The Third Grave (Savannah #4) - Lisa Jackson Page 0,112
next to him, her gaze skimming the documents, glanced up suddenly, meeting his gaze.
“I said it sure as hell looks like Duval offed himself.”
“You’re sure about his ID?”
“That’s right. Wallet is still on him and the woman who found him is Helen Davis, Duval’s landlord. Positive ID.” Reed’s heart sank. “I’m on my way.” He clicked off. “Son of a . . .” Why the hell would Owen Duval off himself now? Pressure? Guilt?
“What?” Nikki demanded. “Did she say suicide?”
“Possible. Look, I have to check this out.” He was already fishing in his pocket for his keys. “Take the Jeep and I’ll ride to the scene with Delacroix.”
Nikki argued, “I can go with you and—”
“No.” He was already motioning to Delacroix, holding up a finger, silently asking her to wait.
“I overheard the victim’s name,” Nikki admitted.
“Great. Then you know why I have to leave.”
“I could come and—”
“No! This is police business, Nikki. I thought we were clear on that.”
“Yes, but there’s something I want to tell you.” The way she said it gave him pause. “Something I did today.” She inched her chin up and he knew he wasn’t going to like whatever it was she was going to say. He glanced up and saw that the cameraman was still filming, Kimberly Mason at his side.
“Can it wait?” he said to his wife under his breath. Then at the reporter, “This is over. Now.”
“It’s news.” Kimberly Mason’s smile had all the sincerity of the Cheshire cat. “You understand.” She glanced at Nikki.
“I’ll come home directly,” he said to his wife.
She wanted to argue, he saw it in her eyes, but she said, “Okay. But it’s important.”
Isn’t everything? He handed her his key ring and noted that Kimberly Mason was still watching intently.
“Reed. You coming or what?” Delacroix shouted.
“It’ll have to wait,” he said into Nikki’s ear. He again held up a finger to Delacroix, silently asking her to wait. “When we’re alone.”
“Fine, but don’t say I didn’t try to tell you.”
That gave him pause, but he didn’t have time to deal with it now. He handed her his keys. “I’ll be home as soon as I can and we’ll talk then.”
“Remember, we have a deal.”
“A deal?”
“Exclusive?”
“Right.” He gave a quick nod. “Exclusive,” though his stomach tightened when he said it.
CHAPTER 28
Owen Duval?
Dead?
By suicide?
Before she even got to interview him?
Nikki tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and glanced in the rearview mirror. What the hell had just happened? In the few minutes since the funeral service, Morrisette’s ex-husband had insisted that she’d left this world naming Reed as the guardian for her children, despite the fact that they had a father. And then Reed had gotten a phone call about another potential homicide that had caused him to leave her with his car and a promise that he’d be home soon.
She knew better than that.
Especially since she thought she’d heard the name Owen Duval from whomever he’d been talking to.
And what was with his keys? He got a new ring with a star on it? Why? Not that it was a big deal, but it was odd.
What isn’t?
She put his Jeep into gear and drove home, but in her mind’s eye she was at Owen Duval’s home, at the crime scene watching the police investigate the suicide. Had the pressure gotten to Owen after all these years? Had the spotlight burned a hole into his soul and he couldn’t go on? Had guilt eaten him alive?
With thoughts rattling through her mind, she parked the Jeep in Reed’s space in the garage and sat for a second.
Aside from the death of Owen Duval there was the news that Sylvie Morrisette had named Reed as guardian for her kids should she die.
Of course that was only if their father, Bart Yelkis, was dead or incapacitated. Or unfit. That last thought bothered her. Was he able to care for a couple of teenagers? Oh, God, was she?
She went into the house and went through the motions of her life. Greeting Mikado and Jennings, letting the dog out, even throwing a frisbee in the backyard while the cat stalked through the wet foliage, hoping to catch an unsuspecting bird, but her thoughts were miles away, to the idea that she could, under the right circumstances, become the instant mother of grieving teenagers, to Owen Duval and his sudden death. She thought about the apartment that Owen Duval had rented. She knew where it was. Had planned on going there and interviewing him.