Page 55 of Diamonds in the Mud

I fell in step with him and asked, “Is she okay?”

He nodded. “Tell me that you had nothing to do with last night.”

I almost winced. “No, I was somewhere else,” I said quickly.

The man nodded as we stepped inside.

“How bad is it?” I asked. “I was just heading over…”

“Don’t. She’s home with us now. Resting,” Randy said as we took a seat at a table in the back.

I frequented the place since I lived upstairs, and so did Randy. The waitress walked over and poured us each a cup of coffee.

“Anything else for either of you?” she asked.

“No, thanks, Katie,” Randy said and then waited until we were alone again. “Declan was released half an hour before.”

“Shit.” I ran my hand through my hair. “I knew it. That son of a…” I started to get up, only to stop when Randy laid a hand on my arm.

“Don’t. I’ve known who you were and what you were doing from the moment you stepped foot in my town. Now, I’ve let you be. Done what I had to clear my town of… well, people like Declan. I hadn’t expected you to take so damned long nor did I for one minute believe you’d drag my daughter into the mess.”

I nodded slowly, understanding.

“Do what you have to. Shut them down. Then, get the hell out of Gemsville, and by god, don’t look back,” he warned. “I’ll be damned if I let anything happen to Rayne. I hated the day she decided to become a cop like me. Hated the day I pinned the badge on her. Proud as hell but hated it. Knowing what could happen to us always getting in the line of fire. But let’s face facts—as bad as we have it, you have it a hundred times worse. Your entire life becomes a lie. The things you have to do…” He shook his head. “You’re made of stronger stuff than most. So I’ll say this once. If you have any feelings for my daughter, you’ll step away now before something goes down. Before you break something in her by leaving. We both know that Felix and his gang aren’t the brains, they’re the brawn, and they’ll gladly burn the whole damn town down before they give up who it is they work for.”

I nodded again. “If it was Declan, then last night had nothing to do with me,” I pointed out.

“Don’t give me that crap,” Randy said, almost spilling his coffee. “If you’d done your damn job faster, Declan wouldn’t be a problem.” He stood up. “Do your goddamned job. Before someone gets hurt.”

“Sir,” I stopped him from leaving. “Tell Rayne I’m sorry.”

He nodded and then walked out, leaving me to brood in my lukewarm coffee. After feeling sorry for myself for a few more minutes, I headed back upstairs and did what Randy suggested. I got to work.

Felix was hosting another one of his big parties that following weekend, which meant everyone would be in attendance. Including Declan.

One thing Felix never discouraged was fighting at one of his parties. If any of the members had a problem with the other, the party was a safe place to air your grievances.

Until then, I had a few people I needed to look into. First and foremost was Henry Taylor.

The deceased mayor’s husband was getting a middle-of-the-night visit from the Reapers for a reason. All the money we’d moved had disappeared into the Taylor’s massive mansion.

Since I was revved up, I geared up and snuck out of my place shortly after dark. I made my way in the shadows as I headed down the street to where I had a car stashed in a garage. Then I drove the side streets out of town and headed to the Taylor’s massive place. I needed a look around.

I’d scoped out a place to park the car in the brush and hiked almost two miles to the old plantation. I was surprised at the lack of security.

Lying in the tall grass a few yards from the home, I scanned every inch of the place through my night vision scope.

I didn’t spot any cameras anywhere on the home or surrounding trees, not even a doorbell with a camera on it.

There were also no guard dogs. Which meant I could get as close as I wanted to the place without being recorded or seen.

There were no cars out front and, as I’d driven out of town, I’d spotted Henry Taylor’s pink Cadillac parked behind the BBB. So I knew the man was… occupied.

I let myself in the back door, and it took me less than ten minutes to find the hidden safe in the main bedroom’s closet. There were two other safes in the house. None of them held the money, which meant either he hid it somewhere else or the money had been handed off.

I was betting on the first option since it was obvious the man had enough money now that his wife was out of the picture. I’d done a few hours of research on the Taylor family.

Sharon Taylor had married Henry Taylor when she’d become pregnant with their twin boys. The marriage appeared to be happy for the first decade or so. After that, there were profiles on online dating apps for the pair of them.