of the corner of Thomas’ eye, he noticed a basement window that was open – and no screen! He grinned. If that wasn’t an invitation, he didn’t know what was.
“There.” Thomas motioned to the window. “Do you think I can squeeze through it?”
Cole rushed to the window and knelt beside it. He grasped the sides and shifted the window until... the side window popped open. “No, but you can now.”
“You’re brilliant, my friend.” Thomas crouched beside him and surveyed the room. He couldn’t tell what it was, and since he couldn’t hear voices, he knew it would be safe. “Follow me.”
It took some maneuvering, but Thomas was able to crawl through the window and drop to the floor. He turned and helped Cole climb through without any difficulties or interruptions. Glancing around the room, Thomas took in as much as he could. It appeared to be Garth’s home gym, which might explain why the window was open. Except, in Thomas’ home gym, he had adequate air circulation to help when he went through a hard workout.
Thomas led the way as they moved out of the room and into the hall. Garth’s place was nice, but... Well, the man just didn’t have taste in anything, apparently. For being the house of a winery owner, Thomas expected to feel like he was walking through the finer places in Italy. Instead, he felt like he was walking through log cabins in Montana – with the animal heads mounted to the walls and everything.
Each room they passed, Thomas peeked inside. He noticed a room that appeared to be a starter greenhouse, and yet, nothing was in it. Garth was probably waiting until he had stolen the grafted vines before putting them down here. More than anything, he’d like to start this house on fire and see how Garth liked having things he loved go up in flames.
As they crept up the stairs to the main level, Thomas heard voices. Finally. Of course, the voices were coming from another level up. He quickened his footsteps up the stairs, but still treaded carefully, not wanting to alert anyone of his and Cole’s presence.
“Why do you believe her over me?”
Thomas wasn’t certain, but the woman’s voice sounded like Joslyn’s whiny tone.
“Because she has more to lose than you do,” a man snapped.
The voice was Garth’s. Thomas would never forget that man’s annoying voice.
“No, she doesn’t. I have more to lose.”
“Really, Jos?” Morgan’s voice was loud. “You’re not the one tied up to a chair with a gun pointing toward her. I am.”
“Well, if you ask me,” Joslyn said with a growl, “you deserve it. You should have kept your nose out of my business.”
“I thought we were a team.” Morgan’s voice was softer, but more strained. “I thought we were friends, but... I don’t know who you are anymore. And personally, I’d rather not be friends with a criminal.”
Joslyn let out a loud screech. “I told you!” This time there was a worried cry to her tone. “Garth, you told me I would never get caught. That’s why I went along with this plan.”
“Nobody is caught,” Garth said in a determined voice. Heavy footsteps pounded on the floor of the second level. “I’m going to ask you one last time, little miss photographer, what does Thomas know about yesterday’s fire?”
“And I’ll repeat... he knows nothing.”
Garth swore. “I swear, if you lie to me one more time, I’m going to break one of your fingers, and I’ll keep breaking a finger until you tell me what I want to hear.”
Thomas shook his head, and moved up one more step, but Cole grasped his arm, holding him from going any further. Not yet, Cole mouthed.
Grumbling, Thomas inhaled slowly, trying to calm his ire. He was sure there was a right and wrong time to surprise them, but Thomas wanted this stopped immediately.
“Fine,” Morgan said angrily. “The only thing Thomas knows is that Joslyn could have been the one who started the fire.”
“What?” Joslyn practically screamed. “There’s no way. Garth, I promise, I did everything you told me to do. I stayed away from the cameras.”
“True.” Morgan cleared her throat. “But, for some reason, one of the beads from your jacket fell to the ground and Thomas found it. He showed it to me, and I told him that it looked like the ones on your jacket.”
Joslyn’s surprised gasp ripped through the air. “You lie!”
“Fine, then don’t believe me. It’s your arsonist trial, not mine.”
Thomas grinned, loving Morgan’s attitude.
“Find that