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“We’ll drop this off at the lab,” Lucien said as he took the trash from Beckett and put it into the back of his truck. “Brent told us to ask for Beth Whitman. She’s heading up the department that’s handling the Gidget reopening. She’ll be doing all the testing from the exhumation.”
“I just hope they get DNA from the killer,” Kelly asserted. “If that happens, all this will be worth it. Okay, where are you taking us for lunch? I’m starving.”
Brogan threw an arm around Kelly’s shoulders. “There’s a great seafood house down the street. I googled it. An average of four and a half stars with the best crab cakes around for miles.”
“Throw in a margarita to wash down the crab cakes and you’ve got a deal.”
“Good idea. We’ll have two to celebrate Jade’s getting released this afternoon.”
Beckett traded looks with Lucien. “Should we ignore the fact they’ll use any excuse to drink?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know about you, but I’m having a beer, maybe two, because we made Dennis Marshall squirm right there in the middle of his swanky office.”
“Good enough reason for me,” Beckett decided. “Which way to the bar?”
16
“You guys are magicians,” Brogan crowed in wonder as she inspected the paint job on the house. “I can’t even tell where the red paint was.”
“More like a jack of all trades,” Zach Dennison returned, his smile widening toward his brother-in-law Troy Dayton. “Another satisfied customer.”
“Those are the best kind,” Troy relayed.
“You guys do amazing work.”
“Glad we were available. We helped Lucien build this place, you know,” Troy added. “It’d be a shame to let a vandal mess it up like that.”
“We tried to handle the mess ourselves. What did you use to scrub off the paint?”
“Trade secrets,” Zach said with a wink. “Actually, we use a combination of paint thinner and lacquer, guaranteed to dissolve paint after it hardens. It’s the same stuff they use to clean and keep commercial equipment running.”
“Does Ferguson’s Hardware keep it in stock? I ask because our vandal might come back.”
“Nope. We special order the stuff,” Troy explained. “But if this guy comes back, just give us a call. We’re happy to take care of it.”
Zach looked out toward the orchard. “Are any of those apples ready for picking?”
“Sure. Take all you want.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely. We haven’t had time to harvest this year. We also have a few pumpkins ready if you want those.”
“My kids would like a couple for Halloween,” Troy relayed. “Bree and I promised to decorate with pumpkins this year.”
“Works for me,” Brogan stated. “Take whatever you can use. Is a credit card okay for the cleanup job?”
Zach waved her off. “Don’t even worry about it. I wouldn’t have asked about the apples, except that Drea mentioned she wanted to try making a pie.”
Brogan grinned. She had a hard time envisioning the florist baking, but then she wasn’t about to argue with a husband, who must know Drea’s cooking abilities better than anyone else. “Like I said, pick whatever you need. Same with the lemons. As of last week, we had peaches beginning to ripen near the far northwest corner.”
She handed both men a bucket. “You’ll need this. Fill it up with whatever you pick.”
“Thanks,” Zach said, eyeing his brother-in-law. “This should be fun.”
Troy rolled his eyes but gave her a little salute in return. “Thanks. I’ll go supervise. See you later.”
Lucien, who had been on the phone, walked up just as the guys left. “Where are they going?”
