Chapter 14
Luke
Goosebumps prickled my skin and a fine tremor went through my hand as I raised it to press the doorbell at Claire’s.
Trepidation skittered over my nerve endings.
Mina’s car was already in the driveway. She’d sounded distant and a little angry when we first spoke earlier today.
I couldn’t blame her. I’d virtually ghosted her.
Not intentionally.
Well, not entirely.
Subconsciously, I think, something had stopped me from calling her or texting her.
Not because I didn’t want to spend time with her, but because I wasn’t really sure how to handle the feelings she provoked.
No woman had ever invaded my every waking thought the way she had.
Not contacting her was my way of giving myself space, and I’d used my schedule as an excuse.
The door swung inward, revealing Ozzie’s stern but welcoming face. “Hey. Come on in.” Stepping back, he nodded for me to come inside.
I walked in, letting my eyes track over the living and dining areas beyond the entryway. Mina sat at the table with Claire, sipping from a glass of water.
My heart sped up at the sight of her smiling at her friend over the rim of her glass. When she turned to look at me, a guardedness entered her eyes. My nerves increased. Was she still upset? I needed to do some groveling.
Lifting a hand in greeting, I smiled. “Hey.”
A hesitant, shy smile flitted with her pretty lips. Some of the guardedness was chased away by a quick lick of heat in her blue eyes. “Hey.”
“No bedroom eyes in my house.” Ozzie waved a finger back and forth between us.
Mina’s cheeks colored.
I laughed, hoping to keep Mina from feeling embarrassed about our relationship—or lack thereof. “We’ll behave.”
“Good. Because as much as I would love to talk about something besides the body you two found, that’s not it.” Grinning, Ozzie crossed to the kitchen.
I glanced over and saw aluminum trays of crab and other sides on the island. Ozzie hefted a tray of crab legs.
Hurrying over, I gestured to the pans. “Here, let me help.” In a couple of strides, I was at his side, grabbing the tray full of scalloped potatoes.
“Thanks,” Ozzie murmured.
We carried the food to the table. Someone—Claire or Ozzie—had already brought over dishes and silverware.
“Do you want something to drink?” Claire asked me, getting up.
“I can get it,” I replied, looking up as I set the last tray down.
“It’s fine. I want some water, anyway.”
“Oh. All right. Just water, too, please.” Offering her a quick smile, I took a seat across from Mina. Ozzie sat next to me.
When Claire returned to the table a few moments later, I smiled at her in thanks as she set a glass of water at my side.
Rounding the table, she sat down. “Dig in,” she said, reaching for a set of tongs to put some crab legs on her plate. “I’m starving.”
“You know, when you said you’d feed us, I was thinking a casserole. Not Kellerman’s.” Mina took the tongs from Claire.
“Yeah, well, we both had long days and didn’t feel like cooking.” Claire nodded toward Ozzie.
“I’m not complaining.” I took the tongs when Mina passed them over. “I like crab legs. Thank you for dinner.”
“Same,” Mina said, directing a smile at Claire. “Thanks.”
“Anytime.” Claire returned her smile.
“You can invite us over sometime soon for that elk stew you make,” Ozzie said to Mina.
“Elk stew?” I raised an eyebrow.
“You need to make her make it for you.” Claire waved a fork in the air. “It’s amazing.” A small crease formed between her brows. “Are you putting it on the new café menu?”
Mina nodded as she cracked open a crab leg. “If I ever get the café off the ground.” She sent a pointed look at Ozzie.
He held up his hands. “Next week. I’ll release the building to you next week. I think we’ll have everything we need out of there by then.”
She jabbed her fork at him. “I’m gonna hold you to that.”
I made a mental note to go over the schedule for next week. Mina’s renovation was already on it, but I wanted to double-check a few things. Like, whether or not I had the right crews lined up for the initial work.
“So, what did you find out today?” Claire asked, changing the subject. “You said there were ‘developments,’” she air-quoted, fork in one hand.
Ozzie nodded, ladening his plate with crab and potatoes.
“The forensic anthropologist got back to me with a tentative age on the bones. He thinks it’s a woman in her early twenties.
Using the clothing, that points us to the same time frame as Moira Duluth’s disappearance.
I took the necklace found with the body to her family this morning.
” His expression pinched, tightening the lines around his eyes.
“Her mother has Alzheimer’s. She thought her daughter lost the necklace, and I was returning it. ”
He cracked open a crab leg and took a bite before continuing.
“Her father died a few years ago, but her sister, Kelly, was there. She’s their mother’s caretaker. Kelly confirmed the necklace was Moira’s. Her parents gave it to her as a graduation gift. Apparently, she never took it off.”
“I’d say that’s a pretty positive ID.” Mina scooped up some potatoes, glancing at Ozzie.
“Circumstantially, yes. I asked Kelly for a DNA sample, which she freely gave. It should confirm our suspicions about the skeleton’s identity.”
“So, what now?” I asked. “Do you have any leads on who murdered her?”
Ozzie tipped his head side to side. “Not exactly. I have leads, but none of them are a smoking gun. Like Rich Stevenson. I asked Kelly about him. She said he was broken up over Moira’s disappearance, but she didn’t think he was involved.
She thought he was sincere in both his surprise that she was missing and in his actions afterward. ”
“Like what?” Mina asked.
“He was tireless in his search for her for nearly a year, Kelly said. I guess he went out and searched different areas of the wilderness for her. The working theory back then was that she was either abducted and later killed and dumped in the woods, or she went somewhere wanting to be alone and got lost or crashed. Some of the roads just outside of Juneau are fairly remote.”
“Yeah,” Claire mused. “And some aren’t in the best shape or have any guardrails. She could have driven over the side of a mountain, and no one would ever find her car.”
“Exactly.” Ozzie tipped a crab claw toward her. “That’s the theory the police were leaning toward, since they couldn’t find her vehicle.”
“Have you talked to Rich?” I asked.
“Not yet, no. I’m kind of surprised he hasn’t found me.”
“He’s out of town,” Mina interjected.
All eyes turned toward her.
“Oh?” Ozzie tipped his head. “You know this how?” His voice dropped with his accusatory tone.
A mischievous smile crossed her face that made my blood heat. She was extra cute when she was up to no good.
“I run a coffeeshop, Oscar. People talk.”
He hummed. “Uh-huh. Sure they do. Who did you talk to that told you that?”
“Kent Morrison.”
“From Parker Supply?” Ozzie’s brows dipped.
She nodded. “He came in yesterday morning, and we got to talking. I asked if he knew Rich. He said he did, that they went back a ways, and he’d just seen him last week. Rich asked him to feed his horses while he went on a fishing trip with some friends.”
“Where did he go?” Ozzie asked.
“Kent didn’t say.”
“Did they know each other back then?” I tipped my head, eyeing Mina. “Before Moira’s disappearance, I mean.”
“I’m not sure. It’s possible. Kent’s lived here his entire life. We didn’t get that far in our conversation. The coffeeshop was pretty busy.”
“I’ll talk to him tomorrow.” Pulling out his phone, Ozzie made a note. “Is there anyone else any of you can think of who might have known Moira and Rich back then?”
I shook my head. While I was from the area, I’d been a dumb teenager and hadn’t bothered to learn who’d lived in Parker’s Landing for most of their lives. Then I’d moved to Juneau, and it had become even less relevant to me.
“A lot of the old-timers around town might remember them. At least Rich, anyway, since he’s a local. Moira wasn’t, right?” Claire said, lifting her glass of water to take a sip.
“No,” Ozzie replied. “She and her family lived in Juneau.” He tapped his fingers on the table.
Lips pursed, he stared past Claire into the yard visible through the sliding door.
The dogs chased each other through the grass, stopping every few moments to sniff a leaf or pounce on a toy instead of each other.
Ozzie’s gaze found Mina’s. “I don’t suppose Kent knew where Walter Shuman went, did he?”
She shrugged. “He didn’t say, and I didn’t ask.”
With a nod, he sat forward and scooped up the last of his scalloped potatoes. “I’ll ask him that tomorrow too.”
“Do you think, maybe, Walter is one of the friends Rich went fishing with?” Claire swiped at the condensation on her glass.
Ozzie tipped his head, a considering look entering his dark eyes.
“It’s possible, but I doubt it. Shuman disappeared long before Rich Stevenson left on this fishing trip.
All the contracts for the antique store were signed via an online contract platform, weren’t they?
” He aimed a frown at Mina, then glanced at Claire. “I think that’s what you said, right?”
Claire nodded.
“I know the real estate agent was Miranda Benning, so I’m not holding out hope she told you anything useful, but did she happen to mention where he was that he couldn’t sign the contracts in person?”
Mouth flat, Claire shook her head. “No.”
He made another note in his phone. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow too.”
Mina’s soft, throaty chuckle was like a spear straight to my gut. I wanted to hear it again while we talked in bed, nearing exhaustion from multiple rounds of lovemaking.
I doubted I’d get that tonight, or any night, anytime soon. I royally screwed up by not texting or calling.
“Good luck with that conversation,” Mina said to Ozzie. “She guarded him and the sale of that building like a bulldog.”