He enjoyed Nikki’s nearness, too, especially when she leaned into him. He smelled roses, but he couldn’t tell if the scent came from her skin or her hair or from the bushes that cascaded over her back fence. Her touch was soft and deft. She finished with the antiseptic and turned to put everything away.
She talked while she worked, giving him a detailed debriefing of her visit with Dessie Dupre. When she came to the part about the marriage license and will, he whistled softly. “Clete Darnell doesn’t fool around, does he? He takes over the practice in May, persuades Dr. Nance to update his will and then moves in on Dessie, marries her and rewrites her will all in the space of what—three months?”
“If that.” Nikki washed her hands at the sink and reached for a towel. “I’ve been thinking about the conversation I overheard in the study last night. They were obviously looking for something. What if Dr. Nance never updated his will? What if Clete Darnell drew up a new will leaving everything to Dessie and then forged Dr. Nance’s signature? Taking over the previous attorney’s practice gave him the opportunity to destroy the original will, but he’d need to make certain there weren’t any copies lying around in case someone decided to contest Dessie’s inheritance.”
“You’ve known Dessie for a long time. You think she’s capable of that kind of deception, let alone murder?”
Nikki frowned. “I don’t want to. I desperately want to believe she’s the person I’ve always thought her to be. But the Dessie I knew wouldn’t have been conned by someone like Clete Darnell. The kind and conscientious woman who always took such good care of Dr. Nance wouldn’t be planning a trip to the Caribbean just days after his body was found floating in the lake. I’m beginning to think that no one in this town is who they claim to be.”
“We all have a dark side,” Adam said. “The evil twin that rides on our shoulder and whispers bad things in our ear.”
“That’s a pleasant thought.” She hung up the towel and turned to the bathroom door. “Come on. Let’s go sit outside now that it’s cooled off. I could use some fresh air.”
“Be right there. Just give me a minute to grab the whiskey.”
He got down another glass from the cabinet and carried everything outside.
“It’s cooler tonight,” he said. “Nice change from the sweltering heat.”
Nikki drew up her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs. “I don’t know why but the end of summer always makes me nostalgic.”
“For what?”
“That’s the thing. I don’t know. I certainly don’t long for my childhood, much less my high school years.”
“No one longs for high school.” He sat down beside her on the steps and poured the whiskey.
She turned to face him. “Unless you’re one of the golden people.”
“The what?”
“You know. The chosen ones. The in crowd. The same group of popular kids who runs every high school. People like you, I imagine.”
He sat back, propping his elbows on the step above him. “What makes you think I was popular in high school?”
“I could tell the moment I laid eyes on you. You have a certain look. All that oozing confidence. We misfits can always pick you out of a crowd.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah.” She lifted her drink, their gazes meeting over the rim of the glass. She glanced away.
“Sounds a little judgmental to me,” he said.
“I’m not judging. Just making an observation.”
But there was an edge in her tone. Things were getting a little too personal. She was creating distance. Putting all those walls back up. Adam sipped his drink and watched the flutter of expressions across her face.
“You still haven’t told me what happened to you today,” she said. “How did you get crossways with Eddie Bowman?”
He allowed her to change the subject without comment. “Let’s just say it involved a rifle, two German shepherds and a swamp full of pit vipers.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m impressed you lived to tell the tale.”
“Do you have any idea why Dr. Wingate would be mixed up with a guy like Bowman?”
Nikki shrugged. “Not really. But Dessie told me that Dr. Wingate and Dr. Nance had an affair some years back. She was married at the time. The divorce got messy and expensive, and when her relationship with Dr. Nance ended, she blamed him for everything.”
“But they continued to work together?” Adam grimaced. “That must have been awkward.” His ex worked in the DA’s office and even that was too close for comfort.
“Dessie said he tried to buy her out but she wouldn’t sell. The clinic has always been a gold mine and I guess she needed the money after a lengthy custody battle.”
“And Bowman?”
“This is just a guess, but after I left Dessie earlier, I started thinking about one of the first death scenes I attended as coroner. It was an OD. The deceased’s wife told me that he’d been able to get his hands on an endless supply of drugs, opioids mostly, because he knew a guy who had a deal with a doctor.”
“The guy was Eddie Bowman?”
“She called him the junkman. I thought junk as in drugs. It never occurred to me at the time that she was referring to Bowman or that the doctor in question might have been Dr. Wingate. But it makes sense if the divorce wiped her out financially. She doesn’t strike me as the type who could get along on a budget. And she certainly doesn’t appear to be hurting for money now. It would also explain why she’s so anxious
