I took a step up onto the bench seat to get a closer look at the prescriptions bottles, but as I pushed off, my foot slipped out from under me, and I landed hard on the metal hull. The seat I had been standing on had been dislodged, disclosing a hidden storage box.
I rolled over onto my knees and rubbed my butt—convinced I’d broken my tailbone—before peering into the open storage container. Bundle upon bundle of hundred dollar bills were lined up neatly in rows, completely encased in plastic.
What the hell? Was he involved with Boy Boy after all? My heart raced at the thought.
But I knew Garrett. He was a good guy. A sweet guy. There’s no way he’d kill someone. Was there?
I shook my head. No. There was an explanation. There had to be an explanation. Maybe he kept his money in his boat instead of in the bank. I knew lots of people who didn’t trust the bank. Maybe he was one of them.
When I replaced the seat to cover the money, I heard a car pull into the driveway. My heart raced. Had Luke already gotten a warrant?
My eyes darted to the pill bottles. I didn’t have time to take photos. Instead, I shoved them into my pocket, jumped out of the boat, and ran up the stairs only to find I’d somehow managed to lock myself out of the house.
Shit.
The only exit other than the door to the driveway was a small window leading to the backyard, but it was above a workbench covered in tools and various car parts and—even if I could reach it—I’d likely get stuck trying to get through.
Plan B, I needed a place to hide. If Luke found me in the garage, he’d know I had been snooping around. I didn’t need to be hauled into jail for tampering with a crime scene.
Finally, I saw a large cabinet in a corner next to the boat. I silently willed it to be empty as I tiptoed over.
“This is the police, we have a warrant to search this property,” Luke said on the other side of the garage door.
Besides a pair of greasy overalls and an old pair of boots, the closet had just enough space for me to squeeze in. I had barely pulled the door closed when two sets of footsteps walked in.
“That looks like the boat and truck Seamus described,” Luke’s voice made the blood in my face boil. “And somehow he got his car back here already.” Luke paused as if contemplating the thought.
“Maybe your girlfriend brought it back for him.”
Boots up the stairs to the house door sounded and then several knocks. “Rylie?” Luke’s voice was loud and demanding. “Are you here?”
I expected Babbitt to bark, but no sound came from the other side of the door.
More knocking. “Rylie, if you’re here, you need to come out.”
Yeah no. I didn’t need to do anything.
He paused a few seconds.
“Let’s get on with it,” Jerry croaked.
“I’ll take the boat,” Luke said. “You take the truck.”
“Deal.”
It seemed like they searched forever. After a while, I worried I’d topple out of the cupboard from lost feeling in my legs. I expected Luke to yell to Jerry that he’d found a whole crap-ton of money but nothing came.
“Find anything good?” Jerry finally asked, startling me so much I wondered if I’d started to doze off.
“Not really,” Luke replied. “Too bad too. I wanted to throw away the key on this guy.”
I wanted to burst from the cabinet and throw something at him.
“Yeah. He’s not talking, and his attorney’s that one who gets all the bad guys off. How’d your girlfriend find this guy?”
“You know I’m dating Nikki.”
“Like that’s gonna last. You and I both know why you’re dating her.”
Please don’t say it. I didn’t know if I could handle hearing how he was just in it for her gorgeous body.
“Nikki’s a nice girl when you get to know her,” Luke replied with less confidence. “And I think Rylie met him on Tinder or something.”
“That makes sense. Look what I found in his truck.”
Luke let out a low whistle. The bra.
“Maybe you should warn her about guys on that site.”
“You don’t know Rylie. She doesn’t listen to anyone but herself. The more I tell her not to date him, the more she’ll want to.”
He was probably right about that.
“Plus, they seem pretty serious already. He gave her the keys to his house and asked her to take care of his dog,” Luke said.
“Maybe he doesn’t have anyone else to take care of it.”
Luke let out a non-commitmental grunt. “What do I care anyway? We’ve gone our own ways.”
My heart constricted. Had we? He said it with such finality. I swallowed down the tightness and took a deep breath.
“I just hope she’s not dating a murderer.”
“You don’t?” Jerry asked. “A second ago you said you’d like this guy to go away for a long time.”
“Just because we’re not together doesn’t mean I want her in danger.”
“The only way to keep her from dating other guys is to date her yourself. Annoying as she is, she’s still hot.”
I didn’t know whether to be offended or flattered.
“I’m done talking about it.” Luke sounded frustrated. “Let’s finish this up so we can search the house.”
“I think I’m done here,” Jerry said.
Their footsteps landed heavy on the locked door to the house.
Someone jiggled the knob before I heard a boot slam into the door and splintering of the wooden doorframe.
I hoped Babbitt wasn’t directly behind it.
“That’s one way to get in,” Jerry said.
Luke was silent.
I waited for them to make their way into the house before I managed to extricate myself from the closet doing a few high kicks to shake the tingles from my legs. The pill bottles rattling around in my pockets made my conscience squirm.
The door to the house was wide open, and there was no sound of a dog inside. Where had Babbitt gone?
I let myself
