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“There’s been a small problem here. Very small. I’m sure the insurance will cover it.”
I closed my eyes, tried to rub both throbbing temples with one hand. “What kind of problem?”
“A broken pipe is all. Nothing major.”
A broken pipe. On the second floor.
“Just thought I’d let you know. I’ll let you get back to work now. Ta!”
“Trouble?” Kate asked when she saw my face.
I wanted to laugh. Could this day get any worse?
“Nothing the insurance can’t cover, apparently.”
“Oh.”
Cops streamed from the Grabinsky doorway. Across the yard, I saw Meredith Adams staring at me. I wanted to stick my tongue out. I restrained.
“This is all so sad,” Dale said. He held Kate protectively, his arm wrapped around her shoulder. The sun glinted off his wedding ring.
A ring I’d seen before.
In Greta’s kitchen.
Close up I could see the unusual design more clearly than I had the other day.
Platinum twigs intertwined to form a beautiful floating band. Kate, I suddenly noticed, had a matching one.
“We love to hike. We love nature of all kinds,” Kate said.
I must have looked confused.
“The wedding rings. I saw you looking at Dale’s.”
“They’re beautiful.” I looked up at Dale.
“Custom made,” he said. “Nothing but the best for Kate.”
Russ had been blackmailing Dale.
Dale had threatened Greta.
I looked at Kate. Did she know?
I wondered what it was Russ had on Dale. He looked 164
Heather Webber
like a loving husband, but I knew looks could be deceiving.
Had it been Dale who trashed the Grabinsky house?
Had Greta been murdered after all? What had Dale said to Greta? Something about her paying dearly?
“I’m going to go,” I said.
They went back to their house too. I managed to find Baby Face and had him move his patrol car. Before I left, I grabbed a bottle of spring water from my truck, crossed the police line, and poured it into the pot of pansies on the porch. I didn’t want another thing to die at this house.
I backed out of the driveway and started driving, realizing I was shaking.
It had been one of those days. I needed some food, some Advil, some comfort, a hug.
It wasn’t until I was almost there that I realized where I was going.
Bobby.
Nineteen
By four-fifteen I was in a seriously bad mood.
Bobby wasn’t to be found, the Advil hadn’t worked, nothing looked or sounded good enough to eat, and there was no one around to hug.
Well, there was Brickhouse, but I had my limits.
Too bad Kit wasn’t there. The man gave the best hugs ever.
I looked around my office. Two design boards leaned against my desk, which was cluttered with site plans and designs.
To add insult to my day, when I’d visited Derrick Brandt at the nursery, I learned that Jean-Claude hadn’t placed the orders I needed. Luckily, with what Derrick had in stock, we were able to salvage my design plans.
I’d come back to the office for my appointments and learned that my two o’clock had bailed on me after hearing the news reports of Russ’s death.
Thankfully, the young couple who came in at three was very enthusiastic and excited about doing a yard for the young woman’s mother.
