“Your secret is safe with me. I’d hate to ruin your reputation as a pain in the ass alpha male stud.” Jason popped the last bite of donut into his mouth, the sugar rush just what he’d needed this morning to get going. “I told Brinley before she fell asleep that I was going to have my partner stay with her today so she won’t be shocked when she wakes up and I’m gone. Since we don’t know if she’s in danger don’t let her out of your sight. She may not like it but until we know more she’s going to have to deal with it.”
After refilling his cup Logan sat down at the island and rummaged through the bag for a chocolate frosted. “What is your gut telling you?”
Logan was an instinctual lawman, eschewing rules, regulations, and often evidence that pointed in a certain direction. He trusted the little voice inside of him more than anything.
“You sound like West. The thing is I’m not sure my gut can be trusted. It almost got me killed,” Jason admitted. He’d been following his instincts when he was captured by the drug cartel.
“You told me the story but I’m not sure I believe it. Your gut was telling you where the bad guys were. It was just shit luck you were captured. You saved some lives that day.”
“My gut is telling me there’s a lot more than we know about this case. We haven’t found the true motive.”
“Generally people kill for one of a few reasons.” Logan began ticking them off on his fingers. “Love. Money. Revenge. Anger. Maybe self-defense. Which one are you leaning toward?”
“None of them. That’s why this case pisses me off.” Jason slapped down his coffee cup in frustration. “Did the brother kill Gaines because of money? Did Enright kill for revenge? I don’t think it’s self-defense or anger as there were no signs of a struggle. That leaves love. And that’s why you’re watching Brinley today. Just in case Anita Hazlitt murdered Roger Gaines in a love gone wrong scenario.”
“Personally I like this Enright guy for it, but then I’m not following the case very closely. I only know what you’ve told me.”
“Right now he’s number one on my list as well.” Jason heaved a sigh and rinsed out his cup in the sink. “Jared is checking the man’s finances and West – in between all the other shit he has to do – has been looking into how happy that marriage is. Hopefully he’ll know something today.”
Logan pointed out of the front window. “Speak of the devil. He’s pulling into your driveway.”
Jason was in a hurry to get to Anita Hazlitt, who lived about an hour out of Tremont in Harper. Seth Reilly was the sheriff there so if there was any trouble, Jason knew that backup wouldn’t be far away.
“Take care of Brinley. And Huck.” Jason gave the dog a pat on the head. “I should be home before dinner.”
Logan popped a piece of donut into his mouth. “Jesus, will you just go find a killer? For someone that’s just supposed to be your neighbor you’ve got your tighty whities in a bunch. Huck and I will take very good care of your lady friend.”
Of course Logan would, but now that Jason was heading out the door he was finding that he didn’t want to leave Brinley behind.
He was going to miss her today. And that was ten different kinds of messed up. He shouldn’t be so attached to her this quickly.
But then last night’s kiss hadn’t been your regular garden variety first date kiss either. It had been so hot it about singed his eyebrows. Brinley Snow might look innocent, but she sure as hell didn’t kiss like one.
“See that you do,” Jason growled as he headed out the door to join his brother in the SUV. “And tell Brinley I’ll call her later.”
“Why bother? I can just pass her a note before study hall. Do you like Jason? Check yes or no.”
Jason slammed the door but could still hear Logan’s peals of laughter as he descended the porch steps. When he returned tonight he needed to remember to punch Logan right in that gut that he trusted so much.
Chapter Fourteen
‡
“This is it,” West said as he pulled into the apartment complex parking area. “I hope she’s home.”
“According to Jared she works at night as a waitress so the best chance we have of talking to her is during the day. What I hope is that she actually knows something about this case. Who might want Roger Gaines dead and why?”
“I wish I were that optimistic, brother, but this job has made me cynical as hell.”
Jason climbed out of the SUV and looked at the building in front of him. Made of red brick with white trim, it looked like every other apartment building around with floors of doors lined up one by one. Anita Hazlitt lived on the third floor.
“Does that look like what I think it is?” West pointed to a door on the third floor as they approached the stairs. “What was the apartment number again?”
“303,” Jason replied grimly, taking the stairs two at a time. It looked like they were too fucking late. Yellow crime scene tape crisscrossed the apartment door.
“Fuck,” West hissed under his breath as they stood in front of the taped off entrance. “This is not good. Not good at all.”
“We’ll go see Seth. Hopefully Anita Hazlitt is okay.”
“I got a bad feeling about this. It’s too much of a coincidence.”
“What are you doing here? What do you want?” a feminine voice from behind them asked.
Jason whirled around and must have scared the young woman because her face turned pale and she practically fell over her own feet stepping back. West caught her arm and kept her from sprawling on the concrete. Tall and slender with short dark hair, she appeared to be in her early twenties.
“Easy there.” West patted the woman on the shoulder and then reached for his badge. “We’re the good guys. I’m Westin Anderson, Head of Detectives in Tremont and this is my brother Jason. We’re sorry if we scared you.”
The girls seemed to relax slightly but she still clutched her purse to her chest like a shield. She peered at West’s badge and then nodded. “Why are the cops from Tremont here? Sheriff Reilly said he was releasing the apartment to me this morning.”
Clearly they needed to talk to Seth and find out what had happened here.
Jason hooked his thumb at the door. “You live here? With Anita Hazlitt? We need to talk to her. Are you a friend?”
“I’m her roommate. Lita George.”
Her gaze darted back and forth between Jason and West as if she expected them to do something evil or violent. Jason held out his hand and gave her his best non-threatening smile.
“It’s nice to meet you, Lita. Do you know when Anita will be home? We really need to talk to her.”
“Is this about one of her cases? I always knew that she was going to get in trouble one day and I was right.”
Cases?
“Actually this is about her boyfriend Roger Gaines.” Jason watched for any change in Lita’s expression when he mentioned their victim’s name.
Lita rolled her eyes. “Did Roger tell you Anita was his girlfriend? She’ll get a big kick out of that. They were friends but she thought he was pretty geeky. Everyone did.”
“When you say cases, Lita, what did you mean by that?” West asked, giving Jason a sidelong glance. “What kind of trouble is Anita in?”
“You really don’t know, do you?” Lita tilted her head in question and tears welled up in her eyes. “Someone shot Anita yesterday evening while she was walking home from a friend’s place. I knew this was going to happen. She took too many chances and now look what’s happened.”
Full-fledged tears were running down Lita’s face and although Jason had a million questions for this young woman, the first thing he needed to do was comfort the poor thing. She’d obviously been through a great deal if what she said was true.
“How about we go inside and sit down? West will make you some tea,” Jason offered. “Seth said he was releasing the apartment? They searched it for clues?”