Ryley and Logan left the office and walked through the studio.
“Sounds like they both had a motive,” Logan said.
“We need to get into that apartment to see if she left anything behind. And even though they both had a motive, only one of them lied to me.”
“Aren’t you curious about how her appointment went?” Logan wiggled his brows.
“The doctor isn’t going to tell us anything,” Ryley said.
“Not us, but you can go with Crews. He can flash his shiny badge,” Logan offered.
Ryley pulled Logan to a stop just outside the building. “Last night, Crews was calling to tell on me, and today there’s disdain in your voice. Your bromance is giving me whiplash.”
“We currently share the same goal. We need to keep you safe, even if it's for different reasons.”
“Right. He needs me to get rid of the ghost, and my brother is paying you.”
“I told you, I would have done it for free.” Logan glanced around the parking lot and frowned. “It’s better if you’re with him or me for the time being.”
“What time being?” Ryley asked.
“Until your bodyguard shows up.”
“I’m going to kill Tucker,” Ryley said, yanking the car door open and climbing in.
Chapter 36
Ryley dropped Logan off and pulled up outside of Jake Crews brick style home. His mother’s car was parked in the driveway next to Jake’s SUV. The thick green grass had recently been cut. The bushes in the front of the house were equally trimmed across the top. She got out of the car.
Kids’ laughter carried on the wind from a house two doors down. Bikes were lying discarded in the yard and on the sidewalks. In the other direction, a man was washing his car while his wife watered azaleas in her garden. Ryley had always dreamt of growing up in a place like this, surrounded by people like these. The American dream, as her mother would call it. In Ryley’s version, she’d be married with kids along with a dog. Some of her dreams were already coming true, yet she hadn’t met Ringwald. She was a bad dog owner, not even calling to check in on him. Or was the dog a her? She made a mental note to buy a steak for the dog that had lost his master.
Her phone rang, and she answered without checking the caller ID.
“Yeah,” she answered.
“Ms. St. James. This is Frank Delgado. We met in the diner.”
“The land developer, right?” she said, turning her back on the front door. “How exactly did you get my cell number, Mr. Delgado?”
“I’m sure it took a lot of effort on the part of my secretary. The first two numbers she gave me were disconnected.”
She wasn’t about to explain why. “What do you want, Mr. Delgado?”
“Please call me, Frank. I just wanted to assure you that I had nothing to do with the news article. I was just as shocked as you were by Mr. Wilson's actions.”
He had no clue the damage that Felix had caused. “Well, Frank, I’m still not selling the land, and after that little stunt Felix pulled, it’ll be a cold day in hell before he ever gets his hands on the property.”
“I see. I’m sorry to hear that, but thank you for your time, Ryley. You didn’t deserve the news article, and I wish you the best,” Frank said.
“Thanks, Frank. I appreciate that.
The opening door had her spinning around. “Listen, I appreciate the call, but I’ve got to go.”
“Enjoy your evening, Ryley.”
“Thanks. You too,” she answered and hung up.
Jake stepped out on the porch. “It looks like you survived the night.”
“You have a big mouth, Detective.” Ryley popped her car trunk. The scent of sage drifted to her nose. She hefted the bag over her shoulder. Crews was drinking coffee and dressed for work. He smiled at her as she approached.
“You can be mad all you want. You’re still alive.” Jake grinned.
“Where’s your mom?” Ryley asked, trying to step around him.
He moved and blocked her path. “I needed you to be okay. You’re the only psychic my mother trusts.”
She sighed and stared up at him. “You can make it up to me.”
“Yeah, and how’s that?” he asked.
“I need you to flash your badge and go check out a place with me after I get your mom situated.”
He stepped out of the way. “That’s very level headed of you.”
She glanced over her shoulder and grinned, “Kitty had an apartment no one knows about. She was leaving her husband, and she was pregnant.”
The look on Crews’s face was worth blurting out what she’d already uncovered that the cops hadn’t yet found. “Where did you hear that?”
She smirked. “The question you should be asking is why hasn’t the ME put it in his report.” The detectives probably still thought it was a suicide, and she was building a case that would destroy their easy out. Ryley no longer believed that, and she would prove it.
“Nice digs,” Stretch said, appearing beside Ryley. “I never had anything this nice. But I wouldn’t go in there.” Before Ryley could ask why, Stretch dematerialized.
Ryley raised a brow but didn’t have time to answer when Jake beckoned her into the house. “Mom is out on the patio drinking her tea.”
The faint scent of tobacco was there and then gone in a split second. “Okay, I have to ask. Do you smoke cigars? I smelled it at your mother’s house, and I just got a faint sniff of it here.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Never smoked cigars.”
“What about a deceased relative? Any of them smoke?”
“My grandfather had a cigar every night with two fingers of bourbon.”
“That explains it.”
Most people weren’t appreciative of the stench that comes from burning white sage. To some people, it smelled of incense, and for others, they associated it
