Chapter 15
Reed stepped back from the door, giving the lock a casual flick with his wrist. In his hand, he had a ripped piece of newspaper.
From the size of the photo, it seemed like the front page.
He laid it on the table and I left my spot on the couch to stand next to him, reading the thick block lettering written with a black marker.
Go home!
“That’s specific,” I said.
He nodded while bringing out his cell phone to snap a photo of the threat.
Wait. Was it a threat? They hadn’t given us any “or else.” Go home or what?
“What do you think it means?” I asked as he typed something into his phone.
He tapped a finger on the table beside the paper. “It means someone is not happy with what we’re doing here.”
Hmm. That’s what I thought but hoped I’d been wrong. Who else knew why we were here and wanted us gone? The person who killed Casey? The person who killed Lisa? Or the person who killed both of them?
Shit. What if we had a serial killer on the loose?
“I’m going to send this to our guy and see if it matches other parts of the case file,” Reed said, giving his phone a few more taps before setting it on the table. “It’s written on today’s paper.”
With just the tips of my fingers on the very edge of the paper, I flipped it over to read the article on the back of the ripped piece. The threat writer ripped the page right through an article, but it seemed to be the highlights of a local dog show happening this weekend.
“Do you think the killer is telling us to attend the dog show this weekend?” I asked Reed, pointing at the page.
He scanned the article quickly and shook his head. “No, I think whoever wrote us that note grabbed the first thing they could find. They probably don’t have it out for dogs.”
“Well, the front page is no help, either.” I flipped it to the front again.
The photo was a large shot of the city’s comedy baseball team.
The Savannah Bananas were returning to kick off another tour of funny baseball.
I’d seen some of their TikToks and it looked hilarious, but we didn’t have time to attend a game while solving a murder.
Plus, tickets were hella hard to get. There were lotteries and everything.
I’d looked them up online during the traumatic plane ride here.
“Our killer probably isn’t the baseball player on stilts. ”
“Probably not,” he agreed.
“Hey,” I said as a thought from his earlier comment hit me. “How do you have access to the case file? I only have what Delaney sent with me.”
Reed tilted his head. “One guy on our team has a few backdoor entries for things like this.”
“Like a hacker?” What else were these military guys out here doing?
“Umm,” he considered his words. “Let’s call it digital hide and seek. And Spencer is very good at seeking.”
I had so many more questions, but something about the way Reed looked at me—like he was memorizing my entire face or waiting for another question and pre-thinking of a witty way to dodge it—had me holding my tongue.
“Also, new rule,” he said as he grabbed my spring jacket from off the back of the chair. “You’re in my line of sight at all times.”
I thought about arguing, but my gaze caught the edge of the newspaper, and I reread the note. “Okay.”
Having a hot guy at my back would not be the worst thing to ever happen to me. Not by far.
“Come on, we’re going for lunch,” he said, handing me the coat.
I guess I should have expected that when he took it off the chair.
“We can still pick up, though. Right?” With only a few hours of sleep, I really didn’t want to put on restaurant appropriate pants.
The black leggings I’d slipped into after brushing my teeth needed to get me through until we had to leave the rental later.
Reed eyed my pants as if he had an inside view of the argument happening in my head. “You look fine, but sure.”
We walked to the Pirate House, which was right beside us. My phone rang as he opened the door to walk inside. I paused to answer it.
“By my side,” he said.
I held the phone up. “It’s Delaney. I’ll stand right here. You can see me through the door.”
He pointed at the ground. “Do not move from this spot.”
“Promise.” The note hadn’t given any threats of kidnapping, but I wasn’t taking my chances. “Not even for a puppy.”
The phone rang a third time as Reed stared at me. “I do not know what that means, but tell Delaney I have it covered here.”
“Got it.” He walked inside, and I answered the call from my best friend. “Hey, girl. I would have called, but Reed said you two talked.”
She scoffed so loudly I had to move the phone from my ear. “I’m calling you off the record, as a friend, so I can call you a dumbass without getting written up for it.”
“Me?” I glanced through the doors and watched Reed talk to the woman behind the reservation stand. She handed him a menu. “What did I do?”
“It’s not your job to be solving this case. You’re there to get the vibe and set a story mood.”
I stomped my foot and immediately looked at Reed. Good, he didn’t see. “Delaney, I don’t know what any of that means. You didn’t give me any instructions. Also, how is your dad doing?”
“He’s fine although I’m so sick of eating cafeteria food. But don’t bring my father into this. He will not save you. I want you to stop being so reckless. Stop finding dead bodies lying around.”
I almost laughed, but she sounded so serious. “It’s not like I did it on purpose.” No one wanted to find a body. At least no one normal.
She gave a deeper, longer sigh. “I wish I could be there. If anything happens to you, I’ll never forgive myself.”
“I’m safe,” I said and turned my body away from Reed so he couldn’t see or hear me. “I’ve got a giant, hunky SEAL to keep me safe.”
“Ex-SEAL,” she responded quickly and kept right ongoing without a breath. “And that’s another thing. Where is my photo of the sexy SEAL? If you’re going to be running around Savannah, picking up dead bodies without me, the least you could do is send me photos.”
“Of the dead body?” I asked, just to keep her going. Hearing her voice helped ease some of my nerves. “I’m not sure the police would be okay with that.”
“No! If you send me a photo of a dead man, our friendship is over.”
I laughed at her threat, and when Reed opened the restaurant door carrying a large brown sack, he caught my smile. “Hey, our lunch is ready. I have to go, but I promise we’re being very safe.”
No way in hell was I telling her about the note we’d just found from a probable killer. She’d have my ass on a plane before dinner.
Reed and I made it back to the rental by the time Delaney let me hang up.
“We’re not telling Delaney about the additional note,” I said, as Reed worked to open the gate with one hand.
A familiar voice cut off his grunt of agreement.
“Wait.” Samantha did a slow jog in our direction. She had her hair up in a high bun, but it was flopped to side with pieces shooting out in different direction. Her eyes were red and her cheeks puffy. “Have you heard?”
“Yes, I’m so sorry about Casey.” She obviously didn’t know we were the ones to find the body. I wanted to reach out and give her a hug to help take some of the grief she obviously carried, but we weren’t that close.
“They were soulmates,” she said, her voice cracking. “I can’t believe Selene lost him so young. The police have no idea what happened. They’re thinking a brain embolism.”
Brain embolism? I had to get back to the rental and Google that.
“It’s so horrible. I’m sorry. How is Selene holding up?” I asked as Reed unlocked our gate and let it swing open, but we didn’t walk through it.
Samantha shook her head in sadness. “Not well. Why would God let this happen? We’ve all sacrificed so much. Doesn’t someone deserve a happy ending?”
Grief poured out of her words as tears gathered in the corners of my eyes. We were both going to end up crying on the sidewalk soon.
“Oh,” Samantha said, wiping at her cheek before pulling a small bottle from her purse. “I had this to give to you. It’s stupid now, but it’s a piece of Savannah.”
“Thanks.” I accepted the white bottle with the brown top and flipped it over. The body lotion from Savannah Bee Company looked cute and probably smelled great.
“I was going to bring it over before all this happened. I’m staying with Selene until she decides what to do. If you need anything for the rest of your stay, reach out to me rather than her, please.”
I nodded in agreement but knew there wouldn’t be any need. If we had a flood, we’d take care of it on our own before bothering either of them while they dealt with Casey’s death.
We parted ways. Reed and I sat on the couch and ate our lunch from the Pirate House while I read him information about embolisms from the internet.
“Do you think his death was really just a weird fluke?” I asked, putting my fork in my takeout container and closing the lid.
Reed grabbed our trash and dumped it in the kitchen before joining me on the couch. “He had been under a lot of stress after his mother’s death. It’s possible he ignored the signs.”
It’s so weird that you could be here one minute, living your life, and then dead the next. How many things went unfinished? Did he have a bucket list?
What things did I want to do before I died?
I turned toward Reed and stared. It took him at least thirty seconds before he noticed and turned his attention my way. “What?”
“You should kiss me.”