Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21
CARLIE
The girls spent the night at Chad’s sister’s when he got called in Friday evening. I volunteer to go get them on Saturday, since I’m headed to the grocery store anyway, but Chad texts that he got home before midnight and he’s plenty rested. They’re still gone when I drop the groceries off at the house and put them away, so I head back to my house.
I walk slowly through the thin stretch of cypress trees that separate the two yards, admiring how well landscaped the whole yard is. It shouldn’t surprise me. My salary, this house, all of it points to the major bucks Chad must be making doing what he does. I hope so, for his sake.
There’s no grass between the trees that grow closely together, and I pause when I notice a strange mound that I’ve never noticed before. My chest seizes. From here, it looks exactly like the type of mound where someone might bury a body.
Oh. My. Gosh. Is there a body in my yard? Okay, well, not exactly my yard. It’s between the yards, really. I walk toward it and then gently nudge it with my foot, hoping that it’s just a pile of leaves or something that got covered with dirt … somehow.
It doesn’t give.
I swallow and then run straight for the gate and Law’s house.
“You think Chad killed his wife.”
I have to admit I probably deserve the dumbfounded look Law’s giving me right now. The only thing I’ve mentioned about how weirded out I am by Shelby’s disappearance is when I asked if he thought it was strange that Chad has taken down all the pictures.
“No!” I cry. But then, “Well, maybe. Why is there a body in my backyard?” I hold up my hands and notice they’re shaking.
Law blows his cheeks out and closes his eyes. I think he’s trying not to laugh. He opens his eyes again. “It’s probably a dog, Car. Chad’s lived in that house since he and Shelby got married, and to be honest, she really struck me as the type of woman to have a dog. Maybe a purse dog.”
I pin him with a hard stare. “That’s not a purse-dog-sized mound.” I point in the general direction of the mound.
“Shelby left,” he says patiently, but the humor is not gone from his expression. His eyes are actually twinkling.
“And I thought that all financial planners had late-night meetings to talk their clients out of stupid money deals.” I put my hands on my hips.
Law sobers instantly. “Is that why you think Chad killed his wife? Because Xavier was a drug dealer?” He’s so gentle, but I want to punch him in the face for thinking I’m jumping to conclusions about Shelby because Xavier was a big fat liar.
Yeah, okay, my experience with Xavier colors everything in my life, but that might not be a bad thing now. It means I know that even nice guys like Chad might not be all they say.
“No.” I shake my head. “No one has heard from her— at all . Not even her mother. She left her phone. Did Chad even report her missing or anything?”
Law holds up his hands. “Okay, yeah, that looks suspicious when you say it like that, but why would he report her missing? Shelby told him she was leaving.”
I’ve listened to enough true crime to spot that there’s way more than suspicious stuff going on. “Were you there to hear Shelby tell him that?” I ask, eyeing Law with faux innocence.
“No. Chad told me.”
I throw up my hands. “Exactly. Just like he told her mom that she left her phone because she didn’t want to be tied to anything here and she wanted a fresh start. The only thing anyone here seems to know about Shelby leaving is what Chad told them.”
Law shakes his head and presses his lips together. He might be trying not to laugh again. He comes forward and puts his hands on my shoulders. “So, are we going to go dig up her body back there?”
My mouth drops open, even as I recognize the flutter in my stomach over what he said. Yes, it’s weird to get butterflies when the guy you’re dating offers to dig up a dead body for you. And he might not believe we’ll find anything, but he offered anyway.
I blow out a breath. “No! I’m not going to dig up a body.” I squirm out of his hold, and he lets me. “What would I tell Chad?”
Law folds his arms, eyeing me with a mischievous look—the same mischievous look that won him several hands of BS at Jenna’s house on Friday night because nobody was quite sure if it meant he was holding all the cards or if it was because he wasn’t. Probably because it meant both. We had so much fun, and even though it cut into precious time Law and I could have spent alone together … talking some more, I loved every minute of it.
“Well, I have minicamp next week. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, so if you need the muscle to dig it up in the middle of the night, I’m just saying you’ll have to wait until Thursday for my help.”
“You!” But I can’t help that laughter is starting to bubble up. Yes, when he says these things, it does sound ridiculous. So why does it all make so much sense in my head? Is it really because I believe the worst of people after Xavier? I start stalking down the hall toward his front door, wagging my finger at him over my shoulder. “I’m going to say ‘I told you so’ a lot when I’m right that there’s something fishy going on here.”
“Okay,” he calls after me, but his voice is wobbly.
I roll my eyes and leave, forcing down my own smile. I’m not going to dig up a body, but I am going to figure out what happened to Shelby Harrell.