“I can’t think of anything that makes me happier. Honey.”
“Oh, baby, you have no idea what you’ve gone and done. I can’t wait to see you tonight. And we can talk more about the phone calls. Does that work for you?”
“Works for me. I’ll see you around six?”
Cade answered, “Time can’t go fast enough baby. I’ll see you at six, definitely. And I’m taking you out to eat tonight, so be ready, however you want to dress, because I’m hungry.”
Kresley saluted to the room and ended her call with a “Yes sir, Cade sir.” She could hear his sexy laugh as she hung up. Life was damn good.
Cade hung up the phone with Kresley and sat staring at his office wall for a few moments, thinking back on the conversation. He was such a goner. He left his heart at Kresley’s place last night and didn’t even want it back. It was hers now. He kept thinking back to the moment when she admitted she had never slow danced before. Cade couldn’t help but be surprised. What was wrong with the men in Mercy Springs? Why hadn’t any of them been able to wrap Kresley Anderson up tight in their arms and slow dance with her? It honestly floored him that Kresley wasn’t married yet with babies surrounding her. But their loss was Cade’s gain because he wasn’t going to let her go now, not for anyone or anything. A voice clearing at his doorway had Cade looking up.
“Boomer! Dude, where have you been today? Haven’t seen you in the office yet”, Cade stated as he held out his hand to his friend. Boomer and he were getting pretty tight as buddies since he arrived. Boomer was funny, had an outgoing personality, but wasn’t afraid to talk about deep shit when he needed to.
“You know how it goes Cade, I got stopped a lot this morning while I was out patrolling. People are curious to know about the Drake Harris murder and don’t seem to mind asking nosy questions.” Boomer sat down across from Cade in one of his guest chairs and stretched out his long, muscular legs. “I wish we had more leads on this case, though. Something just doesn’t add up to me.”
“How do you figure? Tell me what you’re thinking and let’s go over timelines and motives."
At that moment, a knock at Cade's office door brought in their Captain, Gunnar Phillips. Gunnar was an upstanding man, a good cop and a young captain. Gunnar was only a few years older than Cade. So far Cade was enjoying his boss and how he handled his station.
"Hey Cade, Boomer. Are y'all discussing the Drake Harris murder?" Gunnar asked, leaning against the door jam with his muscled arms crossed over his chest.
"Hey Captain Phillips. Yes sir, Cade and I were talking over the points of the case so far. We both feel something is off with this one, but we can't put a finger on it, sir," Boomer stated, making room for Gunnar to come fully into the office.
"Yeah, Gunnar, there are many knowns at this point about people and their alibis, but there are so many missing pieces that it's hard to make an informed theory about what happened," Cade said to his boss, noting that Gunnar was quiet, seeming to mull things over.
Cade began again, stating, "We know Drake was killed at 7:53 PM, give or take a few minutes. He died of blunt force trauma to the head with a heavy object. More than likely a metal pipe of some kind. There were no finger prints on his vehicle except his own. No prints on the back door or surfaces around it. We didn’t find the weapon at the scene, nor any other forensic evidence. What else do we know?”, Cade summarized while looking at Boomer.
“Well, we know where Drake’s brother was at the time of the murder. Braxton was working an evening shift at the fire house and can be accounted for. We know Kresley was inside the building, but the alarm company records show the alarm wasn’t disarmed until after 8:00 PM for her to go outside. That was after Drake was killed. Drake’s parents were at home, having a small get together with friends and those friends vouch for them. His fiancé Claudia was out of town at her sister’s house in Atlanta. As for anyone else who might have had a motive, we haven’t found them yet. The thing that gets me is that this seems personal. There was emotion behind the hit in the head. But why leave that note for Kresley? What does she have to do with Drake Harris?”, Boomer stated while rubbing his fingers together.
"Who's to say that this is just about Kresley. And what would make her a target to do with Drake Harris. Something is pulling me towards the conclusion that Mr. Harris was an innocent bystander who got jumped when he wasn't aware. But if it was about Kresley only, the guy would have waited for her outside, to either take her somewhere else or abuse her there," Gunnar stated, effectively pulling both men's thoughts together to think of both sides of the coin.
“I don’t know, but you're definitely on to someting Captain. I intend to find out the reasons. Kresley and I talked earlier and she brought up that she is getting hang up phone calls at the office. Around ten or so now since Drake’s death. Can you make contact and get a print out of her office’s phone logs for the past 15 to 30 days? If we need a court order, that’s fine. You know, just in case, go ahead with a court order from the judge so we can make sure everything is solid with the case. Leave nothing to chance.”
“You got it. Oh, I was going to ask if you wanted to go out with Gunnar, me and a couple
