Read Dangerous Passage (Southern Crimes Book #1): A Novel Online

Authors: Lisa Harris

Tags: #Single mothers—Fiction, #FIC042060, #FIC042040, #Murder—Investigation—Fiction, #FIC027110, #Women detectives—Fiction

Dangerous Passage (Southern Crimes Book #1): A Novel (8 page)

BOOK: Dangerous Passage (Southern Crimes Book #1): A Novel
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13

A
very and Tess stepped out of the humid Georgia air into the Hunt family’s two-story house in suburban Atlanta. Avery shivered and pulled her slate-colored cardigan tighter around her shoulders. She’d learned to adjust to the temperatures in her mother’s house years ago by wearing a sweater in the summertime and shedding a layer or two in the winter.

Mama met them in the foyer, looking as if she were on her way to a sit-down dinner at the upscale Park 75 and not their weekly family meal. Just like the house, with its gold trim crown molding, damask wallpaper, and flashy chandeliers, Claire Hunt’s taste in clothes had always bordered on ostentatious.

But it was Mama’s scowl that registered in Avery’s mind more than the silky teal dress and strappy high heels she wore. How long had it been since she’d seen her mother really smile? Seen her really happy?

“We set the table for five but weren’t sure you would show up.” Mama’s patronizing tone matched her scowl as she kissed Tess on the forehead. At least someone was on her good side.

“I said I was sorry.” Avery swallowed her frustration.

She’d already called to apologize for missing Monday’s lunch, but tonight wouldn’t be the last time she was reminded of her blunder in etiquette. Instead of trying to argue the point, she
simply handed her mother the present she’d wrapped in silvery-blue paper and a shiny bow. The photo she’d found of Dad and Michael would be a perfect addition to the photo collection at her dad’s retirement party, as well as help pave the way toward a bit of forgiveness. At least she hoped so.

“I brought you a peace offering.”

“Don’t think this will make up for your skipping out on our lunch meeting with Doris. I had to endure an hour and a half of that woman’s constant babbling, sampling of high-calorie dishes, and comments about how her business is booming.”

Avery set her purse down next to the door. “Maybe you should just be happy for her, Mama.”

“Happy for her? She told me I should let her finalize the menu on her own. Apparently her tastes are superior to mine. I should have fired her right on the spot.”

A wave of panic struck. There was no way they’d find another caterer at this late a date. “You didn’t fire her, did you?”

“Emily talked me out of it.”

Avery let out a sigh of relief as her mother slid her thumb across the end of the present and undid the tape. Maybe a reminder of Michael had been a bad idea.

Avery pressed her fingers around the present. “Why don’t you open it later. I promise it will more than make up for my not being there.”

“All right, but before you leave tonight, I want you to look over the finalized menu as well. It shouldn’t take you too long.”

Avery forced a smile, wishing she could ignore the familiar feeling of being jerked in yet another direction. But as much as Mama drove her crazy, she was Avery’s mother and Avery loved her.

Her dad walked into the room. “Let her be, Claire.”

“Dad’s right, Mom.” Emily was right behind her father, wearing an adorable rose-colored pleated top and skinny jeans. “Hey, sis.”

Avery mouthed “thank you,” while Emily took the present from Mama and set it on the entrance table before leading her toward the dining room.

“I don’t need you ganging up against me too, Emily.”

“Nobody’s ganging up against you, Mama.”

Avery let out a short sigh. Saved by her sister, she was off the hook. For now.

Her father hugged Tess before she scrambled off toward the kitchen.

“She’s hungry. Apparently she forgot her lunch today and had to beg leftovers from her friends.”

“She’ll enjoy dinner then. Your mother made her favorite.” Her daddy gathered Avery in his arms and kissed the top of her head. “Don’t be such a stranger. I’ve missed you.”

“Things have been busy at work.”

Her father let out a low chuckle. “I can’t say the same for here.”

Avery caught the longing in her father’s eyes behind the laughter. She’d never thought the day would come when he’d actually stop working. He’d been on the force for four decades. How did one simply walk away from their life’s work?

They walked slowly toward the dining room arm in arm. “How’s that Jane Doe case going that you’re working on?”

“You know about that?”

“I still have my connections—I’m not completely out of the loop.”

“So it would seem. You always did have a knack for getting the information you wanted. Our Jane Doe now has a name, and we were able to get a warrant for a suspect and arrested him yesterday for her murder. We can’t tie him yet to our last Jane Doe case, but I’m hoping we end up closing both cases in the next few days.”

“So you think he killed both girls?”

“We’ll see, but the crime scenes are too similar for there not to be a connection.” Avery stopped in the doorway of the dining room where Mama, Emily, and Tess were putting the food on the table. “What about you, though? How are you doing with your retirement?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Yes.”

“Two weeks, five days, and three hours, give or take.”

“Don’t tell me it’s that bad.”

“Your mom has me working on the guest bathroom. Tomorrow we’re hanging wallpaper. It’s gold with a white swirly pattern. You’ll love it.”

Avery laughed. Her dad always made her laugh. “Sounds like fun.”

“On the good side, my golf swing has never been better.”

“We’ll have to play a few holes one of these days.”

“Since when do you play golf?”

“Since when do you hang wallpaper?”

“Touché.”

In the dining room, the table was set to perfection with Mama’s favorite dishes—the ones that included a reproduction of some famous eighteenth-century flowery design. No doubt the spaghetti, garlic bread, vegetables, and green salad would be just as perfect. Avery slid into her chair next to Tess, then placed the cloth napkin onto her lap. Dinner had always been a formal affair.

As soon as the prayer ended, the questions began.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something, Avery.” Her mother took a spoonful of buttery green beans, then passed the bowl to Tess. “When are you going to bring that boy over I hear you’ve been going out with?”

Avery silenced a groan. “You sound as if I’m in high school, Mama.”

“You know that’s not at all how I meant it. I’m just curious, because your father and I haven’t met him.”

Avery poured some vinaigrette onto her salad and took a bite. It was so easy for her mother to make her feel as if she were transported back to seventeen, when her father had to meet and approve of every boy who looked at her with even the slightest glint of interest in his eyes.

She rested her fork on the edge of the salad plate. “It’s only been two dates, Mama. It’s not as if we’re getting married. And it’s certainly not time to meet the family.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing’s wrong with him.” Avery looked at Emily, then at Tess, wondering which one was the traitor. Both looked completely absorbed in their piles of spaghetti.

“Then when’s your next date?”

“I’m not sure there’s going to be another date.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s . . . complicated. We both have busy jobs, family, responsibilities . . .”

“When your father and I got married, he was a rookie officer working nights and weekends most of the time. And there were times when his forty-hour week turned into fifty or sixty hours if it was a particularly tough case.”

“Mama—”

“The point is that we loved each other and made it work. Is it easy? Of course not. But when you love someone, it’s worth the extra work.”

“I agree, but like I said, it’s been two dates. Relationships take time to develop.”

“Is your hesitation because of losing Ethan?”

Avery shoved a forkful of spaghetti into her mouth to avoid answering the question. Apparently no subject was off limits in this family.

“I just want you to be happy again.”

Avery managed to swallow her bite. “Who says I’m not happy?”

“You’re my daughter, and I can see the loneliness in your eyes.”

Avery bit back a snarky response. “You know I’ll always miss Ethan, but I have Tess, you, Daddy, and Emily, a career I love, friends, and a church family. I don’t have to have a man in my life to make me happy. Isn’t that right, Emily?”

“Of course.” Emily coughed and pressed her napkin against her lips. “Sorry, I—”

“You don’t sound very convinced.” Mama turned to Emily. “Does that have anything to do with a certain new schoolteacher I’ve heard about?”

Emily’s eyes widened. “Tess!”

Tess’s cheeks turned red. “I just mentioned that there was a new math teacher who was extremely good looking. I never mentioned that you agreed to go out with him, or—”

“Tess!”

Tess dropped her gaze. “I’m sorry.”

Avery pressed her lips together and tried not to smile. While she hated seeing Emily on the hotspot, it did help her own case.

“What about you, Tess? Any cute boys in your classes this year?”

“Grandma!”

“Why don’t we change the subject for now, ladies?” Her father helped himself to the garlic bread.

Avery decided to follow her father’s lead and took another slice of bread. The one thing no one could fault Mama with was her cooking. Even Avery had to agree that it was worth the extra workout the calories required.

“I saw a segment about your Jane Doe murder on the news,” Emily threw out.

“Word travels quickly in the media.” Avery glanced at Tess. Discussing cases was something she didn’t like to do, especially at the dinner table and in front of her daughter.

Tess twirled her spaghetti with her fork. “It’s all right, Mom. It’s not like I’ve never seen a murder victim or I don’t know what you do at work. Besides, I’m twelve now.”

“You’ve seen a murder victim?”

“Just on TV. Not a real one. All I’m saying is that I’m growing up.”

“When did that happen? The growing up part, I mean.” Avery tugged off a piece of the garlic bread, dipped it into her spaghetti sauce, and grinned at her daughter. Twelve years old and all grown up. She really wasn’t ready for this.

“And who knows. I might even decide to follow after the family profession and become a police officer . . . or a captain.”

Avery grinned at her father. “She’d make a great captain, wouldn’t she, Dad?”

“Or a teacher,” Emily said.

Avery’s phone rang. She slipped it out of her pocket, knowing how much her mom hated any kind of technology at the dinner table. To be honest, so did she, but with an open case, she didn’t have a choice.

She muted the volume and checked the caller ID.

Jackson.

Her heart flipped. While she knew she’d have to speak to him again eventually, she wasn’t sure she was ready.

“Go ahead and take the call,” Emily said. “If we get done eating before you’re done, I’ll help clear the dishes and leave the washing to you.”

“Thanks, sis.” Avery left the table and slipped into her dad’s study in the front of the house to take the call. “Jackson . . . Hi.”

“Avery. I hope I’m not calling at a bad time.”

“No, it’s fine.” She stared at the cherry wood desk and
bookcases that gave her father’s office that cozy feel, and tried to ignore the tension between her head and her heart. “I’m having dinner with my parents. It’s a weekly—sometimes bi-weekly—tradition when I’m not working.”

“So it is a bad time.”

“In a family of police officers, this is the norm, not the exception.”

“Good, because I have some new information on your case.”

“After a day of dead ends, any news will help. What is it?”

“That’s part of the problem.” He hesitated. “What I have doesn’t back up the information you have so far.”

“Okay.” Avery rubbed her temple with her free hand. Wouldn’t you know, just when everything started to come together, evidence would arrive to blow it all apart. Maybe their latest break in the case was too good to be true after all. “We could meet somewhere. If you have time.”

“I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

Avery forced herself to focus. They were both adults and letting this hang between them wasn’t going to work. “No, it’s okay. I . . . I need to talk to you about something too.”

It wasn’t right for things to stay awkward between them. Whatever their personal relationship, they still had to work together. She pressed her lips together before suggesting a café near her parents’ house.

“I know the place,” Jackson said. “Will thirty minutes give you enough time? An hour?”

“I can head out there right now, actually.”

Her father appeared in the doorway as Avery flipped her phone shut a moment later. “You okay?”

“Yeah, it was Jackson.”

“So that’s why your face is rosier than normal.” He reached out and touched her wrist. “Just as I thought. Rapid pulse.”

“Daddy.”

“Why don’t you just admit that you’ve fallen head over heels for the guy?”

“Because I haven’t.”

“Really?”

Avery dropped the phone into her pocket and frowned. She’d never been able to fool her dad. She took a deep breath and tried to sort through her feelings. Just because her heart might want one thing didn’t really change anything. Dating him meant one more person to please. One more person who would demand her time. Even if she wanted to give it to him, she wasn’t sure she could.

BOOK: Dangerous Passage (Southern Crimes Book #1): A Novel
3.73Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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