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“Thanks, Nicole. Now we’re even more like sisters,” Kayla said.
“Yes, we are, and I can’t be more thrilled. I’m going to let you go because I’m helping Peter withthe investigation into Durham Manning, the murdered guy. Boy, the two of you have all the fun.”
Laughing, Nate shook his head. “I knew you didn’t have enough on your plate.”
They finished up the call, and before anyone else called—like their pack leaders—Nate and Kayla grabbed their beach towels and raced out to the lake to swim.
Chapter 18
After dropping their beach towels on the shore, Kayla and Nate ran into the lake, splashing and having a ball. They swam out a way until they could tread water. He loved spending time with her like this when they both could be carefree and enjoy life, though he suspected she was thinking about this business with the murdered man like he was. He was trying not to think about it though.
“Do you want to go fishing after this? We could try our luck at fishing with poles while it’s still light out, and if we’re unsuccessful, we could fish as wolves when it gets dark out,” she said.
He pulled her into his arms as they treaded water. “I think that sounds like a winning plan.”
“You know, Durham Manning was an armed robber. I was thinking about the jewelry store robbery in Green Valley again.” She licked the dripping water off Nate’s chin.
He smiled. He’d known she was thinking about the case. She’d make a great PI, though he knew she loved the work she did now. She was so creative. “I figured you might be thinking about that.” Nate tilted his head down and nibbled on her ear.
She giggled. “That tickles.” She nibbled his chin. “Yes, and remember the robberies Ryan mentioned that had occurred in other towns nearby?”
“Yes. So would Manning have put some of the stolen jewelry in a couple of the safe deposit boxes? And the guy who was after his keys wanted to get into those safe deposit boxes?” Nate asked.
She wrapped her legs around Nate’s hips, and that felt damn good. “Possibly. Or he might have sold them and put the cash in there. Then again, safe deposit boxes aren’t insured, so if anyone got into them—”
“Like—”
“Like the shaved-headed man who most likely stole the key from the FBI agents when he escaped. Now, if he had access to the safe deposit boxes, he could have stolen the cash and/or jewelry inside them, and no one could do a thing about it. No one would even know what had been inside them.”
“If either the jewelry or the cash hadn’t been in the safe deposit boxes, then he could have stashed… Wait, what if that’s the reason he was murdered? He kept all the jewelry or the money from the sale of them and didn’t share them with his partners in crime,” Nate said, his legs treading water while his hands cupped her buttocks. He was thinking he’d sure like to make love to her.
“Then the murderer would have wanted to keep him alive, not kill him. Unless he got the truth out of him about where the money or jewelry or bothwere stashed before he shot him. Manning must have gotten away, and then the shooter couldn’t find him in the dark and left him for dead. But why would the shaved-headed man come looking for Manning’s keys at the lodge then unless the keys gave him something he needed? A home could easily be broken into. A car, the same thing. He wouldn’t have to have the keys to either the house or car. It wouldn’t be as easy to break into a safe deposit box without the keys though.”
“Exactly. Since the FBI agents lost him, there’s been no sign of him either. But with a name and a picture of the deceased man being widely circulated, maybe the personnel at some bank will recognize he had banked with them. Or someone else will come forth saying they even know who might have wanted him dead. The man who came for his keys could be the murderer, and since the FBI lost not only him but also the keys, he might have managed to get into the safe deposit boxes and emptied them.” It gave him chills to think Kayla and her family had spoken to the man when he could have been armed and dangerous.
“But he’d have to have signed Manning’s signature on a sign-in sheet to get in.”
“That’s true,” Nate said. “Maybe he knew him well enough to copy his handwriting.”
“Yeah, that could be.” She shivered. “I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a little chilly.”
The temperature was starting to drop. “Are you ready for a hot shower and a nap?” he asked.
“Just what I had in mind. Let’s go in,” she said.
Then he released her, and they swam toward the shore. Once they got out, they dried off, then raced each other to the cabin, but a van pulled into the drive, and they realized right away that reporters from Green Valley had arrived because of the logo on their vehicle.
“Oh, great. The story of the murder must be on the news,” Kayla said, and they entered the cabin and shut and locked the door before anyone could question them about anything. “Okay, here’s another scenario. What if Manning buried the jewelry out here?”
“That could be bad news, and if that’s the case, a bunch of people could begin trespassing on pack land to try to find it.” He grabbed his phone and called Peter. “Hey, we’ve got reporters from Green Valley out here at the cabin.”
“We’ll get right on it. Sorry, the story got out, and we couldn’t stop it at that point.”
“I figured it wouldn’t be long before that happened. Thanks, Peter.”
“But I have an idea. Brett could come out and get an exclusive interview with you, since he’s one of our wolves, and that will stop the human reporters from bothering you. We’ll make sure we don’t reveal any crime details we shouldn’t during the interview.”
Since Brett Silver was one of the pack leader’scousins and a reporter for their local newspaper, Nate figured that would work. “Yeah, we can do that. I need to talk to Kayla about it, but I think she’ll be fine with it. We’ll make sure we say only what we need to.”
