Burning Justice (14 page)

Royce nodded. “When Grindley saw them stumbling down to the boat, it wasn’t because they were drunk. They were dragging Jenny along—she was practically passed out. They left her there either unconscious or unable to get off the boat. Then they doused the boat with gasoline. Our CSI’s did find gasoline at the crime scene, but it was a gas-powered boat, so nobody thought anything of it.”

“And then they just lit the match and ran?”

Royce shook his head. “Nope. They even had that planned out. David went back to the office where the security cameras could provide him with an alibi if needed. Evangeline went into the house, set a remote control plane on fire and flew it remotely to the boat, setting it down on the gasoline soaked deck where it quickly caught fire. There was actually only a small explosion when the fire hit the gas tank.” The listing of David’s purchases bubbled up into my memory. Along with all the gum, he’d bought a remote control plane.

“I’m just glad their attempt to kill Nathan failed. He’s lucky.”

“Lucky about that, in other ways not so much.”

I nodded. That was the truth. The poor guy—his brother had ruined the family business, had an affair with his wife and they’d both tried to set him up for murder and then kill him.

Royce looked at his watch. “I gotta get going, but I wanted to pass this along to you. It’s new evidence on your mother’s case.”

I looked suspiciously at the folded piece of paper he’d slid across the table to me. “I didn’t realize you were still investigating it.”

“I don’t think we are, but if something new comes in, we put it in the files. I just happened to see this.”

I picked up the paper and unfolded it. It was a copy of a photograph. The subject was the interior of what looked like a mill building. Abandoned, probably for decades as many of them were. But that wasn’t the interesting part. Amidst the piles of bricks and lumber, I saw a familiar object. My mother’s locket.

Why would her locket be in an abandoned warehouse? It had been her grandmother’s and she’d worn it as long as I’d known her and never took it off. Ever.

“Where is this building?” I asked.

Tony pulled an electronic money coin out of his pocked and shrugged. “I don’t know. The paperwork that came with it didn’t specify.”

I squinted at the picture, trying to make out something … anything … that would reveal the location. But I couldn’t see out the windows, and the interior had no distinguishing marks. The strange thing was, my mother hadn’t died anywhere near any mill buildings. So how did her locket get there?

“Does it help?” Royce flipped the coin onto the table and pushed himself up.

“Maybe. It’s her locket. Where did this come from?”

“That I cannot tell you. I only happened to be in the evidence room when it was admitted. I figured you might be interested.” He glanced around the restaurant as if to make sure no one could hear and then leaned across the table. “Don’t tell Hale. For some reason, he didn’t want you to have this and I don’t want to cause any problems.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

He nodded. “Okay. Well, I guess I’ll see you later, then.”

I smiled. “Hopefully not at a crime scene.”

He laughed, gave a half wave and strode out the door.

As I watched Tony leave, something fluttered in my chest. Interest? Or something else? Artemis was watching him, too, a pinched look on his face. Once Tony was in his car and pulling out of the parking lot, Artemis slid into the booth across from me.

“What did he give you?” he asked.

I pushed the photo over to him. “That’s my mom’s locket.”

“The crime scene?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m not sure where this is. There were no mills near where she died. She drowned in the river up by Fallows Bend.”
Or so I’d been told.

“So she lost it before she died.”

“She never took it off, though, so she didn’t just lose it. And what was she doing in an abandoned mill building?”

Artemis looked at me thoughtfully. The concern in his eyes seemed so human-like it was scary. “Are you going to restart investigating your mom’s death?”

I looked down at the photo, then folded it up and put it in my tote bag. “Maybe, but not today. Today, I’m going to go to the office and see if a new client shows up. Hopefully, this one won’t end up dead.”

T
he End
.

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Burning Justice
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This is book 1 of the Callie Justice series. I plan to write many more books in this series. I have several other series that I write, too - you can find out more about them on my website
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SA Today Bestselling author Leighann Dobbs
has had a passion for reading since she was old enough to hold a book, but she didn’t put pen to paper until much later in life. After a twenty-year career as a software engineer with a few side trips into selling antiques and making jewelry, she realized you can’t make a living reading books, so she tried her hand at writing them and discovered she had a passion for that, too! She lives in New Hampshire with her husband, Bruce, their trusty Chihuahua mix, Mojo, and beautiful rescue cat, Kitty.

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T
his is a work of fiction
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N
one of it is real
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B
urning Justice

Copyright © 2015

Leighann Dobbs

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