The Last Straw (The Jigsaw Files #4) - Sharon Sala Page 0,43
he could already smell rain.
The raid wasn’t a total bust. Raver was dead, and his followers were already trying to deny their connections to him and the church. Hopefully, this would keep Wyrick safe—at least for now. As soon as they had their dinner, Hank called Charlie to let him know.
* * *
Charlie was in the formal dining room with the blueprints spread out all over the long cherrywood table, checking original measurements of the Detter House against the newer ones, looking for things that didn’t add up.
Wyrick was in the office, still running background checks on the current residents. He’d set the timer on his phone to keep track of the time on the frozen lasagna he had baking, but he was hungry, and left the blueprints to check on the food.
He opened the oven to bubbly, lightly browned, cheesy goodness, just as the timer went off on his phone. He took the lasagna out of the oven, set it aside to cool, then turned off the oven.
Since dinner was his job for the rest of the week, he pulled a bag of salad mix out of the refrigerator, dumped it in a bowl, dressed it and put it on the table, then sent Wyrick a text.
Dinner is served, m’lady.
Wyrick heard the ding signaling a text and glanced at her phone, saw it was from Charlie, read it, then saved what she was doing and went to wash up.
Charlie was digging flatware out of a drawer when Wyrick walked in.
“Smells good. I’m starving,” she said.
Charlie eyed her fresh face, devoid of makeup, the old Dallas Cowboys shirt she was wearing, and the black leggings beneath it, and carried forks back to the table.
“You’ve got some long legs to fill up,” he said and handed her a fork. “Dig in.”
“You, who has a forty-inch inseam, feels the need to discuss long legs,” she drawled, then picked off a piece of crusty cheese from the side of the pan and popped it into her mouth.
Charlie wondered how she knew the length of his inseam, then shrugged it off.
Another timer went off. He pulled a sheet pan of toasted garlic bread from the broiler and carried it to the table.
They were in the midst of filling their plates when Charlie’s phone rang. He started to let it go to voice mail, and then saw who was calling.
“It’s Hank. I better take this,” he said.
“Give him my love,” Wyrick drawled.
Charlie was laughing when he answered.
“This is Charlie.”
“Hey, Charlie... Hank here. I have news. Is Wyrick anywhere around?”
“Why, yes, she’s right here. We’re just about to have dinner.”
“Put the phone on speaker, okay?”
“Sure. Just a sec,” Charlie said, punched a button and then set the phone on the table between them. “Okay...we’re here,” Charlie said.
“Good evening, Wyrick. Sorry to interrupt dinner, but this is information that will interest you.”
“I’m listening,” she said and took a bite of lasagna.
“The Louisiana FBI went to serve arrest and search warrants on Jeremiah Raver and found his body in the front yard. I won’t go into details, but we suspect Preston Davis took offense at the sudden onslaught of publicity, and thought by taking Raver out, no one would find out about the connection between them. Of course, thanks to you, the ATF already has it. I don’t know anything about the two other men he sent after you, but once they find out what happened to their leader, I’m thinking they’re all going to find the biggest rock to crawl under.”
“I believe that’s what you call, ‘reaping what you sow,’” Wyrick said and reached for a slice of garlic bread.
“Yes, ma’am. Well, that’s all I have to share. I hope this is a relief to you, and hasn’t upset the dinner you and Charlie are having,” Hank said.
“I’m not upset,” she said. “Charlie, are you upset?”
“I’m not upset,” Charlie said.
“Shit happens and then you die,” Wyrick said. “Thanks for calling.”
“Are we done?” Charlie asked.
Hank sighed. “Yes. Enjoy your meal,” and he disconnected.
Charlie pushed his phone aside and began filling his plate.
“You okay?” he asked.
Wyrick looked up. “Yes. Why wouldn’t I be? Raver was the one playing God.”
Charlie relaxed. It was what he wanted to hear.
“I haven’t found anything on the blueprints yet, but I just got started. What about you? Anything interesting popping on the residents?”
“Nothing yet. I have a couple of searches yet to run.”
Charlie winced as a rumble of thunder rolled over the old mansion. “That sounds like we’re in for some rain tonight.”