Chapter 14
“And you’re sure you saw nothing suspicious tonight?” the same detective we talked to after finding the ring asked.
His question jarred me out of my memories of finding Casey’s unmoving body in front of his home’s entrance. Reed quickly determined he wasn’t passed out after a night of drinking, and even though the ambulance made it in under five minutes, the police declared him dead at the scene.
I shook my head and leaned it against the back of the couch. It was the only way to keep it up. “No.”
The yawn hit me out of nowhere. Tiredness had seeped so far into my bones that being awake another second made me want to cry.
Rays from the early morning sun peeked in through the kitchen window, hit the floor, and lit up the dark living room in our rental.
It brought tears to the corners of my eyes.
Reed, sensing my distress, laid his hand on my knee. “We were gone most of the night.”
“At the ghost thing?” the detective asked, clearly not a believer. He wore a wrinkled black suit that looked like he’d either not slept or put on the clothes he wore yesterday when he got the call about a dead body. I didn’t judge. We’d all had a long night.
I probably resembled a raccoon, who hadn’t had enough midnight snacks.
“Yes, the ghost thing,” I said, getting annoyed. We’d gone over this at least three times. “Where’s Selene? Does she know about Casey?”
That had to be the fifth time I’d asked about Selene, but they’d refused to give me an answer. The police had been in the condo, but as we watched from our position on the couch, they’d only brought out one black body bag on a stretcher. So where was Selene, and did she know?
“Ms. Mortganson is at the station right now, giving a statement. She was with her sister last night.”
Until two in the morning? Why was Selene not at home with Casey? A thought scratched at the corner of my brain, but it wasn’t working fast enough to catch it.
“Did either of you hear any arguing from them in the last few days?” He jerked on his yellow tie, skewing it in the other direction.
Reed and I both shook our heads. “No, they seemed fine,” he said.
“Nothing tonight.”
“No, but we weren’t here,” I answered.
The detective gave a head jerk. “Because you were at the ghost thing.”
Ugh. I wanted to scream. My eyelids closed, and I silently counted to three before answering. “Yes, the ghost thing.”
He closed his small notebook and shoved the pen through the coils. “And you don’t know what Casey wanted to talk to you about?”
Another head shake from both of us. “No.”
Once we realized the seriousness of Casey’s condition—death—Reed showed the detective Casey’s note we’d found earlier in the evening asking to meet him.
“Detective, we’ve answered these questions already,” Reed said, sounding as tired as I felt.
The detective stood up in one solid swoosh of a movement. I had to blink rapidly to get my head to adjust to his new position. “I understand that, but you must see how all this seems suspicious. We have two people here investigating a previous death, and now my prime suspect ends up dead.”
Oh yeah, we’d also had to come clean about our motives for being in Savannah. Once a dead body came into play, I really didn’t want to hide anything from the police and end up in that federal prison.
“You know what I think?” the detective continued, even though I was still processing his comments from three sentences ago.
“I think Casey found out why you two are here. He argued with Selene about what to do with you, and that’s why she spent the night with her sister.
Maybe you two didn’t want your cover blown, or he tried to kick you out.
Threaten you with a lawsuit, possibly? The family liked to get lawyers involved. ”
My stomach twirled with his accusations. I tried to stand, but my legs were too wobbly from being up for a day straight. “We were locked in the theater all night.”
“It’s convenient.” He shoved his notebook in the pocket of his suit coat.
Reed stood up from the couch, standing a good six inches taller than him. “It’s rock solid is what it is.”
“I’ll be back. Don’t leave town without my say-so,” he said as he walked toward the front door.
Reed leaned forward like he was about to follow him, but we didn’t need to add assault to any of our issues, so I grabbed on to his arm to keep him there.
Casey had no obvious cause of death. No gunshots or any other wound. That didn’t give us a lot to go on.
“Thanks for having my back,” I said, letting go of his arm when his muscles relaxed.
Reed turned back to face me as the detective closed the door behind him. “Any time. Let’s get some rest. We’re both dea—tired.”
I appreciated that he caught himself, but not in enough time to stop the image of Casey’s dead body from flooding my head. “Delaney will call for updates once the news breaks.”
The thought of how early she’d call made me flinch in response. Michigan was in the same time zone as Savannah, but she’d have a full night’s rest.
My SEAL in shining armor helped me off the couch. “Shut off your phone. She’ll never know.”
Oh, she’d know. Her best friend senses would be on high alert. It was weird she hadn’t already called just from sensing I’d somehow gotten myself into trouble.
* * *
I groaned and rolled over, trying to put the pillow over my head, but it did not block out the constant bird chatter outside my window. My phone was off, just like Reed had suggested, but nothing shut off the damn birds. Did they have a nest right outside the window?
With my eyes half closed, I ran through my morning routine and shuffled out to the living room.
Reed had claimed his spot on the couch. He had a laptop open on his lap and the local news running on the television.
I smiled, thinking of him in his spot, like we were an old married couple who had our preferred seats.
Except we didn’t live here, and it wasn’t our couch. Also, we weren’t dating.
“Afternoon,” he said as he watched me walk out of my room.
“Hey.” I sat on the couch in my designated spot. “I need to call Delaney and see what she thinks of all this.”
I only had fifteen missed calls from her with four voicemails. She hadn’t called in over an hour. Honestly, I was a little offended. What if we were the ones lying dead on the street in some dark back alley? Didn’t she care about me at all?
Reed lowered the volume on the television, even though I could barely hear it anyway. “No worries. She called me at nine.”
“Damn, I’m sorry. Did you get back to sleep afterward?”
He shook his head. “No, but she’s up to speed. We’re waiting to see if the police will release a cause of death to the public.”
The edge of the couch by my knee had a loose thread, and I pulled on it just enough to get the thread wrapped once around my index finger. “I can’t believe Casey is dead. How will we solve the case now?”
I’d never get the interview that Delaney had sent me here to get. Also… Casey was dead. Like dead, dead. It was weird. I’d never seen a dead body so up close before. Not since my grandma’s funeral when I was in eleventh grade.
A little more of the couch thread gave way, and I wrapped it around my index finger a second time.
“I know I’m delirious from… everything, but what if a ghost really did it?” It seemed they were everywhere in the city.
Reed lifted his left eyebrow at me as he waited for me to say more, but that was all I had. “It’s a weird coincidence, but you don’t really think a ghost killed both Lisa and Casey.”
“No.” Of course not. That would be crazy. We’d learned that ghosts were normally tied to people and places. “But what if Casey killed Lisa and she killed him for revenge?” It sounded plausible.
The thread wrapped around my finger again and I had to adjust my position because I’d pulled so much loose. Shit. That couldn’t be good. What if I took apart the entire couch?
“The detective said Casey was a suspect,” Reed said, unaware of my thread-pulling situation.
I gave it a jerk, hoping to rip it free, but the thread held strong, only coming loose from the couch. “So, you agree, the idea has merit?”
“No,” he blurted.
I slunk in my seat and gave the thread another quick jerk.
This time it snapped, and I quickly undid it from my finger, letting the piece fall to the floor.
With the detective’s prime suspect dead and me with no new clues or leads on either case, I had to be the worst investigator ever.
Maybe it was time to throw in the towel and call it a day?
Or not, since the detective told us not to leave town.
Reed patted my leg. “I’m going to grab us a quick meal from the Pirate House. You want that salad again?”
I nodded. “Can I have the remote while you’re gone?” I was in no mood for the news.
He tossed me the remote and headed for the front door. “Make sure and stay here this time.”
“Scout’s honor,” I said and saluted with the remote to my forehead.
Reed opened the door and stopped without going outside. The air changed in the space, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
“What? What happened?” I asked and found the energy to jump off the couch.
He backed inside with something in his hand and slammed the door. “Stay there.”