Mint Juleps and Justice (8 page)

“I have it electronically. Let me grab it.” Brooke walked across the room to her handbag and retrieved her smartphone. “I live by this thing.” She grimaced. “Isn’t that awful? I can’t remember a thing without it.”

“I know what you mean. Even the kids have them these days. How did our parents ever get along without technology?”

“Beats me.” She walked back over to the desk and updated the details on the calendar. “Done. Thank you so much.”

Mike shook her hand. “Great. We’ll sync up when we get together for that steak dinner on Friday anyway. I guess I won’t have to call for your address now.”

“Do you think dinner is really a good idea under the
circumstances? I mean with the case and everything, and…”
How do you just blurt out that you aren’t that kind of girl? If he was married there was no way in hell she was going to give people in this town something to gossip about.

“I don’t think it breaks any rules. Besides, it’s a community event.”

“I was thinking you and your wife should just make it a night out. I mean, she’ll probably appreciate the alone time if you’re working on this case for me.”

He looked a little dumbfounded at first, then held up his hand. “The ring? I don’t have a wife waiting at home if that’s what you’re asking.”

“You’re not married?

“No.”

“Then why let people think you are by wearing a wedding ring?”

“It’s a long story.”

Maybe it was part of his undercover work. “But you’re not going to tell me right now, are you?”

“Right. So dinner as planned? I’ll pick you up at seven on Friday.”

“Yes. I guess so, and thanks for working me in so quickly.” She turned to leave but then turned back and smiled. “You know, I was really uncomfortable about this. Thanks for making it so easy. Thank you. I mean it. Did I just say ‘thank you’ like a hundred times?”

“Just three, but who’s counting?” he teased, and Hunter let out a high-pitched whine as if he wanted to be a part of the conversation, making them both laugh. “You’re welcome. It was nice to see you again too.” He let his hand fall under her elbow as he guided her to the door and downstairs.

He opened and held the door for her, then scribbled his home and cell phone on the back of his business card and handed it to her. “Call me if anything else comes up. Anytime, day or night. Got it?”

“Got it.” She flipped the card against the thumb of her other hand, and then pointed the card his way. “That’s why you get the big bucks, right?”

“Yep, that would be it,” he winked, then led her down the stairs and out to the sidewalk.

“By the way,” she said as she turned around. She pointed toward the window boxes. “Those flowers. Did you plant them?”

He looked up and grinned. “Marigolds. A housewarming from my dad.”

“They’re my favorite. My granddaddy and I used to plant them from those ten-cent seed packets.” She smiled and glanced back up at them. “Good memories.”

She turned to leave. “Thanks again,” she called out.

“Later, bye,” he said as she walked away. He watched as she headed up Main Street and disappeared around the next corner. Still standing there, staring at the empty sidewalk, he heard his cell phone ring, bringing him back to reality. “This is Mike.”

“Just testing it out,” she said. “You’re hired.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

G
oto ripped the circle-and-wave-covered page from his notebook and crumbled it in his palm when the girl walked out. Mike was right at her heels. Goto’s tongue flicked across his dry lips as he watched her flip her long hair over her shoulder as she moved gracefully down the block.

His eyes narrowed as he watched her walk away. Mike was watching her too.

Goto pulled his binoculars to eye level and twisted them into focus. Mike wore a goofy-ass smirk.

“Stupid bastard.” Goto lifted his hand in a gun-like motion and pulled the fake trigger with his forefinger.

He could picture the six-foot-something bastard gasping and grabbing for a pool of red in the center of his chest, then falling to the sidewalk. He could do it right now and be done. Too easy, though. No sport to that. “Soon, my friend. Soon.”

Maybe that girl would factor into the final plan. Could he be that lucky? He dropped the binoculars into his lap and grabbed the notebook. Balancing it on the steering wheel, he started sketching. He pushed the pen, first lightly brushing it against the paper, then pressing hard to refine the image.

Pretty damn good, if he said so himself. The girl stared back at him from the page. Okay, so she had some extra cleavage now, but it looked good that way. And then it dawned on him. This was the girl that he’d met at the yoga studio the other night. Brooke Justice.
I knew I’d seen her before.

He shoved the notebook back under his seat, finally feeling satisfied with the surveillance mission and himself. According to the digital clock on the dash, he had just enough time to stop and get a lottery ticket and get to work at the pizza shop on time—if he hurried.

Holding down the job was a pain, but he needed to be close to his prey to make the plan, and he sure didn’t want to send up any red flags with his parole officer. As long as he was on time for his check-ins there shouldn’t be any problem.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

T
he moment Brooke clicked Accept on the computer at Hartman Security and Investigation earlier that morning, state-of-the-art software was at work unraveling the recent events of Keith Farrell’s life and hers.

On Monday morning, armed with the information on Brooke’s case, Mike headed out early to Virginia Beach to begin following the leads. He couldn’t go to Virginia Beach without stopping to see Perry, so he picked up a box of bear claws from Mac’s Bakery on the way out of town.

Almost two hours later he pulled up in front of Perry Von’s office. It was just a little shotgun house-turned-office building, but it served the purpose. Mike walked inside to the smell of fresh-brewed coffee and an adorable little blonde working Perry’s phone.

“He in?” Mike asked.

“Yes, sir.”

Mike’s ego deflated a little.
Sir? Really
? He eased on past the girl, went into Perry’s office, and dropped the bakery box on the desk. “Better than doughnuts. This
is
what guys in your line of work eat, right?”

“I think you mean
our
line of work. I see all those years in the Marines couldn’t grind the smart-ass out of you.”

“Never at risk.” Mike opened the box and stuffed half a bear claw into his mouth. “You’re one to talk.”

“I’m sure Riley would agree with you on that one.”

“Where is that beautiful wife of yours? Didn’t you tell her I was coming to town this morning? Or are you keeping us apart so she doesn’t fall for a real man?”

“She’s in Nashville with Kasey. Again. You know those two are inseparable. I’m on my own this week.”

“Not totally alone.” Mike lowered his voice. “When’d you get the cute secretary? And does Riley know about her?”

“That’s Riley’s handiwork. When she heard Mrs. Reynolds was going to Nebraska to help her daughter for a few weeks, she offered up the position to one of the local college kids.”

“Tell Riley she can hire workers for me anytime, and since the little woman is out of town, you can buy me dinner tonight.”

Von arched his brow. “That’s eight hours from now. You don’t think I’ll be sick of your sorry ass by then?”

“I can almost guarantee it.” Mike plopped down in the chair in Von’s office.

“What are you doing in this part of town anyway?”

“I’ve got a client with an ex who won’t leave her alone. He lives here in Virginia Beach so I’m going to check on some things. I knew I couldn’t come to your town and not stop by. I’d never hear the end of that.”

“Got that right. You’re settling in okay? How’s business?”

“Good. The lawyers in the office below have already pushed a couple things my way. Got this case on Saturday. I uploaded all the data into the system on the new case. I figured it wouldn’t hurt for you to have it since it was kind of in your neck of the woods.”

“Sounds good.” Perry walked around to his desk and flipped the remote to activate the big screen. His logo of a bloodhound projected on the wall
.
Perry grabbed the mouse and repositioned the windows of data on the screen side by side so they could see the whole case on the wall. Perry and Mike had designed the investigation and tracking software all those years ago and it had been a critical part of cracking the case to put Jackie’s murderer away. The two of them still received a nice income from the licensing of the Hound software, although they’d quit updating the product for the public not long after Mike joined the Marines. Now, they reserved any enhancements to Hound for their own use.

“She’s got a louse of a husband bugging her.”

“You know I hate a guy who treats women poorly.”

“I know.” Mike knew it all too well. After Jackie’s death, Mike had been frustrated with the pace of the investigation to find her killer. When talk turned to the case being tied to others in Virginia, he’d tracked down some of the other families. It’s how he and Von had met. They shared the worst nightmare imaginable, and they’d been friends ever since. Tragedy did that—brought people together in ways you could never force. The two of them had spent over a year tracking down the guy responsible. Long after the police had moved onto new cases they’d stayed laser-focused and they’d tracked that loser down and turned him over to the authorities themselves.

And as good as they thought putting that man behind bars was going to feel, Mike still remembered the loss the two of them felt after the sentencing. Even the death sentence wouldn’t have been enough. It was true that the evidence didn’t prove he’d killed all of those women, but Mike and Von both knew from the profile that he’d been behind them. Sadly, nothing would bring any of those women back, and nothing would ever erase that scene from his mind.

Still to this day, Mike hadn’t been able to forgive himself for not being on time the night Jackie died. Had he been there at the time he’d promised…Jackie would still be here. He’d have protected her. Nothing and no one in the world would ever change his mind about that.

The sleepless nights, the to-the-bone sorrow was more than he could take and, rather than crack beneath it all, Mike had joined the Marines and tried to escape the memories.

It had been his only option. He couldn’t bear to see one more person look at him with that “I’m so sorry” expression, or hear that it wasn’t his fault. It was slowly killing him every day. But that had been a long time ago and now he was back. The pain was there, but it wasn’t so raw like it had been back then.

And now, all these years later, he and Perry would be working together again on occasion.

Mike sat. “Let me bring you up to date on this one. Her name is Brooke Justice. She used to live here in Virginia Beach, but she took a transfer up to Adams Grove to put some distance between her and the ex.”

“Probably a smart move, and that’s how she found you, I take it.”

“Connor Buckham, the lawyer downstairs, gave her my name. Her husband is still living down here. Or at least that’s what she said. She believes he’s been getting into her house in Adams Grove and that makes me wonder if he’s really still in Virginia Beach or not. So between here and Adams Grove…we should have this pretty well covered.”

“What kind of trouble are we talking about?”

“Nasty divorce.”

“Cheater?”

“According to the information she gave me, that was part of it, but not our problem. He’s been stalking her. Bothering her. Making a nuisance of himself. I guess he doesn’t want out, although he sure wasn’t all in the marriage when they had one, from what she says.”

“There’s always two sides.”

“I know.”

“You have a pretty good starting point,” Von said, clicking through a screen of data and then expanding one of the boxes for more detail.

“Right,” Mike said. “She didn’t think her ex had had any prior run-ins with the law. Public records from his hometown showed otherwise. Keith Farrell has a history of trouble there, including a domestic dispute.”

“That’s not good.”

“He also made a recent real estate transfer. Not sure what that means. Maybe he’s moving on.” Mike turned his attention from the screen back to Von. “I actually met this girl the other day, before she came to me about the case. On Kasey’s farm. She’s an ag extension agent out there in Holland County. She’s the one I’m working with on the pasture upgrades.”

“Small world.”

“Got that right.” He thrummed his fingers against the arm of the chair as they discussed the details of the case. “Tell you what,” he said in closing. “I’m going to get to work on this.”

Von headed for the door. “I have to head down to the courthouse to pick up some things. Let’s touch base midday. How about we meet at The Brew in Town Center?”

“Sounds good.” Mike got up and walked out with Von right behind him.

“Always loved that car,” Von said.

Mike nodded. He knew Kasey’s late husband, Nick, and Von had been best friends. Mike had promised Kasey he’d drive Nick’s car on occasion. Nothing undercover about a classic baby-blue Thunderbird, but then sometimes overstated was even less obvious and it wasn’t like he was planning to tail the guy.

After just a couple hours of cruising around Virginia Beach, Mike had found out that Keith had quit his job, broken his lease on the apartment that he’d gotten after the separation, and his cell phone was no longer in service.

Could be good news, but his gut told him otherwise. The little things that Keith Farrell was doing to his wife were not the actions of a guy who was going to give up. Not enough to get him in big trouble, but a definite sign she was always on the top of his mind. If Mike had to guess, the guy was obsessed with getting her back just because he couldn’t.

At least the guy at the apartment complex had told him about a new vehicle Keith had purchased. Brooke only knew about the red Cadillac, but Farrell’s former neighbors had complained that he also had a big green four-wheel-drive pickup now. That information, along with the names of a couple of Farrell’s old haunts from the guys he used to work with, gave Mike high hopes that if Farrell were still in town, he’d run across him today.

Mike headed over to The Brew to grab some coffee and update the information he’d gathered so far. The Hound app on his iPad fed the data real-time to the database and would keep both him and Von up-to-the-minute with any new information.