Deadly Row, A - By Casey Mayes Page 0,6

gotten a ticket for speeding.

Davis’s car radio went off as we neared Grady’s house. “His truck’s here, but he’s not answering the door. Should I break in?” It was clear in the patrolman’s voice even over the radio that he was reluctant to bust in on the mayor of Charlotte, and a man who was—several rungs up the ladder—his boss.

Davis snapped, “Don’t do anything. I’ll be there in two minutes.”

There was no more conversation as we raced to Grady’s house. The last time I’d been there had been during our going-away party that he’d hosted for us. Long ago, Zach and I had become friends with Grady separately, and without his introduction, it’s quite possible I never would have met my husband, the man who quickly became the love of my life. When Zach had been a local attorney just starting out, Grady had taken him under his wing, helping him find his way around Charlotte, both within the legal system, and outside of it. I’d tried to return the favor by fixing him up with some of my younger friends, but Grady hadn’t been in the mood to settle down then any more than he was now. If anything had happened to him, I didn’t know how I was going to deal with it.

When we pulled up in front of his place in Myers Park, it didn’t look like a house that might belong to the mayor. There were McMansions on his street, homes overbuilt for the lots they sat on, but Grady had chosen a rather modest Cape for his home, painted moss green with beige shutters and trim. It was neatly kept, but I knew Grady used a lawn service for that. He considered himself no better than his lowliest constituent, but he had never had any interest in lawn care, let alone gardening, no matter how much I tried to convince him otherwise.

Davis, Zach, and I got out of the car and met the patrol officer at the front door.

“No signs of life, sir,” he said.

I wasn’t sure if he was directing his comment to Zach or Davis, and it was all I could do not to laugh when the two men answered, “Okay,” at the same time.

“Let’s break it down,” Davis said.

“Hang on a second,” I said before they could muscle the door down. “Grady has a spare key hidden, if it’s still there.”

“I doubt the mayor has a hide-a-key,” Davis said.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Grady had told me about the key years ago when I’d come by to drop off one of my homemade apple-crisp pies. I’d teased him about it at the time, but I was glad I knew about it now.

There was a rock garden near the trees by the porch, and I knew Grady had hidden one of those fake rocks there, but the problem was that they all looked a little too artificial to me. After all, it wasn’t all that common to find a streambed in Myers Park, but there the stones were.

“We don’t have much time,” Zach said.

“Hang on a second.” I studied the rocks, searching for one that didn’t fit the pattern, much like what I did when I was designing one of my puzzles. I couldn’t see it when I looked directly at the stones, but when I turned my head, the fake one made itself obvious by the way the light reflected off it.

I picked it up with more confidence than I felt, and was relieved to find that the weight of the stone was less than it should have been.

As I handed the key to Zach, Davis said, “We still don’t know the alarm code.”

“It’s 0607,” I said.

“Why would he choose that?”

“It’s his birthday,” I said.

Davis shook his head as we approached the front door. The key slid in quickly, and I moved to the alarm pad. Zach raised an eyebrow as I did this.

“Hey, I’m the one who found the key,” I said.

“Go ahead before it goes off,” he said.

I punched in the numbers, and was relieved to see that Grady hadn’t changed the code since he’d told it to me years before.

The house was neat and tidy, thanks more to the mayor’s housekeeper than his personal habits. Grady liked things neat, but he wasn’t all that consistent in keeping the things around him that way. If I had to bet, I’d say that his bedroom was a mess.

“You need to wait outside now,” Davis said to me.

“I’m the one who got you