Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“Red hair is far superior.” Wendy patted him on the arm. “Let’s go get the groceries. I don’t want my ice cream to melt.”
Everyone got their butts in gear so an almost-six-year-old didn’t have melted ice cream.
Hours later, Wendy was in her room getting ready for bed.
Constance, Black, and I were at the kitchen island.
“Time to talk,” Constance said. “I’ve been very patient.”
I would say she had.
Much more patient than I would’ve been had I not been in on most of the information already.
“We’ve done a lot of digging into these cases, and you were right. There is a homeschooling co-op connection between them all. And Eustace does play on all the teams. Or he had. He quit about six months ago.”
“Did he say why?”
“I couldn’t really question him all that much. He needs a parent there. And I couldn’t find either one of them.”
“The mom works in Bozeman,” I said. “She has a long ass commute three times a week. Pendelton always complains about her job.”
“I’ll see if I can find her tomorrow.” He shook his head. “I stopped by Dr. Pendelton’s office, and the receptionist said he went home sick today. I headed to his house, but got no reply when I knocked. That’s when I dropped the kid off. I’ll try again tomorrow.”
“That’s not all, though. Is it?” Constance pushed.
“Not even a little bit,” Black said.
“Errol Fuller was found dead in his RV today,” I said. “That’s what we were doing all night. Watching his place. This morning, we finally decided fuck it. We went in and found him dead. Been dead a while.”
“I seriously didn’t believe it was him here,” she admitted. “I mean, he was getting sloppy if he did. Years ago, the old Errol wouldn’t have let me know that he was close. Not until he wanted me to know.”
“That’s what’s been bugging me, too,” I admitted. “I mean, this guy is fucking CIA.”
Black tapped at his chin thoughtfully. “You haven’t had a chance to examine him yet, but you gave him a time of death at about two months before now. Those charges were charged on his cards about five weeks ago. I’m guessing a dead guy can’t book a hotel. I need to find out what this new place is under. Gentry was doing that for me, but damn, I gotta know.”
Black pulled out his phone and called Gentry.
Gentry answered in two rings.
“Hey, was just about to call you,” he said. “The RV site was rented under an alias. The truck that was registered to him was also bought under the same alias, now that we know what name to look for. And the person that Sage has been seeing come and go from the RV just came by.”
“What?” Black barked.
“That’s what she thought. She called me,” he said. “Went out to the house, and get this…it’s a fuckin’ kid. That one you called me about today.”
“Eustace?”
“One and only,” he said. “Caught him trying to break into the back of the trailer.”
“Son of a bitch.” Black pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll be there when I sober up a little.”
“Take your time,” he said. “We know where he lives.”
“Call his parents again, too,” Black grumbled.
Gentry and Black hung up.
“So he killed him and stole all his credit cards,” Constance guessed, taking another sip of her beer.
Her fourth.
Damn, she was sexy when she drank beer.
Wished my cock was that damn beer bottle rim.
“It would be too easy.” Black shook his head. “The real question is…why did he keep going back?”
“My sentiments exactly.”
Black’s phone rang again. He put it on speaker again and left the phone in the middle of the table.
“What is it?”
“Dr. Pendelton was found dead in his home.”
“And let me guess, they can’t find Eustace,” I guessed.
“Nope.” Black sighed and stood up. “Thanks for dinner. Guess I need to head out.”
Constance put a hand on his arm. “You’re not going anywhere. You’ve been pounding those beers. Odin will drive you.”
Black paused, then nodded. “Yeah, that’s for the best.”
I winked at Constance. “I’ll drop him off and be back.”
She walked away, coming back with a key long moments later.
She handed them to me, then said, “The code to disarm the alarm is the same as yours.”
I grinned.
“And make sure you stay long enough that you can get all the information. I’m dying here.”
I winked, then tugged her close by putting a finger through the loop of her jeans.
She came willingly, then threaded her arms around my shoulders. “Be good.”
“I’ll try.” She winked. “Take care of him. He looks sad.”
I pressed a kiss to her mouth. “I will.”
Twenty-Eight
I’m at the age when my back gives out more than I do.
—Odin to Constance
Odin
Being the medical examiner, showing up at a murder scene wasn’t exactly unheard of.
Nobody questioned my arrival with Black, and Gentry came up to us with a grim look on his face.