AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Not on her way...”a voice called out from across the room, “here.”
Remy turned with a smile and held out his hand.“Hey.”
“Hey, yourself.”Shelby crossed to take his hand in hers, then looked around at the people gathered.She dipped her head toward Felina.“Hi, Hank.Swede.What’s the occasion?”
“Our dead man left a present for Felina.”Remy nodded toward the computer screen in front of Landry.
“Before or after his untimely death?”Shelby’s gaze softened as she cast a glance toward Felina before focusing on the screen.
“Before,” Felina said.“Right before he shoved me off the back landing, he slid his hand in my pocket.I thought he was getting fresh.I was so shocked and then further stunned when he threw me off the landing.I had no idea he slid a nanodisc into my pocket until a little while ago.”
“A nanodisc?”Shelby cocked an eyebrow.“What was on it?”
Felina lifted her chin toward the computer monitor.“Watch.”
Moments later, Shelby emitted a low whistle.“I can’t believe someone caught Crabtree’s murder on video.”
“Not someone,” Remy said.“Our dead man, Willard Gaither.”
Shelby’s gaze met Remy’s.“They stripped him naked looking for it and killed him when they didn’t find it.”She turned to Felina.“They must’ve figured he gave it to you, and they came looking for it in your apartment last night.”
Felina nodded, a chill slipping down her spine.
Shelby reached out and touched Felina’s arm.“I’m glad they didn’t find you.”
Felina read between the lines of Shelby’s words.Her friend was glad whoever killed Gaither hadn’t found Felina and tuned her inside out, looking for the disk he’d slipped her.
“I guess you know I have to take that disk into evidence.”
Landry popped the disk out of the computer and the sleeve and handed it over to Shelby.
Her lips quirked.“That was quick.You’ve already made a copy, haven’t you?”
Remy laid a hand on Landry’s shoulder.“Don’t answer that.”He smiled at his woman.“You’ll let us know if the state police discover the identity of the two women?”
“It’ll be on a need-to-know basis,” Shelby said.
“We need to know,” Lucas insisted.“If they’re still looking for this disk, they might come after Felina again.”
Shelby gave him a tight smile.“I’ll do my best to stay on top of it and pass on anything they find.I’m glad you have Felina’s back.Take care of my friend,” she said.“Friends are hard to come by, especially the good ones.”She turned back to Remy.“So, what’s your plan?I know it doesn’t involve waiting for the state crime lab to get right on a six-month-old murder.”
“Our plan is only available to those with a need-to-know,” Lucas said with a grin.
Shelby chuckled.“Well, damn.You’re beating me at my own game.But seriously…”
Remy cupped her cheek for a long moment, then dropped his hand and turned toward Swede, all teasing aside.“Swede, we could use your extraordinary data mining skills.”
Swede dipped his head.“What are we looking for?”
“What Thomas spent his money on, and where,” Remy said.
“Or who?”Shelby added.
“If it’s possible,” Lucas looked at the last frame frozen on the monitor.It was a sea of faces at Mardi Gras.“Could you tap into Gaither’s client files?We’d like to know who hired him to follow Mr.Crabtree.”
Swede nodded.“I’ll give it my best shot.”
“I bet Crabtree’s wife hired Gaither to follow her husband,” Shelby said.“Especially if she suspected he was having an affair.”
