Page 95 of Taken Away

“Already on it,” Burke said. He nodded toward Deputies Baker and Jenkins by the door. “Baker, Jenkins, you’re taking Ruger out to the Victorian. The state team finished reprocessing the structure this morning, but I want K-9 running the perimeter woods. See if Ruger can pick up a trail from that smooth-soled print outside the glass. There’s an old, overgrown logging road behind the property—if someone used it, it would give access to the back of the house without coming through the main security gates. Treat it as one possible route, not an answer.”

“We’ll get him out there now, Boss,” Baker said, standing. Jenkins followed him out.

Burke waited until the door shut, then looked back at the remaining deputies.

“The rest of you get to your blocks,” he said. “I’m handling the legal and financial side myself.”

Chairs scraped back as the deputies filed out, gathering their folders. When the room finally emptied, Burke checked his watch and rubbed a hand over his face.

He had one more meeting to run.

He stepped into the hall. “Send Eleanor Harper and Declan O’Rourke to the conference room,” he told the receptionist. “And call over to Blackwood. I want Bennett McCrae and Aubrey Langford here in twenty.”

Jackson County Sheriff’s Department

Conference Room – Later

Twenty minutes later, the conference room felt smaller.

Burke stood at the far end of the table, legal pad in front of him, while Aubrey and Bennett sat side by side opposite the door. Bennett was angled slightly in front of her, shoulders rigid, his attention pinned on the whiteboard where Burke had written, in black marker:

MABEL BLACKWOOD – HOMICIDE.

“You’re both at the center of this now,” Burke said, breaking the quiet. “You need to hear what Eleanor and Declan found out about Mabel’s changes before someone else decides you’re a problem they need to solve.”

The door opened.

Eleanor Harper walked in with a slim legal folder in one hand. Declan O’Rourke came in behind her and closed the door, then took up a position against the wall.

“Burke,” Eleanor said as she sat across from Aubrey. Her voice was strained. “Tell me the rumors from the courthouse aren’t true.”

“‘They’re true,’ Burke said. ‘Mabel was murdered. According to the Medical Examiner, this wasn’t a heart attack. Someone smothered her.’”

Eleanor went pale.

“Oh, God.”

“Eleanor,” Burke said, leaning forward. “We’re building a timeline. You saw her before she died. I need to know what she was doing.”

Eleanor’s fingers tightened on the file. She glanced at Aubrey, something heavy and complicated in her eyes.

“She was changing everything,” Eleanor said. She tilted her head toward Declan. “And she hired Declan to make sure she wasn’t wrong.”

Declan pushed off the wall and stepped closer to the table.

“Mabel brought me in a few months back,” he said, his Irish brogue rough but steady. “Wanted a full look at ye, darlin’. Not just a background check—a proper profile.”

His gaze locked on Aubrey.

Aubrey swallowed.

“You… followed me?”

“Aye,” he said without flinching. “I watched yer routine. Saw who ye spent time with. Knew ye weren’t tied down to anyone serious. Yer stepfather helped confirm a few things Mabel wanted verified—including yer compensation. She wanted the full picture before she changed everything.” His mouth twitched.

Aubrey’s chest tightened.

"My salary."