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“Riley, what’re you still doing here?” Celia had just left the inn after the coroner had taken the body out. She was tired and frustrated with the rate at which bodies just seemed to keep falling at her feet here lately and the fact that she had nothing to go on and no witnesses other than the proprietor’s wife, who hadn’t seen anything.
To make matters worse, there were no cameras on that floor or any other, as a matter of fact, to keep in line with the old-world ambiance of the establishment. In her mind, she was thinking that if the victim had been going around dosing men, then her killer could be any one of the men in the small town. She knew she was going to have to hit the pavement running on this one if she wanted to catch the killer’s scent before it went cold.
“How’re you feeling, baby? I hear it was grisly in there.”
“Where did you hear that, from who?” Celia was peeved that one of her guys had actually been discussing the crime scene with a civilian.
“No one told me; I was listening to the guys as they came and went. So, you headed to the station house now? I’ll follow you.”
Riley ran his finger down her tired cheek wishing he could just wrap her up and take her back to the farm. His woman hadn’t even been to bed yet, and she already looked dead on her feet. He bit his tongue to keep the words of disapproval trapped behind his teeth because he knew it would only cause an argument if he said what he was thinking. Not that he would care usually, but right now, she looked too beat to go a round with him, and he wouldn’t enjoy the fight.
“You don’t have to do that. Why don’t you just head on home?” Instead of an answer, he led her back to the SUV that he’d parked behind, opened the door, and strapped her in before kissing her temple and walking back to his truck. Celia just rolled her eyes and drove the few blocks to the station where Riley waited for her to head inside before driving off with a wave.
The sun was coming up when Detective Sparks finally came up for air. The place was a madhouse since she’d called in every one and put them to work. If she had ten hands, she needed twenty but would have to make do. “Andy, did your team go over every corner of the room? I don’t want to miss anything.”
The head of the tech team pointed to the evidence bag he’d brought in. “That’s everything we found except for clothes. All her documents, including her passport, phone, and iPad, it’s all here. I’ll be going through this stuff and let you know what I find, if anything.” Detective Sparks nodded her head and tapped her finger against the desk.
She needed to head to the hospital to see what Ryan wanted, but there was something tickling the edges of her mind that she just couldn’t get a grasp on. “What’s on your mind?” Officer Bailey dropped down on the chair across from her desk.
“I don’t know; it’s something Inez West said about her husband that I can’t seem to shake.” She shook her head as if to clear it and finally focused on him. Poor thing, he looked almost as bad as she did.
“Anyway, how did it go with Robbie and Gil? Did you find them?”
“Yep, both at Gil’s place sitting around reminiscing. What an odd pair. I asked them some questions, and they both promised to come down later today though I doubt from their reaction to the news that they had anything to do with it. Plus the fact that I checked with that nosy neighbor next door, and she said neither of them had moved their car all night.”
Celia breathed a sigh of relief at the news. Though it was a bit of a stretch to think that either man had done it, stranger things have happened. People respond weirdly to grief sometimes. She found herself having a kind of fondness for the two men who in all rights should be enemies but had found solace in each other in this trying time. She would’ve been a bit heartbroken had either of them had been responsible for what she’d found in that room.
“We still need to go see Niall Davis; the bank should be open by now.” She wasn’t looking forward to seeing Riley’s old friend. Though the two men had seen each other since she and Riley became an item, she was still not ready to meet him in that capacity. According to Riley, he was still grieving the loss of his wife, and though Riley felt a bit responsible since it was his own wife who was responsible, he still felt an obligation to the kids, something he says the other man seems to appreciate.
