'd find a way.
"You mean like the fact there were no fingerprints on the gun. Like zero, zilch? Want to tell me how that's possible with a suicide?" Amy said. "I read the report over coffee today. There's several inconsistencies with what we were told."
"I'm going into the morgue to work for a few hours. I think the autopsy on those two is scheduled for this afternoon." Gretta got up and poured herself another cup of coffee. "Want me to call once they're completed?"
"You're working on a Sunday?" Amy asked.
"Things got a bit crazy the last few days with the explosion.
I've got some paperwork to catch up on. Almost everyone is coming in for a few extra hours so we can get caught up.
Mack and Harold are helping, but Sam doesn't want to take advantage of them.
" Gretta shrugged. "Things will be back to normal soon enough. "
Franks wondered how long they would allow Lance to miss work before it became an issue.
He was pretty sure that no job would hold for more than a few weeks.
Not knowing how long it would be before Angus was awake, it could become an issue.
But that was something to worry about later.
It had only been two days so far, despite it feeling as if it had been weeks since the explosion.
"Yeah, give us a call. Especially if Sam finds anything odd. You might mention to him that things aren't matching up. Tell him to give the bodies a little extra scrutiny." Amy turned to Franks. "Ready?"
He grabbed his keys off the counter, made sure he had his gun on his hip, his badge and wallet in his pocket, then looked over at Gretta.
"Can you make sure Pix has water? I forgot to check it this morning.
Also, I pulled a couple steaks out of the freezer last night.
I'll grill them tonight if I'm home in time. "
"I'll make a salad when I get home to go with it," Gretta told him.
Franks frowned, causing both women to laugh.
"You might be good for him after all." Amy smacked Franks on the arm. "Let's go."
Franks followed her out to the garage and got in the car. He opened the garage door before starting it, then glanced over at Amy as she snapped her seatbelt into place. "You got the address for the bakery owner?"
"Yeah, let me find it again." Amy flipped through notes on her phone and finally punched the address into the GPS system. "Any updates on Angus?"
"Nothing new. Lance messaged me this morning. No change, but I don't think anyone was expecting anything." Franks pulled out of the garage and once clear, hit the button to close the garage door. "I told him I'd be by later tonight. You're welcome to go with me once we finish up interviews."
"Thanks, I might. So what are your thoughts on no prints on the gun?" Amy asked as she pulled out her laptop.
"Someone had to wipe the gun down. Only other person that we know of there was the son.
I doubt the girls left their room, but even if they did, they're too young to even know why they'd need to wipe a gun clean of prints.
Either someone else was there or Avery did it and for some reason isn't giving us the true story.
" Franks bit his lip as he thought about Lance's text.
Somehow, he needed to get the kid to admit to killing his parents.
"Let's table that case for now. We're headed to talk to the baker, right? What do we have on her?"
"Nothing new. Just what I told you yesterday. Single mother of two. Nothing strange pops on her finances. In fact, it appears she makes a pretty good living off the bakery. At least she did until it blew up."
"It's always possible it was an accident. Some mechanical issue or gas line issue? Not everything is nefarious. We just tend to think it is because we see so much."
Amy sighed. "True, but if explosions like that could happen at any time, I'm a bit more hesitant on going out."
"Your house could go up just as easily. You've got gas there. We all do. We just choose to ignore the danger and pray that whoever puts it all together knows what they were doing. Still, my gut says…"
Amy laughed. "Your gut is always saying something."
"Usually it's 'feed me'."
"You just had two donuts."
"Three, but who's counting?" Franks grinned.
"But my gut is right there with yours on this explosion. There's something to find. We just need to find it. Let's go in gentle and get a feel for this woman, then go from there. I'm sure the fire marshal has already grilled her. I'm not even sure why we're talking to her."
"I'll talk to whoever we need to so we can find out why Angus is fighting for his life right now.
And if someone caused this, I will be front and center in making sure they pay for what they did.
This hit too many of our friends for it not to be personal at this point.
" Franks hoped this would be a death penalty case should they find someone responsible.
"It's the house on the left. Blue minivan in the driveway." Amy pointed.
Franks parked the car and made sure he had his notebook and pen in his pocket. "Nice neighborhood."
"Yeah, I have a friend who lives around here. It used to be an upscale place back in the day." Amy climbed out of the car.
Franks glanced in the mirror to make sure he didn't have any residual donut on his face, then got out of the car. He followed Amy up the walkway, then stood behind her as she rang the doorbell.
A middle-aged woman opened the door, her brown hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. She wore jeans and a button-up shirt, but it was the dark circles under her eyes that drew Franks' attention.