Chapter 40
“Thanks. I’m good now,” Tori said once they were in the living room. She really hadn’t needed Amy’s help to get in the house, but it felt good to have someone to lean on even if she found herself wishing it had been Scott.
She hadn’t been able to get Scott out of her head since he almost kissed her. This wouldn’t do. Tori couldn’t afford to lose her focus. She took a deep breath and erased him from her thoughts.
“Are you all right?” Amy asked.
“Someone tried to kill me—of course I’m not all right.” She hugged her arms to her waist. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. How about you, are you okay? You just drove all the way from Knoxville.”
“Eh . . .” She waved off Tori’s concern. “I’m fine, maybe tired, but at least no one has tried to kill me.”
“Which I’m glad for. Now we have to figure out which case my attempted killer is connected to.”
“You have a few to choose from. By the way, while we were waiting for you to get here, Caleb and I checked out the basement, and it’ll be perfect to record the podcast tomorrow night.
And I spoke to the director of the safe house where Megan is staying, and she agreed to be your guest on the podcast tomorrow night with Megan. ”
“Super.” Tori could always count on Amy to stay on top of the podcast, but was that a spark in her eye when she mentioned Caleb?
They both turned as Scott and Caleb entered the living room. Yes, Caleb definitely brought a spark out of Amy.
“Once I put your ice packs in the freezer, would you like me to get your computer from the guest bedroom?” Scott asked. “That way you can find your photos while Drew and I go back for your car.”
“That would be great.”
“What photos are you talking about?” Amy asked and Tori explained. A minute later Scott returned carrying her computer with Drew in tow.
“We’ll be back in half an hour,” he said then turned to Caleb. “Come on, and I’ll show you the security system.”
As soon as Scott left, Tori pulled Drew aside. “Do you know Jenny’s Ancestry Line login information?”
“What are you talking about?” Drew lowered his voice to match hers.
There went that hope. If her photos weren’t in the Cloud, she’d have to get back into Jenny’s office. “Never mind. I need the key to her house.”
“Why?” he asked.
“I might find evidence that points to where that money came from—something the sheriff’s deputies probably weren’t looking for.” And speaking of the sheriff, they needed to bring him in the loop.
“No!” His whisper was frantic. “Somebody probably killed Jenny for that money—it’s too dangerous for you to go there.”
“What could be dangerous about going to her house?”
“The same thing that was dangerous about you walking down the street today. Whoever killed Jenny may be watching you.” He crossed his arms. “I don’t have the key with me, anyway. It’s at the house.”
“Get it while you’re out.”
Scott returned with Caleb. “If you’re ready, Drew.”
“Just a sec.” Drew turned toward Tori. “You got to promise me you won’t keep digging into Jenny’s murder.”
“We’ll discuss it when you return.”
That and other things. Scott called Drew again, and he followed the two men, who were probably discussing last-minute instructions on how to keep Tori still. She grabbed her phone and stood.
“What do you need?” Amy asked. “I can get it.”
“I was going to charge my phone—but I just realized my charger is in the bedroom. I don’t think I can make the stairs just yet.”
“I saw a charger in the kitchen along with pods of Lady Grey. How about a cup? Scott said to help ourselves to whatever we needed.”
Tori normally preferred coffee, but the hot tea appealed to her. “That sounds good. I’ll bring my computer.”
Amy grabbed the computer. “You bring the phone, I’ll take the computer.”
“Thank you.” Tori didn’t like being treated like an invalid, but she was moving slow. In the kitchen, she plugged in the phone, hoping the fall simply drained the battery, but it didn’t light up. Disappointed, she left it charging anyway.
While Amy made tea, Tori booted up her computer and checked her iCloud account. “Rats.”
“What?”
“None of the photos I took at Jenny’s office uploaded to the Cloud. I really need that Ancestry Line username and password.”
“You took a photo, so you saw it.” Amy handed her a steaming cup of tea.
“Yeah.”
“Close your eyes and visualize it.”
Tori did as Amy suggested and tried to picture the scrap of paper, but hitting the pavement with her face had somehow clouded her brain. “I’m pretty sure Jenny T was the username, but the password was numbers . . . and you know how I am with those.”
Amy laughed. “Too bad I didn’t see it, because you’re definitely a words person, not a numbers one. All you can do is try.”
Tori pressed her fingers to her temples and winced. Even her left temple was touchy. She concentrated again on remembering and wrote down her impression. Then she typed in the address for the DNA site. When asked to log in, she typed in Jenny T then the numbers for the password. Invalid.
Amy looked over her shoulder as Tori stared at the screen. She was pretty sure the username was correct, but maybe she transposed a number. She tried another one. It was incorrect as well, and there was only one more attempt before the site would shut her out.
“Why don’t we go back to her office and get the original?” Amy asked.
What was wrong with her? That should have been her first thought when the phone died.
“I’d like to see where she spent eight hours a day, anyway,” Amy said.
Tori checked her watch. Four thirty. “I’ll see if anyone is still there.” She called Donna. “Is there any way I can get into Jenny’s office again?”
“Whatever for? I mean, you were just in there this morning.”
Tori froze. She hadn’t thought about an excuse.
“Oh, never mind,” Donna said. “If you can get here in the next fifteen minutes—”
“I’m on my way.” She disconnected the call and turned to Amy. “Come on. We’re going to the Livingston offices.”
“Excuse me?”
Tori looked around. She hadn’t heard Caleb come back inside. “Look, I really need to get something from Jenny’s office. You can come with us or stay here. Your choice, but I’m going.” She returned his intense gaze without budging.
“Scott said you were a hard case.”
“Yeah, well, he’s probably right.”
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “I figure you’ll go one way or the other. Come on.”
“Thank you.” She couldn’t believe her ears and wanted to do a fist pump but doubted he would find it amusing.
“But just so you know, I’m calling Scott to tell him where we’re going.”
Bummer. She grabbed Amy and walked around him toward the front door. “Tell him on the way.”
Ten minutes later, Tori climbed out of Caleb’s SUV, wincing as her tightening muscles made it hard to walk.
“You sure you’re up to this?” he asked.
She gave him a quick nod. “I’ll be fine.”
Tori hobbled behind Caleb with Amy bringing up the rear. Caleb held the door open for them and then followed them down the hall to the reception area.
Donna gasped when she saw Tori’s face. “What happened?”
“I kissed the asphalt.” She was a little surprised that Donna hadn’t heard that someone tried to run her down less than two blocks from the office building. She introduced everyone, then asked, “When did you get back to the office?”
“Later than I meant to—one of my errands took longer than I expected, and Richard wasn’t too happy the report he’d asked for wasn’t ready.” She took a key from her desk. “You have ten minutes before I lock up—everyone else is gone.”
“It won’t take me that long.”
“You two go ahead. I’ll keep Ms. Curtis company,” Caleb said.
She smiled at him behind Donna’s back. He was handy to have around—she’d worried the office manager might check on them, and now that problem was out of the way.
With Amy on her heels, Tori hurried to Jenny’s office and unlocked the door. While she made a beeline to the desk, Amy walked around, examining the room.
“No personal photos,” she said, tapping the tongue-and-groove paneling with her fingers.
“I noticed that.”
Amy moved to the bookcase and browsed through a couple of the books on the shelves. Tori sat behind the desk. She hadn’t locked the bottom drawer where she’d found the Ancestry Line information and pulled it open. Her breath stilled. She looked up. “The folder is gone.”
Amy turned and stared at her. “What do you mean, gone? Are you sure you’re in the right drawer?”
Tori stared down into the empty drawer. “I think so.”
A quick check of the other drawers confirmed that the folder had indeed disappeared. “Why would someone take it?”
“Why indeed? Makes me think it’s related to why she was killed.”
“I agree, or it wouldn’t have been stolen. We have to get into that account.”
“Could the login information be at her house?”
“I hope so.” Tori crossed her arms. “And that means Jenny’s house is my next stop as soon as I get a key.”