AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Oh hell. “She was the blonde with you at your brother’s wedding.”
He nodded. “It was immature of me. I thought I had my life all figured out and she was part of it.” A big breath blasted out of him. “I was wrong.”
“I’m assuming you weren’t still together when she was murdered?”
He shook his head, laughed softly. “You know, most kids at that age are totally focused on social life and sex and anything but the future. That wasn’t the case with us. The future was all we talked about. Except, she had a different plan from mine.” He gave a nod. “In the end, she moved on, and I was a little slower on the uptake.”
Now a missing piece about her detective friend fell into place. “Was Lucy part of the reason you decided on law enforcement rather than medicine like the rest of your family?”
“Yeah.” He gave a sad smile. “I could never get past the idea that her murder was unsolved. I wanted to be the detective who prevented cases like Lucy’s from going cold. When this piece of evidence appeared out of the blue, I felt like I had the chance I’d been waiting for to find her killer.”
“I take it your lieutenant doesn’t know about your relationship with Lucy.”
“No. He does not, and I would like to keep it that way.”
Finley held up her hands. “He won’t hear it from me.” She was the last person to judge anyone about personal involvement.
“Thanks.”
“Okay.” She took a breath. “We can’t be standing around here like this if we want to solve Lucy’s murder.”
His eyes told her just how grateful he was that she understood. “I’ll get an appointment with the lab for us to view the evidence.”
“Great. Be prepared to tell me all about Lucy—no exceptions.”
“I will be happy to tell you all I know.”
Now if only her new client would do the same.
10
Johnson Development Group
Hillsboro Circle, Nashville, 10:30 a.m.
Finley parked in the small lot that fronted Ray Johnson’s office. The building was an older one tucked in among dozens of other offices and various retail spaces where Hillsboro Circle met Hillsboro Drive. She spotted the black BMW he drove parked in the narrow alley next to the building. He was here. Good. She preferred surprise visits, so she hadn’t called.
More than a cold call on Johnson, she desperately wished she could talk to Lucy’s mother. But no one seemed to know what had become of her.
Finley finished off the coffee she’d grabbed at a drive-through and tucked the empty cup into the holder on the console. According to what she knew about Louise Cagle’s movements after her daughter’s murder, she had hired Bauer Investigations in early November thirteen years ago. Nearly a month of waiting for the police to come up with something and the sudden loss of her husband had been all she could tolerate. If Bauer had been any more successful, there was no record of it, and he hadn’t admitted as much.
Louise “Lou” Cagle/Scott had gone into seclusion or left this world less than a month after hiring the PI. Why then? Why not give therespected private investigator more time? Why not continue prodding the police? Finley needed to understand why Cagle had made that decision, and so far no one seemed to know the answer.
It was often said that disappearing completely was impossible with all the tracing ability available today. But like Maureen Downey had pointed out, if anyone knew how, it was Louise.
Finley reached for her bag, but her cell vibrating on the console caused her to grab it instead. Maybe it was finally a return call from Jessica, Maureen Downey’s daughter. She checked the screen. No such luck.
Matt.
She accepted the call, looking forward to hearing his voice and at the same time worrying that something had happened. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he said back, his calm, deep voice making her smile. “Your name is trending around here.”
Finley rolled her eyes. “Great.”
“Did you really tell Maureen Downey you were running?”
The humor in his tone told her he was teasing. Sadly, he wasn’t far off the mark. “I didn’t say it exactly, but I may have alluded to the possibility in a moment of weakness. What can I say? I wanted information from her, and I felt compelled to give her something.”
