Nora Roberts Land (21 page)

“Is that a dog?”

“Yes, it’s a stray that’s been coming around.”

“If you feed it, it’s yours.”

“Yes, I know.”

“No collar?”

He knelt by the window, putting his hand against the glass where the dog danced. It licked the place he’d touched. “Nope.”

“You always wanted a dog growing up.”

She didn’t say they hadn’t gotten one because there hadn’t been enough money to feed it. Jesus, he didn’t need to remember crap like that.

“Let me tell you about something else that’s come up.”

He ran her through what Ray had told him about Jemma and the drugs.

“Well, life over there just keeps getting rosier for you. Sounds like you may have someone obstructing justice, but you’ll need more evidence.”

The dog continued to dance. “I know. Meredith is getting the autopsy report. It’s a start. My source has a sample. I want to get a second test done.”

“I can pull some strings. I’ll get the drugs from you when I come out for Thanksgiving, and I’ll have them tested in our lab. We can confirm whether they’re laced.”

Tanner sat back on his heels. “Huh?”

“You know, that pesky holiday between Halloween and Christmas when families come together. Keith wants to see you and the mountains. We talked about this, Tanner.”

A family holiday? Man, he hadn’t had one in…

“Three years ago at Christmas,” she supplied.

“You a mind reader now?”

“I know you don’t like holidays because of Dad, but you need to start making new memories. Frankly, I do too. Mom is going to New York to be with David and his family.”

“I’d love for you to come.”

“Try and sound more convincing when I call next time. I need to get going. Criminals to catch, and all that.”

He chuckled finally, feeling the tension around his throat ease. It would be fine. They could show Keith how to ski. Have a snowball fight. It would be…nice.

“I love you, Tanner. Gotta go.”

“Love you too.” He clicked off, lifting his shoulder to shake off the awkwardness.

The dog started barking again, his black eyes gleaming. He nudged the glass with his wet nose, caramel hair fanning out on either side of his face.

Tanner found himself smiling. After a few minutes of fighting with himself, he turned and headed to the kitchen. He would see what he had to feed the dog.

Then they were going to the vet.

In the quiet, he decided it was finally time to accept that he wasn’t going overseas again permanently.

Somehow there was peace in the decision—even as he feared his reasons for staying.

Chapter 24

M
eredith knocked on Tanner’s front door. She was fidgeting, but couldn’t help it. This was his home? In Frank Lloyd Wright style? Somehow she didn’t equate wealth with Tanner. He wasn’t flashy.

The house wasn’t flashy exactly, but its quiet strength and the spare rocks and timbers it was constructed of bespoke power and decadence. Maybe he’d grown tired of living in hovels overseas. Maybe he loved nature.

Maybe she was thinking way the hell too much.

She pounded her frustration out on his mammoth door when he didn’t answer.

Things were getting too personal. She was pissed at having to lie to Jill about “dating” Tanner, but she also didn’t want to share their suspicions about Jemma. She wasn’t going to do that until they had something solid. Grandpa had agreed, but it didn’t make her feel any better.

What a fine web of lies she’d managed to weave. She was pond scum.

The door opened. Tanner looked hot and rustic with stubble coating his face. Damn him. She nearly goggled at the cascading wall fountain cut from stone that faced the open door. Recessed lighting from behind the water illuminated the whole thing.

“I brought the autopsy report since you didn’t come swimming this morning,” she snapped to cover her discomfort. “Where were you?”

She didn’t want to admit she’d missed him…and worried about him. He never missed a swim.

When he tried to help her with her coat, she batted him away. “I can do it.”

He held up his hands, looking so masculine in a navy sweater and jeans. “What crawled up your ass?”

At his direct approach, she threw her coat aside. “I don’t like lying to Jillie about this. That’s what.” Who cared if it were a half-truth? She wasn’t about to say she was mad at him for asking her to give him everything.

His hearty sigh filled the silence. “Yes, lying fucking sucks. Hopefully we won’t have to do it for much longer, and this will all be over.”

The emotion in his voice stopped her from yanking off her gloves. “What are you so upset about?”

The intensity of his gaze rocked her back on her heels. “I don’t like lying to a Hale either.” He hung her coat. “I missed our swim because something came up with my family. I should have called.”

She pressed her hands to the navy bustier she was wearing under her green sweater, seeking balance. She didn’t know what to say. Their conversation made it seem like she had a right to know where he was. Like they were exclusive.

“Is everything all right?”

“No, but it will be. Thanks for bringing the autopsy report. I assume you read it.”

She let him change the topic, but it only made her more curious. What was his family like? What had made him the man he was? Scary thoughts.

“Of course, I read it. The suspense was killing me. There’s nothing there. It’s a paragraph.” She dug into her purse and thrust the paper out. “Read it yourself. Then I have some things to share.”

He grabbed the report. “Let’s have some coffee.”

She followed him into the kitchen, trying to ignore what a showstopper it was. Gleaming stainless steel appliances, acres of granite countertops, and copper pots hanging from iron beams over a double stove.

“Grandpa and I are still trying to figure out how to ask for the police report without raising suspicion.”

He started the coffee in a shiny, expensive appliance that had to be European.

“You talked to him? Good. Let’s wait a bit on the police report until we think this through.” He grabbed the autopsy report and started skimming it.

Hopping onto the bar stool in front of the massive gray granite counter, she swung her leg back and forth. “Then I can tell—”

“It mentions alcohol in her system, but nothing else? What the hell?” Tanner tossed the report aside.

“I’ve thought about this. I think Gene left out any illegal substances to protect her family. They’re elders in his church. We can ask him quietly.”

“I’m sorry. What are you talking about?”

“Gene Kerris, the coroner. He goes to the same church as Jemma’s family.”

“Christ! Obstruction of justice for moral purposes?”

“Who said it was obstruction of justice? He would never do that!”

“There’s no mention of marijuana or anything laced. How do you know him again? Gene, right?”

Meredith inhaled the dark roast scent of the coffee before taking a drink from the cup he offered her. “He’s my dad’s best friend. Lives down the street. They’re fishing buddies.”

“Well, you said he was a family friend.”

“Yes. He and his wife have been part of our lives forever. They’re probably my favorite of my parent’s friends.” She smiled, rubbing her thumb against the rim of her coffee cup “Gene’s a nut, always cracking jokes. He has the scariest house around Halloween, and he used to freak out all of the kids by saying that he had a real corpse in the basement. Anyone who had the nerve to show up at his door got a whole bag of candy.”

He leaned back. “Did you?”

She took a deep breath as his long, lithe form stretched out toward her. “Yes. My dad promised Jill and me Gene was only kidding, but he held our hands as we walked up the steps.” It was a good memory. Her dad had helped her face her fears. Where had that brave little girl gone?

“Now, I’m officially in
The Twilight Zone.
We have a Halloween-loving coroner with a sense of humor who left out details about marijuana and maybe more in an official report to protect some people in his church? What century is this?”

She pulled her hair. “You don’t get it! This is a small town. Gene’s protecting Jemma’s family from a church scandal. She was a good kid. People can be narrow-minded sometimes.”

His mouth flattened into a grim line. “You’re kidding?”

She gave him a cold stare.

“Okay, so you trust him. I get it. Family friend. But you’ve been gone for a while. Are you sure nothing’s happened to him financially? Maybe he wanted to make some cash on the side? Or maybe someone asked him to leave something out of his report.”

“There’s no way he’s involved. I know you want to find a link, but it’s not Gene. This isn’t the first time that minor family wrongdoings have been left out of the public record. Gene’s old school. My grandpa agrees. Now, let me tell you—”

“Have you seen Gene since you’ve been home?”

His continued interruptions had her tapping her feet. “Sure. Ran into him at Jill’s. He said he envied my parents for their trip to Arizona. Gene was supposed to retire this year and begin what he calls Fishing Paradise. But the stock market didn’t cooperate, so he’s got to cut people open for another year. Said it’s good practice for all the fish he’s planning to gut.”

“So he
does
have financial—”

“Jeez, are you always this suspicious? Tons of people had to delay their retirement because of the stock market.”

“I always keep an open mind, like any good reporter.”

She pulled on her hair. “Shut it. I have more to tell you.”

“Why are you so pissed?”

“Because you keep interrupting me, and I have something to tell you.” She took a breath. “Keep in mind that I decided not to tell you this when we were at my grandpa’s house because I knew I needed to talk with him first. He’s agreed we can share the info with you. He trusts you.” She couldn’t add that she did too.

The look he gave her could have petrified wood.

“Okay then, so before I came home, Grandpa’s famous gut was twitching about an increase in the number of college kids ending up in the ER. The tox screens only showed alcohol and marijuana. He had me do some research on any new developments in the Dare drug trade. Nothing popped. The market is too small for bigger networks to be involved. I told Grandpa it was only binge drinking, which is an increasing problem on college campuses. Like your source’s supplier said.”

His gaze met hers dead on. Damn his chocolate eyes anyway. She wrung her hands in the silence.

“I understand you wanting to talk with Arthur first. I would have done the same thing. But I’m damn glad
someone
trusts me enough to share information like this.”

She crossed her arms. “Then you’ll be even more pleased to learn Grandpa wants to discuss everything with all of us together.”

His exhale could have sent paper airplanes across the room. “I take it you guys have a file.”

“Yes.”

“I want to see it. Set up a dinner with your grandpa. I want everyone to put their cards on the table.”

“You don’t have to sound so bitchy.”

“I forgot to take my nice pill today.”

She smiled—all teeth. “Fine, then you should know that I already told Grandpa about our cover.”

He growled. “Great. Now, what do you know about Barlow? Ray said he was the officer who showed up first at the scene.”

The name made her stomach clench. “Well, he’s the deputy sheriff of Eagle County, but not a local boy. Only moved to the area sometime this year, I think.”

“Not a crime, but worth looking into. Did you go out with him?”

“You really are in a shitty mood.”

“Meredith.”

Her mind flashed back to Barlow’s grip on her arms, the uninvited kiss to her neck. She shivered. “He’s…pushy. Not afraid to use force.” Telling him Barlow couldn’t have been more different than Nora’s hero, Alex Stanislaski, didn’t seem like an important detail. Tanner wouldn’t know what she was talking about anyway.

“Did he hurt you?”

Goosebumps broke out across her arms at the utter flatness of his voice. “No. Let’s leave it at that.” The sound of a dog barking filtered into the room, and she turned and looked at the back door.

Tanner walked over and opened it. A golden dog with prominent ribs jumped on Tanner, who rubbed his ears.

“Hey, boy. You done playing?”

The dog barked in three short bursts and then raced to a nearby water bowl, slurping heartily.

“I didn’t know you had a dog.”

“He wore me down. Kept hanging around the house.”

She couldn’t imagine anything wearing Tanner down. She certainly couldn’t.

“What’s his name?”

“Hugo.” He laughed when the dog raced over. “I wasn’t talking to you. Silly dog.”

His hand rubbed Hugo’s coat in long strokes, making Meredith look away. Part of her wondered how those hands would feel on her skin again.

Pretty sad when you envy a dog.

Since Meredith couldn’t agree more, she didn’t respond. Divorcée Woman was more right than wrong these days. It was annoying as hell.

“Why Hugo? And what kind of dog is he?”

“The vet thinks he’s a golden sheltie, which means he’s playful and likes to herd. Don’t you, boy? And he’s named after Victor Hugo, my favorite novelist.”

Her heart thudded hard against her chest. Wasn’t Hugo’s
Les Misérables
her favorite novel? She wasn’t voicing that one. No siree. Seeing this sweet side of him was more than she could take. She didn’t even want to consider the fact they had yet another thing in common.

“I’ll call Grandpa. He should be home tonight. I don’t think there’s Bingo at church.”

“Arthur Hale plays Bingo?”

She drained her coffee. “He says he hears more information there than anywhere else. And it’s the only gambling in town. We had a hotel and casino once, but it closed during the Depression. I wish I had seen it at its peak. Dare was
the
destination for the jet set and mobsters back then. Now The Grand Mountain Hotel is just a condemned building up in the canyon.”

Tanner reached for his North Face coat. “It almost ruins his image. The towering independent journalist and newspaperman who taps into the heart of the West like no other plays…Bingo.”