was pounding in her chest, and she might pass out, but she didn’t care. The stress of a wedding and a crime scene was hard enough without family drama, even if she did bring it on herself.
“As much as I appreciate a Jerry Springer interlude,” Coil said, “let’s focus our attention on the victim.”
Now it was Hank’s turn to rub her back soothingly and try to bring her temper down to a simmer.
“I think the best thing is for you five to head back to the house and let us do our jobs,” Hank said. “I know y’all are trying to help, but this is real life, and there’s a dead man in there that Coil and Agatha both knew personally.”
“I guess we know when we’re not wanted,” Brenda said. “You always do pick women over your family.”
“Yes,” Hank said. “I will always pick my wife over my family, because the second we say I do she becomes my family. I will always love you. But these terror tactics are going to stop.”
“The Uber driver will be here in a minute,” Gayle said. “We can wait outside until he gets here, and then I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m packing my bags.”
Gayle grabbed Brenda’s hand and they stormed out the front door.
“Don’t worry about them,” Betty said, giving an apologetic smile. “They’ve always been the hotheaded ones. They’ll come to their senses soon.”
Hazel hadn’t said a word, but she was still staring at Agatha like she was trying to decide whether or not to pull the grenade pin.
“You’ll do,” Hazel finally said with a nod. “Hank needs someone he can’t steamroll just as much as he needs someone who will defend him, even from his own family.” She nodded again and then followed Betty and Patsy out the door to wait with the others.
Agatha blew out a breath when they were gone. “I’m sorry, honey,” she said, wrapping her arm around Hank.
“It’s okay,” he said. “We can’t control other people’s actions. The ball is in their court.” Then he looked at Coil. “Sorry for the family drama.”
Coil snorted. “You think this is family drama? Shelly’s sister cheated on her husband with his twin, and I had to arrest our own niece for pooping in the neighbor’s pool because they played their music too loud. We can’t pick our blood. We can only put up boundaries to deflect the fallout.”
“Wise words,” Agatha said. “If y’all don’t mind, I’d love to put all my energy into finding who killed Brad.”
“Amen, sister,” Coil said.
“So I’m guessing the working theory is that the hearse, the body, and Brad’s murder are all related.”
“Seems like a safe bet,” Coil said. “We’ll run the plate numbers on Brad’s fleet of hearses and see if any are missing. I’m going to go with my gut on this one and start treating this as if Brad was using the funeral home for nefarious purposes.”
“What nefarious purposes?” she asked.
“Who knows,” Coil said. “Whoever those mercenaries work for approached Brad with a proposition he couldn’t refuse. And knowing Brad like I do, he probably ticked off the money man by either not paying his debts or just being a jerk in general. He had a tendency toward both.”
“What now?” Agatha asked.
“We’ve got blood and ballistics to process,” Hank said. “And we need to get the autopsy results sooner rather than later. I want to know what was being transported in that body.”
“What would you guess is in him?” she asked.
“Drugs or money,” Coil said. “The usual bad-guy stuff.”
“Maybe,” Hank said. “But mercenaries are usually ex-military.” He paced back and forth with his hands on his hips and his head down. His heart was pounding and his skin was clammy. Why hadn’t he thought of it sooner? He’d let his sisters distract him, but that was no excuse when lives were on the line.
“Hank, what is it?” Agatha asked. “What’s wrong?”
What if it’s something more dangerous?” Hank asked.
“Like what?” Coil asked.
“Think big and bad,” Hank said. “What can do the most damage?”
Coil’s brows went up in surprise. “You’re thinking the body might be a bomb?”
“I’ve seen it before,” Hank said. “We need to get the bomb squad in and see if we can get x-rays before they open him up.”
Coil was already on the radio making the request. “I sent James to the morgue,” he said, looking at Hank with panic in his eyes.
“Just get them out,” Hank said calmly. “Get everyone out of the building, until we