Then she knew. Her gaze locked onto the flue cover about four feet above the fireplace opening. The decorative metal cover had been there for as long as she could remember. She dragged a chair over and climbed up to get a closer look. The flowers on the pressed metal disk were faded. The center of one was missing. A hole had been drilled in its place.
Using her short nails, she tugged until the cover came free. In the circular opening was the small camera. State of the art, just like the one she’d found upstairs.
And Edward was right. No wires.
“Damn.”
“It’s not a total loss,” he offered gently. “You know there was a second camera. Perhaps you’ll find more tapes hidden somewhere in the house.”
But notthetape.
She admitted defeat. She was exhausted. “I think I’ll just clean up this mess and call it a night.”
“I’ll help.”
She started to argue, but when she looked around the room, she surrendered to another glaring fact: This was too much for her to do alone.
An hour later, less than half the time it would have taken her alone, the downstairs part of house was set back to rights. The upstairs was a whole other story and would take far more than a little tidying.
“Thank you so much.” She swiped her forehead. “I’m not sure I would have made it without your help.”
He dusted his hands together. “That’s what families do. They help each other.”
She hugged him tight. He was the one part of her life that hadn’t let her down. “Okay.” She drew back. “I’ve successfully ruined yourclothes.” She gestured to his soiled shirt and trousers. “It’s a good thing it’s dark. I’m certain no one has ever seen Professor Edward Abbott looking quite like this.”
He chuckled. “My gardener, perhaps.”
That was right. Edward was an avid gardener in addition to his many other talents. “Come. I’ll walk you to your car.”
“You’re not staying here, are you?”
“Probably not. I just need a shower and then—”
“You’ll come to my home.” He paused at the door, faced her. “CJ, it’s not safe for you to stay here. That awful Nash is still out there. He could show up here, and with you alone ...”
“All right.” She was no fool. He was right. “Will you stay while I take a quick shower? Then I’ll check in with Braddock and we’ll go.”
“Hurry along, then. I’ll see to the dishes in the meanwhile.” She started to argue but knew it wouldn’t do any good. She backed toward the stairs. “I can’t thank you enough.”
CJ bounded up the stairs, picked an outfit from Shelley’s closet, and hurried to the bathroom. She twisted the knobs to start the water running. It always took the water forever to get warm.
Catching a glimpse of her reflection, she made a sound of disbelief. And she’d thought Edward looked a fright. She was a total horror show.
She stripped off her clothes and stepped into the tub, her muscles instantly relaxing beneath the hot spray from the shower. The scent of Shelley’s preferred shampoo filled her senses as she washed the grime from her hair.
No! It stings my eyes!
Memories of attempting to wash Shelley’s hair when she was a kid bombarded CJ. Their mother had always bought the cheapest shampoo available. Never the good stuff that promised no more tears. Shelley rarely stayed still enough to prevent getting shampoo in her eyes. But CJ tried.
Tears filled her eyes and slid down her cheeks as if she’d gotten shampoo in her eyes. Her sister was gone. All CJ had left were the memories, and far too many of those were painful.
She washed her skin and rinsed her hair one last time. A quick shave and she felt tremendously better.
As soon as she’d dried her body, she wiggled into Shelley’s tight jeans. Tugged the tee over her head and pitched the dirty clothes and wet towels into the tub. She’d have to deal with that later.
She hesitated at the door. Sniffed. Smelled like ...
Smoke.
