Page 60 of A Future To Remember

“No. Not yet. But I feel like once I look at the case file, I’ll know what direction to head in. I am certain he was killed by someone he knew. Someone he trusted.”

Levi’s expression was unreadable, but then he asked, “You think the killer’s still alive?”

I nodded. “I do. Which is why you can’t tell anybody what me and the sheriff are up to.”

He puffed out an air between his lips. “Who would I tell?”

I knocked his shoulder playfully again. “Your many fans.”

He laughed. “Yeah. Right. Forgot about them. They’re a thirsty bunch.”

I chuckled. “It’s not always going to be like this, you know. You’re going to get to L.A. And you’re going to go to school there. You want to do something in film, right? It’s not acting…it has something to do with film, though. Like editing.”

I heard his breath catch. “You’re spookin’ the shit outta me, Maddy.”

I grinned, then got serious and focused on him for a long minute before I continued. “You’re going to have a good career ahead of you, Levi, but it’s not editing long films. It’s editing short clips. Ooh! Like trailers. You want to go into creating film trailers, right?”

It was his turn to grin, and he wiped a hand down his face before he said, “Okay, okay. I believe you. You’re psychic.”

I bounced my brows. “Told ya.”

“What else do you see?” he asked tentatively.

“Well, for starters, I see you moving to L.A. sooner rather than later. Before summer.”

He puffed another breath of disbelief between his lips. “Maddy, I have like, two hundred bucks to my name. I’ll need to work here at least a year before I have enough to relocate, and that’s if we can keep my living up here with you a secret till then. If Wanda kicks me out, I could be out of a job and have to live on the streets again.”

“First of all, you’re not going to go back to living on the streets again. Second, she won’t find out. Trust me on that. She’s not suspicious at all, and we’ll continue to be careful. And third, the reward money for solving Cash Senior’s murder is fifteen K! That’s more than enough to get you to L.A. and set up for a couple of months while you look for a job and a place to live.”

Levi’s jaw dropped. “Fifteen thousand?”

I nodded.

“What’s your take?”

“Zippo.”

“I can’t take your money, Maddy.”

I sighed. Why were men so stubborn? “Then help me solve the case.”

His brow furrowed. “What can I do that’d help you solve it?”

“Dunno. Yet. But I feel like having someone neutral along would help. Even if you’re simply a sounding board for the theories I come up with.”

“Okay. I could do that. I’m still not taking the money if we solve it, though.”

I turned and grabbed him firmly by the upper arms. “Levi, if you’re not willing to open the door when help comes a-knockin’, then all you’re going to experience in life is the knocking. You feel me?”

The corner of his upper lip quirked into a faint smile. “I’ll think about it.”

I rolled my eyes. He’d take the damn money even if I had to force-feed it to him.

Later that morning, around ten, well after the breakfast rush, Cash came into the diner with a thick binder.

“That your dad’s case file?” I asked, setting the pot of coffee down on the burner and wiping my hands on the towel tied to my apron.

“It is,” he said, taking a seat at the counter.