Pumpkin Roll (26 page)

“Sorry,” he said with an apologetic smile. “Sneaking up on you probably isn’t a good idea right about now.”

“I’m a little keyed up, but it’s good to know that taking the advanced self-defense course at the Y is paying off.”

Pete nodded. “I just . . . Well, I was thinking about what you and Jane were discussing—about looking into Gabrielle or Mrs. Wapple tomorrow.”

Sadie rubbed the excess cream into her hands; she didn’t want to draw attention to her neck with Pete watching her in the mirror. She also hadn’t made up her mind about if she would take Jane up on her offer. Part of her wanted to drop it completely, but the other part impelled her forward, encouraging her to learn everything she could. Her hair was still wet and she felt a drip of water slide down the back of her pajamas—the pink-and-white polka-dotted ones she only wore when she wanted to look nice in her jammies.

“Do you trust me?” Pete asked suddenly.

She leaned against the counter as she continued rubbing the lotion into her hands. “What kind of question is that?” she asked, trying to keep her tone light despite the fact that the name Michaels surfaced in her mind. “Of course I trust you.” And she did, very much. Did he trust her?

Pete crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the floor. He was tense and unsure of himself, something that rarely happened. “Do you remember what I told you about not getting as involved as you could in this case?”

“After I decided to go to the hotel to talk to Gabrielle?” Sadie asked. He nodded. “Yes, I remember.”

“Well, I’m not sure where the police are with this, and as much as I support law enforcement as a whole, I don’t know these people and Boston’s finest has a rough history that has me worried about how
your
history is going to play into this. It’s hard to make sense of why you keep finding yourself in these situations, and I’ve no doubt the police are having a hard time with that too. Cops hate coincidences and patterns.” He took a breath while Sadie tried to keep her expression neutral, even though she was aching to defend herself. Was he questioning her too? Is that what he was getting at? Was it only
her
history that he was worried about?

“Anyway,” he continued, “I just wanted to tell you that while I can support you doing what you feel you need to do, and I acknowledge that in the past your determination to get to the heart of matter has made all the difference, I can’t help you with this one, and I shouldn’t really know the details anymore.”

Sadie felt herself exhale the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, but her surprise was sincere. “You think I
should
look into Gabrielle?”

“I’m saying I can’t be a part of it—at all.”

“But I should try to figure her out?”

Pete didn’t say anything, allowing Sadie to think over what he’d said exactly. If she continued, it was on her own. Or, rather, she and Jane on their own. The fact that he’d said what he’d said and hadn’t told her to stay out of it—like he usually did—almost felt as though he were giving her his blessing . . . sort of. She had to keep dissecting his words in order to find the specific intent of what Pete was saying.

She grabbed hold of the only thing that stood out. “I can’t talk things over with you anymore?”

He held her eyes for a few moments, obviously wrestling with what to say, what to tell her. It was tempting to just come out and ask him about what she’d overheard on the phone but she didn’t want to take away his chance to confide in her because she
did
trust him and she wanted him to do this his way.

“I love you, Sadie.”

That brought Sadie up short. It had been said before, in greeting or parting, or signed on a note he left on her windshield at the grocery store when he’d recognized her car in the lot. The words had become as comfortable on their lips as the kisses that sparked more than just chemistry these days. But he’d never said it with this kind of weight before, as though his loving her explained something more than his feelings and tapped into more than their future. He reached for both of her hands, and she stepped closer, their entwined hands between them.

“I love you too,” Sadie said, her chest constricting with rising emotion as a horrible thought entered her mind. Did he fear that whatever he wasn’t telling her would crumble what they had together? He looked so heavy, so concerned and . . . scared.

“Are you okay?” Sadie asked.

Pete squeezed her hands. “Sure,” he said, but he was looking at their hands, not her eyes. “And I know things will work out in the long run. I just need you to know that it’s okay for you to follow your gut instincts on this. I trust them, and I don’t want you to ignore them because of my inability to be involved.”

“I wish you
could
be involved,” Sadie said. “I think we make an amazing team.”

Pete smiled. “Just be careful, and don’t forget how much I love you and how proud I am of the woman you are.”

Talk about cryptic! But Sadie didn’t dare question him about it; the fear in his eyes was burrowing into her.

They stood there for a few more seconds, and finally Pete let go of her hands and kissed her quickly on the lips. “Good night,” he said when he let go.

“Good night,” Sadie answered as Pete turned and went back into his room. She went into her room a few minutes later and shut the door behind her while pondering the exchange. She stopped when she caught sight of her laptop plugged into the charge cord and resting on the dresser. Everything she needed to know could be only a Google search away, but was it a betrayal of Pete for her to investigate
him
?

Did she want to know who Michaels was?

Would it change everything?

His words came back to her: “Do you trust me?” She absolutely did trust him but wondered if he really trusted her. If he did, wouldn’t he have told her? Then again, he didn’t know she’d overheard his phone call. And yet there was something
preparatory
in what he’d told her—
be careful, remember that I love you.
Pete himself had told her to trust her gut instincts.
And
he’d pointed out that her investigations in the past had been important—they’d made a difference. Would he find it at all surprising that Sadie would dig into his past if she had reason to do so?

She thought of how troubled Pete was, how vulnerable he had looked, and her heart ached for him. He had so much pressure on him right now, but she also trusted that whatever he couldn’t bring himself to tell her was something that would not destroy what they had between them.

She retrieved her computer and made herself comfortable on the bed. As she flipped open the screen and waited for it to wake from its electronic sleep, she looked at the bedroom door and simply hoped that her gut instinct wasn’t leading her astray on this one and that whatever this secret might be, she and Pete really were strong enough to handle it.

Chapter 23

Once the new browser window had come up, Sadie typed in the URL of her favorite journalistic archive website. It had been a wonderful resource in the past, and she felt only a small twinge of guilt that Pete was the one who had showed her the site in the first place. She didn’t have access to police records like he did, but Pete taught her how to make a pointed search of public information and of previously published articles dating all the way back to the sixties in some cases.

As she typed Pete’s name into the search bar, Sadie did a quick review of what she already knew about his basic history. He had been born in New Mexico—Santa Fe—played baseball in high school, and served four years in the army via the ROTC program after graduating high school. He married Pat after finishing his time in the military and then completed his schooling and joined the police force when he was almost thirty and his girls were young. Jared was born a few years later, completing their family. The family moved to Fort Collins about thirteen years ago, then after Jared had graduated from high school and started his undergraduate work at Colorado State, Pete and Pat had moved to Garrison. Pete had said something on the phone about fifteen years ago. That would have been when he was in New Mexico. Was Michaels someone he arrested back then? Was this Michaels person the reason Pete had left his home state?

Although the website spared Sadie from the thousands of useless links she’d have encountered through a traditional Google search, there was still plenty of chaff to sift through. It took about fifteen minutes for Sadie to skim through the results until she found a link that matched the time period Pete had mentioned on the phone. She opened a scanned image of an article from the
Farmington Daily Times,
printed fourteen years earlier.

Sadie took a breath, then zoomed in on the image and started to read about whatever it was Pete didn’t want her to know about his past.

Detective Under Investigation; Landscaper Acquitted

The investigation into who killed Lamar Nutson in his Flora Vista home last April took a shocking turn on Thursday, June 4, when Ricardo Fruge, Mr. Nutson’s former landscaper, was released from the San Juan County jail where he’s been held without bail for the last two months awaiting trial.

Mr. Fruge called 911 to report having found Mr. Nutson lying on his bedroom floor April 2 of this year, a victim of an apparently random attack involving multiple stab wounds and a blow to the head. Mr. Nutson was airlifted to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where he died two days later as a result of his injuries.

Mr. Fruge had worked for Mr. Nutson for several years but had been recently fired for having pawned several pieces of equipment belonging to Mr. Nutson. Mr. Fruge claimed to have returned to the house to repay Mr. Nutson for the equipment, but was arrested two weeks following the attack due to evidence which was not made known to the public. Today, Mr. Fruge is a free man but refused to make any comment as his lawyer drove him away from the jail.

Yesterday, Detective Peter Cunningham, four-year veteran of the Farmington police department, was put on administrative leave pending an investigation into his work on the case. According to an official police spokesman, Detective Cunningham is not a suspect in the death of Mr. Nutson, but is suspected of using unapproved methods of investigation when he accepted the help of Terry Michaels, a self-proclaimed psychic. The information from Ms. Michaels led police to Roberto Fruge. However, current information has proven the information was not viable and that the search of Fruge’s father’s home was done without a proper warrant. Evidence discovered during that unlawful search is now suspect. What action will be taken against Detective Cunningham is as yet unclear, but according to the spokesman, “It’s unfortunate that proper protocol was not followed in this case. We are doing all we can to repair the situation and bring Mr. Nutson’s killer to justice.”

There have been no other arrests since Mr. Fruge’s release, and Detective Cunningham has made no comment.

“Oh, Pete,” Sadie said, shaking her head as she bookmarked the page and returned to her search results. Using the new names she’d discovered, she looked for any other articles on the topic. She felt a little queasy as she imagined the implications of the article. Certainly Pete hadn’t acted on a psychic’s tip without fully considering the situation, had he? She knew him to be skeptical and cautious, but had he once been impetuous and brazen, seeking justice at any cost? Sadie found another article dated three weeks after the first one and pulled it up. This one was digitally archived rather than scanned in.

Psychic Arrested in Nutson Murder

Psychic Terry Michaels was arrested at a border crossing in Arizona yesterday. Ms. Michaels has been sought for questioning since her role in the original investigation of Lamar Nutson’s murder was made public earlier this month. Police were unable to locate her and neighbors reported seeing her leaving town several days before her participation in the case had been made known. Attempts to locate Ms. Michaels revealed additional warrants from Utah and Montana, where she was a person of interest in two cases of fraud, one of which resulted in a homicide. Both cases involved successful businessmen who had been clients of hers. The connection was soon made that Ms. Michaels had met with Lamar Nutson twice before his death, apparently offering him information in regards to his late mother’s wishes for his future. A spokesperson from the San Juan sheriff’s office said Tuesday, “We are eager to question Ms. Michaels in regard to her association with Mr. Nutson and will be working with the other state officials.”