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His laughter rolls over me. “Says the girl who bites.”
“Yeah, I should probably stop that.”
“You’d better fucking never.”
CHAPTER 33
ARLOW
Two weeksafter that terrifying night that changed everything, the snow and ice have finally disappeared, giving us a good view of the graveyard. As I’d hoped, the top of the grave looks no different than the many other bare patches this time of winter.
Calli points her finger toward it, drawing a line through the air. “You plan to plant the bushes down this way?”
“Yes, I should be able to get them planted in late March or early April, depending on the weather.”
Her phone buzzes, and she checks it as we walk back toward my house. “It’s Silver. I’m supposed to meet the realtor with her and Mona. Her eyebrows raise as she peeks up at me. “Are you sure you want me for a neighbor permanently before I do this?”
“I want you in my house permanently, but I’ll settle for next door.”
Her grin dismisses my statement as a joke. Because of course I wouldn’t be asking her to move in with me after a whole two weeks of officially being together. That’d be crazy despite it being exactly what I want.
“Okay, I’m going to go. Don’t wait on me for dinner. I’m going to shop for new furniture with Silver and then go to thegym. You’ll probably be in the barn when I get back. You’re livestreaming tonight, right?”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her screw the livestream, that I’ll skip it to shop with her or make us a late dinner, but I restrain myself and drop a kiss on her lips. “Yep. Back to work. Be careful and have fun.”
If she had any idea how obsessed I am with her, she’d probably want to rethink this relationship. She waited for me to be ready and I’m not going to ruin things by smothering her, as hard as it might be not to. We need our own lives too.
Before she can get into her car, a squad car pulls into the driveway. She turns to me, wide eyed, and I slip my hand into hers, giving it a quick squeeze. “It’s okay. Deep breath. They don’t know anything. We don’t have to answer any questions we don’t want to.”
Nodding, she releases my hand.
I’m glad to see it’s officer Anderson at least, not the asshole. He nods at us. “Mr. Shaw, Ms. Barnes. Have you had any more trouble?”
“No,” Calli replies, her voice calm and even. “So far so good.”
“Do you have any updates for us?” I ask. There’s a lawyer on retainer for both of us now. One wrong word, and I’ll end this conversation quick to call him.
The officer pulls out a notebook. “Do you recognize the name Mariah Kenneth?”
“No, it doesn’t sound familiar,” Calli says as I shake my head.
Officer Anderson nods. “The account number you were given traces back to the name Mariah Kenneth. She’s deceased but the account was never closed. She has no next of kin as far as we can tell.” He looks from me to Calli and back again. “Do you have any idea who might have access to her bank information?”
“No, I’ve never heard of her.”
“Also, the man you informed us about.” He looks at his notebook again. “Christopher Handleman was arrested on violation of parole eight days ago in Eastern Tennessee. Neighbors say he’s been staying there for more than a month.”
“It wasn’t him then,” Calli replies. “That’s good to know.”
“We haven’t been able to locate the other man you mentioned, Carl Becker. The last address we have for him is in Indianapolis, but he no longer resides there. There’s no car registered to him or forwarding address. If he’s the one who has access to the bank account, there’s no record of it. We’ll continue monitoring the account for any new activity.”
They’ll be wasting their time. The man responsible is currently feeding the worms and beetles not far away.
“Alright.” He tucks his notebook back in his pocket. “If you have any more issues or think of anything else, please report it. There’s not much else to be done at this juncture.”
“I understand,” I tell him. “Hopefully they’ve given up since it didn’t work for them.”
“If they’re smart,” he agrees. “You all have a good day.”
