Fulfilling Promises (Red Starr, Book Five) (3 page)

D
evyn wanted nothing
more than to pull Diesel to her and take comfort in the warmth of his unconditional love, and she probably would have had it just been the two of them. She’d known him since he was a brand new one-year-old police dog that the county sheriff had gotten for an old war buddy. She’d always had a soft spot for the German Shepherd. He nudged his black nose underneath her arm until she rested her trembling hand on the back of his neck, running her fingers through his thick coat. She hadn’t stopped shaking since receiving the news about Joey. Her older brother, the only person who ever gave a damn about her, was gone. Dead.

“Go back to San Diego, John.” Devyn had to clear her throat a couple of times before she was able to say the entire sentence. Diesel’s compassion was almost too much when he lay down beside her and rested his chin on top of her leg. She propped an elbow on her other knee and pressed her forehead into the palm of her hand. She didn’t need Trigger coming in here and getting involved in something that had nothing to do with him. “I have a handle on this. I’ll call you when they catch the person who did this to—”

Devyn couldn’t get his name out and she squeezed her eyes tight to prevent the few tears that she’d managed to keep at bay. There would be time to cry after the police made an arrest, once they figured this whole thing out. She angrily reached into the cardboard box to her left and pulled out another folder. There had to be some kind of clue in here that would give her a lead on who could have wanted to hurt her brother—an unpaid debt or something he saw while he worked at the garage. Maybe it was someone who had gotten some work done recently.

“Isaac filled me in,” Trigger informed her softly, his rich tone like a soothing warm blanket taken right out of the dryer. Devyn didn’t have time or the inclination to be swayed by this man’s charm. He was everything a woman could ever want in a man, except for one thing—he would never commit to anyone or anything. Well, it wasn’t that he couldn’t so much that he didn’t want to. She glanced up at him, noticing he’d closed the door behind him. His thick, black shaggy hair was in need of a fresh cut, but then again it always looked as if he’d just got done having sex. Even during his high school years he’d had that magnetic pull. It was part of his charm. He always looked a girl right in the eye, along with a bashful glance down and then right back at her with a sparkle in those sensual brown eyes of his. His collective charisma was just as lethal as a copperhead. But she’d been there and done that, so to speak. She had more important things to focus on, but he just kept talking. “I’m so sorry, Devyn. We all loved Joey. I’m going to place a few calls and—”

“I already told you that I have it handled.” Devyn opened the top manila folder while occasionally stroking Diesel. His presence did have a soothing effect, but it wasn’t as if Trigger would leave him here with her. The two of them had been inseparable ever since Mac died. “You’ll have to find someone else to take over the garage, though. I know Micah Kilgore and Dalton Linney both lost their jobs at the lumber mill during the last big layoff. Maybe one of them can manage it for you.”

Devyn was glad she’d gotten over to the garage before Trigger hired another mechanic. Joey had a tendency to keep personal notes on the customers in the margins of their repair orders, something Trigger didn’t know. It had probably been out of boredom or maybe so Joey could remember the out-of-town customers better, but she was hoping that whatever he’d written would lead her to the person who had so violently taken his life.

When Mac had died of lung cancer, he’d left both his business and Diesel to Trigger. No one had been surprised, considering Mac hadn’t had any family and Trigger had worked there throughout his high school years. The two had become rather close and remained in touch when Trigger had gone into the service…the same Corps in which Mac had served. Leaving for a job in San Diego had meant Trigger needed to find someone to mind the garage in his absence. It didn’t hurt that Joey had needed the work.

“Well, maybe not Linney,” Devyn retracted, the headache she’d had since last night only managing to get worse with the added distraction of Trigger. It might be due to lack of sleep, but she’d worry about that later. Joey’s smiling face appeared in her thoughts every time she closed her eyes. She needed to
do
something. There had to be something here. “Dalton was busted for selling LSD to some college kids a couple of months ago.”

“No one believes you had anything to do with Joey’s murder, Devyn.”

Why couldn’t Trigger stick to talking about business? Devyn’s chest literally hurt with the penetrating pressure building up inside of her. She couldn’t deal with someone pitying her right now. Did those people out in the bar really think she was going to make an appearance and tell her sad story of woe? They weren’t here for support any more than they were here to find out what was going on. They wanted gossip, but it was she who was getting something out of today—their hard earned cash. They could buy all the drinks and greasy food they wanted, but all they were doing was padding her checking account should she need bail money.

“I don’t care what any one of those people believe,” Devyn said truthfully, slamming the manila folder closed and giving Diesel one last pat before she stood. She covered up the dizziness that hit her by turning away from Trigger and walking to her desk. “Like I said, I’ll give you a call if any developments come to light. The county sheriff and his so-called collection of deputies couldn’t be any more worthless if they tried, and the Staties aren’t looking for anyone else now that they think I had something to do with it.”

“Damn it, Devyn,” Trigger barked, apparently having had enough of the brush off she was trying to give. He didn’t seem to understand that there was nothing he could do. She finally met his gaze head-on as he crossed the hardwood floor and stopped in front of her desk. “Don’t make me into one of them. You know I loved Joey like a brother and we—you and I—are closer than you might want to believe. I still care for you, so let me help where I can.”

“Before you leave again and go back to sunny San Diego?” Devyn asked with a tired smile. She hadn’t meant for that question to come out that way. They had both been clear with their intentions that neither one wanted something serious. It wasn’t his fault that she’d grown more attached than she should have. Devyn sat down in her broken desk chair, the one Joey had always said he’d fix. She’d have to replace the wheel herself now. There had never been enough time to do everything that needed to get done. “There’s nothing for you to do. The police thought I might be involved because of the shotgun someone had stolen from behind the bar. Honestly, neither Isaac nor I even realized it hadn’t been hanging there underneath the counter on those damned hooks until the Staties showed up at the bar last night looking for me.”

“That wouldn’t have been enough for them to bring you into the station for questioning. They should have talked to you here instead of taking you to the post.” Trigger sat on the lone guest chair she kept in her office for when Isaac wanted to talk business. At least he knew to keep his distance right now. “What else do they think they have that implicates you?”

Devyn swallowed the sob that seemed to come out of nowhere. She stared at the ceiling, willing herself to get through this interrogation like she had the state police’s questioning. She hadn’t grown up under the best of circumstances, so she’d had to toughen up at a young age. Life hadn’t really gotten any easier, but she no longer had Joey to protect her from the monsters in her closet.

“We had an argument last week about nothing and I left a rather heated message on his cell phone after I received his voicemail saying he was going away for the weekend,” Devyn admitted, wishing those words of anger hadn’t been the last thing her brother had heard before he’d died. She loved him more than anything in this world. She blinked several times before continuing. “And my gold herringbone necklace was found in his hand.”

Devyn could see the wheels spinning in Trigger’s mind as he went through the evidence collected by the state police. She could easily explain the voice message, but her shotgun and necklace at the scene? It was enough circumstantial evidence to make an arrest if they wanted to, regardless that she would never harm her only family.

“Circumstantial at best,” Trigger replied in a rather convincing tone. Devyn couldn’t help but seek out any doubt he may have, but either he truly believed she was innocent or he was just a damned good poker player behind those determined eyes. “Like I said before, I’ll make a call in to my employer and see if she knows anyone out this way—either a contact at the prosecutor’s office or a damned good lawyer who can advise you if they want to question you again.”

Devyn cringed when Trigger looked down at the boxes and files scattered on the floor of her office. He was going to ask questions and he wasn’t going to be happy with the answers. She really didn’t want to have this conversation now, so she stood up and decided facing the residents of Amberton was a hell of a lot better than discussing what was in those prefabricated cardboard storage containers.

“I need coffee to wash this headache away.”

“What you need is sleep,” Trigger replied, leaning back in the chair as if he had all the time in the world. “But first, I want to know what you’re looking for in these piles of papers. Aren’t these working orders from my garage?”

“Who called you?” Devyn asked, ignoring his suggestion regarding sleep as she realized that he wouldn’t be here unless someone notified him of Joey’s death last night. “Isaac?”

“No.” Trigger crossed his ankle over his knee, bringing an arm down by his side as Diesel made his way over to the chair. “I tried reaching Joey multiple times last week. We were going to talk about the garage. He didn’t return my calls. I’d just finished up an assignment with Red Starr in Nigeria, so I was given two weeks leave and I thought I’d use them wisely.”

“You take your promises way too seriously.” Devyn meant every word she said. Trigger was loyal to a fault and she was surprised it hadn’t bit him in the ass. “Mac wouldn’t have expected you to drive or fly all this way just because Joey didn’t return a few phone calls. Your parents could have checked on him or you could have just called me.”

Joey had always hung out at the garage back in the day when varsity basketball was out of season. Trigger and Joey had always talked about joining the Marine Corps together, dreaming big based on the stories Mac would tell while teaching them how to rebuild a transmission. It had all come crashing down for Joey for the most simplistic reason…he’d been allergic to bees. Who would have thought something so stupid would be listed on the medical screening of things to reject an applicant? That had been the start of Joey’s downfall and only she’d been the one left behind to record that fact.

“My parents have been at Disney World with my sister and her family,” Trigger replied, watching her carefully and making her slightly uncomfortable. She had enough to deal with. She didn’t need him prying into her business. “And you haven’t really been returning my texts these last few months, have you now?”

“John, we had sex…a couple of times,” Devyn said bluntly, hoping this would end his inquisition. “We were both satisfied with the situation and then we went our separate ways. Your promise to Mac to watch out for Joey has been fulfilled through and through. You gave him a job with good pay and great benefits. Now he’s gone—”

Devyn had to stop speaking when her voice cracked. She’d made it this far today. She’d wait for more privacy before she broke down. There was still quite a bit to do before she was given that gift of solitude.

“I was going to call you today,” Devyn divulged gently, not wanting Trigger to think she’d be so callous as not to notify him that his childhood friend had died. “Isaac offered and I told him I wanted to do it myself, but it’s been kind of crazy, as you can imagine.”

“Why do you have—”

Devyn breathed a sigh of relief when someone knocked on the door and prevented Trigger from asking about the papers strewn all around him. There were a couple of reasons why she didn’t want to talk about it. The first was due to the fact that he wouldn’t be happy about Joey keeping personal notes on the customers. The second had to do with her looking into what really happened to Joey. She
would
find out who killed her brother and Trigger would only tell her to trust in the police…the same officials who suggested she might have something to do with the crime instead of doing their job and looking for real leads.

“I thought you could use some coffee,” Isaac said, holding a steaming cup in one hand and a plate in the other. “You also need to eat. Jenny’s bakery sent it over.”

“Thank you, Isaac.” Devyn leaned up on her tiptoes and placed a gentle kiss on the older man’s cheek. Isaac had been with her ever since she’d opened the bar ten years ago. She didn’t have a college education, not having the money or the grades for a scholarship. What she did have was street smarts and she used them to her advantage, scrounging for any and all the loans she could get from the local banks. It hadn’t hurt that Trigger’s father was the bank manager, not that she ever used that ace. “Is everyone still here?”

“Do you really have to ask me that question?” Isaac inquired with a raised eyebrow. His gaze then landed on Trigger. “Are you sticking around for a while?”

Devyn didn’t bother to look Trigger’s way, because she already knew the answer. He had a responsibility to his new employer, a woman by the name of Catori Starr. She’d shown up one day out of the blue and was the sole reason Trigger had left and never really looked back. Granted, he’d given Joey a job in his absence, but he couldn’t have packed up fast enough. He’d left a vapor trail headed out of town because he’d departed so quickly.

“I’ll be here for a couple of weeks,” Trigger answered, taking Devyn by surprise. He hadn’t been back home in a year and a half. His return now would undoubtedly only get in her way and he went ahead, proving her right. “Would either of you like to tell me why the files from my garage office are spread out all over the floor? I’m sure there’s a perfectly good reason.”