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“Why would you do that?”
“I’m not exactly what one would consider an investigative reporter anymore.” I rested my head against the back of the seat. “I mean, Jesus. That’s so obvious.”
“Hold on a minute. This is Barb, who sends you cryptic emails and notes. I doubt very much that Ink is right. The last thing she’d do is something obvious.”
I put my hand on my heart. “Thanks, Buck. You’re right. I feel slightly better.”
“Rock, my directive stands,” said Buck. “See if Deck can get someone started on the search of Barb’s apartment. We’ll head over as soon as we’ve picked up the death certificate.”
“Roger that.”
Four and a half hours later, we were headed to Barb’s apartment, death certificate in hand. So far, everything had taken twice as long to do as I’d anticipated it would.
When we walked through the door, there were two men I didn’t recognize, sifting through my aunt’s belongings.
“You okay?” Buck asked. “I can ask everyone to step out for a minute.”
“I’d appreciate that. Thank you.”
Buck walked everyone to the door. “Do you want me to wait with the guys?” he asked with his hand still on the doorknob.
“Just for a few minutes. You don’t mind, do you?”
He shook his head and smiled. “I’d do anything for you, Stella. Don’t you know that?”
“Thank you, Buck.” I blew him a kiss.
“I’ll be right on the other side of this door if you need me.”
I turned back around and heard the door close. I had to hand it to Jinx. He and his crew did a good job of putting this place back together. The last time I saw it, it had been ransacked. Now, it looked much like it had the day I walked out on Barb never to see her alive again.
Now that I was in here alone, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be. Too many memories flooded my brain. When my eyes filled with tears, I had to stop myself from running to the door and begging Buck to stay in here with me.
I walked over and opened the lid of the piano, running my fingers over the keys. This damn piano. Never once had I heard her play it. Nor did she ever suggest I take lessons. Why did she even have it? There were plenty of other places she could’ve hidden a key, a note, anything.
Where would she have? I turned in a circle, surveying the room I was in. The possibilities in here alone were endless. I walked back over to where I’d left the envelope cont
aining her will. I thumbed through it, looking for the name of the bank that held the trust.
I almost laughed out loud when I found it. Key Bank. Barb was nothing if not ironic. I pulled out my phone and checked the time. It was a few minutes past five-thirty. Too late to call the local branch to see what they could tell me. It would be better to show up in person in the morning anyway.
I walked over and opened the door. Buck was leaning against the wall right outside of it.
“Changed my mind.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I have a different idea of what we should be looking for. Several other ideas, in fact.”
The more I thought about Barb and what I knew about her, the more I knew we should be looking for the least obvious rather than the most. Like Buck said, she’d never settle for prosaic. Case in point—her note.
“Stella, this is Bronson Dunning. We call him Vex,” said Buck.
“Nice to meet you.”
“And this is Smith Lavery.”
“The pilot?”
