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“About?”
“A couple of things. I want to find the death certificate for Adam, and I want to know, who did the autopsy on Adam?”
“Good idea on the death certificate. I’d thought about that too. As for the autopsy? I don’t know. One of the MEs at the hospital, for sure, though.”
“Why don’t you see if you can find out who did it? I’m curious.”
“Of course. I should have thought of that. We’ll just pull up his autopsy report and end all of this nonsense.” Her fingers tightened around the phone hard enough to turn her knuckles white, but she tapped the screen and dialed. She left a message for the person to call her back, then clasped her hands between her knees and fell silent.
His phone rang and he glanced at the screen. “That’s Nichelle.” He tapped the button to answer, Lainie listening on speaker. “Hello, Nichelle. This is Detective James Cross.”
“Hello, Detective. I’m still at work but was able to grab a break. What can I help you with?”
“You stated you warned Lainie away from Adam because you were worried about her. Can you go into a little more detail on that?”
A sigh filtered through the line. “I dated Adam before he dumped me to date another woman. Then he dumped that woman to date Lainie. He never did anything horrible to me, and as far as I know, he never did to any woman, but he was different. Charming, yes. Intense, attentive, funny. But there was a darker side to him that I just couldn’t figure out.”
“Dark how?”
“I don’t know if I can even explain it. He’d have mood swings where he would be fine one moment, then yelling about something the next. He was in too big of a hurry to get engaged and plan the future. I was more into having fun than thinking about marriage. He didn’t care for that and finally broke it off. Honestly, if he hadn’t, then I was going to.”
Lainie had paled, but she was listening, her head cocked toward the phone in the holder.
“Do you mind telling me where you were if I give you a few dates?”
“Sure.”
He gave her the first one and she said, “At a fundraiser at church.”
“I suppose you have witnesses?”
“Of course.”
He gave her the second date. “At the hospital with my sister while she gave birth to my niece.”
James shook his head. This was a wild-goose chase. He’d check out the information, of course, but his gut was saying she didn’t have anything to do with the threats on Lainie’s life. “Thanks so much. If we need anything else, we’ll be in touch.” He tapped the button to end the call.
“I don’t think she’s involved,” Lainie said.
“You read my mind.”
He wheeled onto the road that would take them to the house. To his family. His father. And it took everything in him not to turn around and go back the way he came.
Eleven
Lainie wasn’t sure what was happening with James and her, but something was going on. A connection that she’d never thought would be possible. And yet, here they were.
Before the incident at the hospital, she would have called James an acquaintance—the brother of one of her best friends. Today, she would call him ... what? A friend? Yes. At this point, after all they’d shared, he was a friend.
And hopefully something more? She’d always wished James would see her as something more than a “sister.” Did she dare hope again? What if she was reading his signals or vibes or ... whatever ... wrong?
He pulled to a stop at the gate. The officer on duty had been on the day shift for as long as she could remember. He stepped out of the booth, took a look at James, and did a double take. “Yo, James Cross? That you?”
“Hey, Stan, good to see you’re still here.”
“Where else would I be? Too many perks come with this job.” The residents asked him to house and pet sit when they were going to be on vacation. He never said no. His gaze landed on Lainie. “And I haven’t seen you in a while. How are you doing?”
“I’m hanging in there, thanks, Stan.”
