Chapter 2
“Do not touch anything,” Micah ordered, no give in his voice.
“I’ve only touched a few things,” Berkley said, even as she grabbed a dishrag from one of the drawers in the kitchen. Then she promptly wiped down the doorknob. Even with her mittens on, she was wiping anything and everything, even the landline phone. “That I remember.”
“I’m tracking the number you called from now.” He was silent for a few beats. “You know a guy named James Reed?”
“No. Or I don’t think so.” Her head still ached as fear threatened to overwhelm her. “I can’t think,” she rasped out, panic punching through her. “But I didn’t drink last night! I didn’t do this. I swear I didn’t tie one on and—”
“I believe you.” Micah’s quiet voice cut through what was surely about to be a panicked tirade.
She pulled in a breath, then counted to five. His quick response settled something inside her. “Okay, thank you. And no, I don’t think I know that name, but I couldn’t swear to it.”
“I’m only twenty minutes away, so sit tight. And don’t go outside, in case this place has cameras or the neighbors do.”
Which they likely did. Everyone had cameras now, at least doorbell ones. Which meant…someone might have seen her arriving last night. Or being carried in? Because she didn’t think she’d walked in here of her own volition.
As she waited for her brother, she started wiping down every spot she knew she’d touched. Was she contaminating a crime scene? Yes. But she knew that if she called the cops, she’d be hauled in and likely charged in the murder of the random man in the other room.
She’d made a lot of bad (mostly alcohol-fueled) decisions when she was younger, and her past would absolutely come back to haunt her. Because while she believed in second chances, the law certainly didn’t.
So she wasn’t going to stick around and let the cops decide she was guilty. Intellectually she knew that not all of law enforcement would paint her with the same brush but… She paused at a slight sound, tensed.
“Berkley?” Micah’s whisper carried from the back of the house.
“In the kitchen.” She didn’t want to leave the room and deposit more forensic evidence around.
Sanctuary Falls had a decent-sized sheriff’s department with at least two solid detectives that she knew of. One in particular was a bulldog. She had to be careful right now.
Her brother stepped into the room wearing a ball cap pulled over what looked like a wig, given the longer reddish hair sticking out, as well as a surgical-style mask. He held out gloves. “Put these on and show me where he is. Then we’re going to go over what you remember.”
In the bedroom, he was careful as he stepped inside. And that was when she saw the dark-colored booties slipped over his shoes.
She wanted to turn away, but considering he was here doing her a favor, she made herself watch as he inspected the…body. The room was freezing. Actually the whole house was, something she was belatedly realizing.
“He’s been stabbed,” Micah said into the quiet.
She almost jumped, but simply nodded. “Is there a weapon or anything around?”
He moved quickly, ducking down to look under the bed then looking around the room with efficient precision.
As if he’d done this type of thing before.
Which for all she knew, he had. Her brother had…
interesting friends. Or contacts, as he liked to say.
And she knew he’d taken contract jobs that were in a gray area.
None of the family knew precisely what he did for a living, just that he “made problems go away” or as he liked to tell them, he was an “analyst” which was such bullshit.
He was gone for weeks at a time with no contact, but whenever she’d needed him, Micah was always there.
“I don’t see anything here, but that doesn’t mean it’s not in the house.”
“Where was he stabbed?” she asked, stepping into the room again. She picked up a wallet tossed onto the dresser and thumbed through it with her gloved fingers. She found his ID and held it up as her brother approached.
Micah snapped a picture with a burner phone. “Right in the side of the neck. The wound is small and he might have other damage, but that’s the one I can see without moving the covers too much.”
She nodded, fighting another wave of nausea. She wasn’t sure if it was from her head injury or the thought of the dead man lying only a few feet away. Now that she had a better angle, she could see the blood soaking through the sheet and likely beyond to the mattress.
“Same name as the owner of the house. James Reed.” Micah frowned at the ID, then looked around the room with a critical eye.
She did the same even as the back of her skull pounded with each second that passed. She must have winced or made a face because her brother aimed his frown at her.
“Look at me.”
“I am looking at you.”
He narrowed his gaze as he stared into her eyes. Then he said, “Turn around.” When she did, he gently touched the back of her head.
She jerked away even as he said, “I’m taking you to the hospital.”
“No way. I’m fine.”
“I think you might have a concussion. Do you feel nauseous? Dizzy?”
“I have a headache…because someone hit me on the back of the head. And fine, I feel lightheaded. But I’m not going anywhere.
I was at The End Zone last night. That’s the last thing I remember.
I want to see if my Bronco is still there.
And my phone. I need to figure out what happened.
I’m not calling the cops. And you know why. ” She gave him a hard look.
“Yeah, that’ll just open up a mess neither of us want to deal with. Fine, but I’m reserving the right to take you to the walk-in clinic if I think you need it. Or I have a doctor friend I could ask for a favor, but I want to save that one for if we really need it.”
“Deal. Also…what are we doing about this?” She couldn’t bring herself to say the body or the guy’s name. Berkley knew in her bones that she hadn’t stabbed some stranger, but she was still trying to disconnect from this.
“I saw he’s got a home office in one of the rooms so I’m going to check it out and see if I can find anything on his computer. I want you to stand in the kitchen and do nothing.”
“I haven’t looked in the garage yet. I’ll do that while you’re in his office.
” Because she couldn’t just stand around.
“Also we need to grab Tylenol or something when we leave.” She paused at a sound from outside, her fear spiking when she thought it was a siren.
But nope, just a horn beep indicating someone had locked their vehicle.
Which reminded her she needed to ask Micah how he’d gotten here, or more specifically where he’d parked. But that was a question for later.
“Fine, but be careful.”
She kept her gloves on as she stepped into his laundry room, then into the garage. It was a generous sized two-car with one vehicle inside. A four-door sedan—
“Hey, let’s go.”
She turned at her brother’s voice, winced at the sudden move but bit it back so he wouldn’t see. “You find anything?”
“Maybe.” His expression was almost pensive but she couldn’t get a solid read on him before he turned away.
So she followed even as the invisible weight on her shoulders grew heavier.
***
“Are you going to get out?” Micah asked her as they sat in his idling vehicle.
After leaving the dead man’s house, he’d driven her to the bar from the night before. The End Zone opened soon for lunch but there weren’t many vehicles in the parking lot.
Just hers and two others.
“Yeah. I’m just…I don’t know. Processing everything.” And fine, she didn’t want to get out of his truck because once she did, the real world would crash back on her. In Micah’s warm truck, she was just the middle sister with her younger brother and she could pretend that everything was okay.
Or not.
She slid out of his truck before she could change her mind and zipped up her jacket as she approached her Bronco.
She tried the handle, and to her surprise, it opened.
Her keys were tossed onto the passenger seat.
And her purse was on the passenger-side floorboard.
“Weird,” she muttered more to herself even though she’d heard her brother get out and approach.
“This yours?” He bent down and reached under the SUV to pull out her cell.
“Yeah.” She opened it, saw she had a handful of missed calls and texts. Ignored them all for now. Scrubbing a hand over her face, she glanced around. “This place has to have security cameras. Right?” Everywhere seemed to nowadays.
James Reed’s home only had a doorbell camera and Micah had been quiet about what he’d found on the guy’s computer. Because she knew when her brother was holding something back.
Now wasn’t the time to push though.
“Let’s find out.”
She grabbed her keys and locked her vehicle before hurrying after him. Damn it, she really did need something for her headache.
Inside they were greeted by the familiar scent of fried food and a much darker atmosphere, which she appreciated at the moment.
“Hey, two of my favorite Knights.” Will Gillis was behind the bar, a towel tucked into his pants, a tablet in his hand as he took inventory. “We’re not serving food for another half hour.”
“Oh, I know.” Berkley managed to smile as she approached the bar top and sat down.
He was acting normal so she must have not done anything stupid in here last night.
Which would have been one of her fears a decade ago—that she’d gotten drunk, made a fool of herself and couldn’t remember who she’d pissed off.
To be fair, she hadn’t normally pissed people off, she’d just been drunk and up for anything. And a bit mischievous.
Okay, she’d been a full-on menace who had once thought it was a great idea to break into a gas station one town over after hours because they had the candy she wanted.
No one actually knew about that one and she was forever grateful.
Kinda the way she was grateful that no one but her closest girlfriends knew she’d once taken a bread truck on a joyride because the driver had left the keys in it.
(To be fair, she’d gassed it up and returned it later).
“I’m just looking for my phone, thought I might have left it in here last night. ”
“I’m gonna hit the head, be back in a second.” Micah leaned over the bar and clapped hands with Will in that way guys seemed to be born knowing how to do. They’d been in the same graduating class in high school and everyone loved Micah. Will too, for that matter.
“See ya in a sec. And if you did leave your phone, it’s in here.” Will pulled out a basket and set it on the bar. “So, you here to pay your friend’s tab?”
“Friend?”
“Blondie. I forget her name.”
Damn it. “Kendall didn’t pay her bill?”
He lifted a shoulder, seeming unconcerned. “She left cash but it wasn’t enough to cover her last couple shots.”
Ah. “You sure someone didn’t grab her money?
” Berkley asked as she pulled out her wallet, glad that no one had stolen her vehicle or purse.
Nope, someone had stolen time from her and tried to set her up for murder, or at least indicate that she was involved in it, and that was a hell of a lot worse. “Maybe check the cameras?”
“Cameras are for back here,” he muttered, motioning to the bar. “To make sure we don’t steal.” He rolled his eyes. “And no one took her cash. She handed it to me but I didn’t count it until later.”
“How much does she owe you?”
“You’re not covering—”
“Yeah, I am. I’ll grab the difference from her later. I don’t want your till to be short.”
Now he gave her a big grin, revealing a hidden dimple. “There’s a reason I love you Knights.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She made small talk for another five minutes until her brother came out, gave her a small nod, indicating he must have slipped into the back office and gotten what he needed from the security cameras.
She’d find out soon enough anyway.
After another ten minutes of more small talk, she and her brother finally made their escape outside. “So?” she demanded as they approached his truck. “What did you find?”
Micah had started to respond when an unmarked Explorer zoomed into the gravel parking lot, blue lights flashing.
Oh god.