go by her house randomly and check it for a couple of days,” he adds. “She’ll do fine. I told her to contact you or me before she comes back to get the all clear.”
“Thanks for doing all this, Clay.”
“Hey, I owed you one. Right?”
Yes, you did. You still owe me. “You don’t owe me anything. We’re a team, right?”
He laughs. “Speaking of which, I wonder if you and Ronnie would like to come have drinks with me tonight. Not as a date. Just coworkers that kick ass and chew bubblegum. I’m buying.”
I almost say I already have a date, but Dan may be a thing of the past. And I may have to set up a protection team to keep an eye on Dan now. But I can’t afford to piss Clay off because I might need another favor. I say, “Maybe some other time, Clay. We’re going to be busy for a while on this.”
“Gotcha. If I can do anything on this end to help out, just let me know.”
“Thanks, Clay. I will.” And I mean it as I disconnect. I wonder how I’ve gotten so popular all of a sudden. It can’t be because of the pile of dead bodies I seem to attract. Maybe it’s not being emotionally available? Men seem to like that. And big breasts. I don’t have those. But Clay also invited Ronnie, and she can give Dolly Parton a run for her money.
I pull up in the Sheriff’s Office lot and can’t help looking up into the woods where my stalker was. I think about putting a bear trap out, and an image of Nan with a trap attached to her bare ass makes me smile.
Thirty
Back in the office, Nan approaches me and whispers, “Dr. Andrade’s office called.”
I whisper back, “What about?”
She gets a hurt look on her face. “Well. You should call them.”
“I was just about to. Thanks, Nan.”
She doesn’t know whether to be insulted or pleased. She leaves. That’s good. I’m not in the mood to feed her need for gossip today. Ronnie comes to my desk.
“Dr. Andrade called.”
“I know. Nan just whispered in my ear,” I say. I hear papers being stacked hard against Nan’s desk. She has heard me with her super-hearing. I really don’t care.
“I’ve called all the people in Mrs. Delmont’s address book. The ones who were answering. I got nothing more than what we have already.”
“Clay told me you took the samples to Marley at the crime lab,” I say.
“I did. He’s got the mug with the lipstick and the things you found outside here, but he doesn’t have a DNA sample from the victim yet. He’s waiting on the autopsy. He says he can get us pretty quick results. I think he was excited to be working on something like this with me.”
“Can you call Dr. Andrade’s office and see if they have a time for the autopsy yet?” I don’t want to go. I remember what happened last time. The sight of all that cutting triggered some memories best forgotten. Ronnie had weathered it like a veteran. But she’s not seen, or done, the things I have.
“I think he already did the post. He’s sending samples to Marley at the lab. His secretary said he wants to talk to you.”
Me. What have I done now? “Okay, I’ll call him. Can you start writing up what we did yesterday?”
She hands me a set of typed sheets. It’s the report I just asked for. I don’t know how she manages to type so fast with a fractured wrist.
“I didn’t put anything in there that can lead anyone to Gabrielle or her son,” Ronnie says quietly. “I’ve got another report with all of that information saved on a thumb drive. I don’t want someone getting into my computer.”
Ronnie has been sitting at a vacant desk since coming on board. She was originally only here to do a rotation through the various sheriff units. She would have been with us a week at most but my last case changed that. She is still a reserve deputy, but I think Sheriff Gray has other plans for her. She doesn’t have her own computer and has had to work off of the office server. I need to get her a password so she can protect her things. I think of doing that because of Nan and the fact that someone is stalking me. Which means they could be stalking Ronnie as well.