Chris Redding - Corpse Whisperer

During her conversation with Lance, Kent Winger had left with his wife. She’d get him at work tomorrow.

Zach answered the knock on his door just after he finished his yoga session.

His heart, among other things, leaped to see Grace. His gaze swept the hallway expecting to see her shadow, Mark. Relief washed over him when he saw she was alone. “Come in.”

Her eye twinkled. “I have someone with a motive.”

“Motive?” He rubbed his face. While yoga had cleared his brain, this woman’s presence fogged it. “Oh, Dolores’ alleged murder.”

She stopped just inside his door, her gaze scanning him. Disappointment clouded her formerly sparkling eyes. “I thought you believed me.”

He put a hand on her arm. She didn’t flinch, but didn’t lean into him. “I want to.”

“What about the storm?”

Her eyes pleaded with him. He wasn’t the type to say something just because someone wanted to hear it. The truth usually came from his lips. “I’ll try.”

He closed the door and motioned for her to sit. She did, but perched on the edge of his brown leather couch. He settled on the coffee table, only inches from her. His blood thrummed at the proximity. “So who is going to do it?”

“Well she dumped Lance Antonio when she found out she was pregnant.”

“She stopped seeing him three months ago.”

Grace’s eyes narrowed. “You know the child wasn’t yours, right?”

He looked at the floor. Dolores had admitted to him the truth. The baby had been a girl at twelve weeks of gestation. They’d been together only two months ago. “Yes, she said she seduced me on purpose.” The betrayal cut through him.

“Women do strange things when they find out they’re pregnant.”

“You know from experience?”

“No, not first hand, but I’d feel desperate if I were alone and ready to have a child.”

He nodded. Maybe she had a point. “Go on. Did you talk to him?”

“Yes.”

He grimaced. Why do people intentionally walk into trouble? “Don’t do that again.”

A shrug moved her shoulders. “I was in a crowded bar.”

“Yes, but he’s a cop and can find out where you live.”

“Fine,” she said, but she didn’t believe he’d let it go.

“So what’d he say?”

Her eyes looked dark and exhausted now. “That he was done with her before she was pregnant.”

“She lied about how far along she was. He couldn’t know that.”

She stood. “We need to be having this conversation with Dolores.”

What was the hurry? “You think she’ll entertain the idea that someone wants to kill her? She’s not a big believer in this stuff.” She was too earnest to be lying. She must have some gift that he couldn’t explain.

Her butt went back onto his couch. “No, but she has to have a better idea who she’d pissed off enough to want her dead.”

Zach stood and paced away from her. His body protested the distance from her. Something in his core told him he should stick close to her. Returning to her, he sat on the couch. “If you were killed tomorrow or you knew you were going to be killed, who would you suspect?”

“This is different. Dolores is entrenched in this town. I’m a newcomer.”

“No one in your past? No ex-boyfriend who might have a grudge?” He needed to know that answer.

She stilled. Lines etched her face, then she shook her head. “Maybe.”

“My point is that is isn’t so easy to figure out who would want to kill you. Won’t be for Dolores either.”

A frown creased her mouth. “Then what are we supposed to do?”

“Find others with motive.”

“Your old boss?”

“No way.”

“Dolores said he was the father of her baby.”

“Once again, she lied.”

Grace stood then strode to the door. “Well I can’t sit here arguing with you while a killer is planning a murder.”

Grace stopped short walking toward her car. A man leaned against a vehicle three slots down from hers. His head darted around as if he was looking for someone.

She should go back and have Zach walk her out, but her instincts didn’t scream at her to run.

At the moment she wished she hadn’t dropped Mark at her apartment. A Spring breeze ruffled her hair. Lots of people had their windows open in case she screamed. Zach’s apartment was on the back of the building so he may not hear her.

Taking a deep breath, she walked toward her car, willing herself not to look a like a victim. At least she had on sneakers in case she needed to run.

“Grace Harmony?”

He’d spotted her. His voice came from deep in his body. She didn’t recognize it.

“Do I know you?” His posture didn’t relax, instead he seemed to be on high alert and ready to bolt. She couldn’t see his face. He stood just outside the light from a streetlamp.

“I was at the bar tonight with Lance.”

“Go ahead.”

He looked around the array of cars. “She was blackmailing someone.”

“Black mail? Dolores? I thought she was a trust fund girl?”

“She spent most of it.”

Grace surveyed what she knew about her landlord’s possessions. She couldn’t account for all the designer clothes and high end furniture. A bookseller didn’t make that much. “On what?

“It all went up her nose.”

“Coke? She’s a drug addict?”

She hadn’t seen that coming. That opened up a whole new file of suspects, not making her job easier.

“Was. She’s been clean for a year, but not before she blew through most of the money.”

This didn’t make the case any simpler. What if the killer was someone from her drug days?” Grace ran a hand down her face. “Who was she blackmailing?”

“Kent Winger.”

Zach’s former boss? “With what? And how do you know this?”

“Dolores and I have partied together.”

Is there anyone who hasn’t? She wondered why there wasn’t a revolving door on Dolores’ house.

“And you are?”

“Joe Smith.”

“Really?”

Her skepticism, born of too many louts in her life, jumped out of her voice.

“Really.”

Grace mulled over this. Why hadn’t Zach mentioned her drug problem? Joe could be a suspect, too. “Why’d you tell me all this?”

“Just doing a community service, he said.

He waved then disappeared into a car next to her. He drove away before she could ask him anything else.

Someone pounded on Zach’s door so he clicked off his monitor. No one would be able to see what he was searching for. Especially not Grace.

This time Grace didn’t wait for an invitation, but brushed past him. She sucked in a breath, but didn’t pause. “You didn’t tell me Dolores had a drug problem.”

“Had. She’s been clean for over a year.”

Grace crossed her arms and tapped her sneakered foot on his ceramic tile. “This could be drug related. Someone she pissed off in her former life?” Her eyes were wilder than during her last visit. Something had happened.

“Why now?” he asked.

“They could have just gotten out of prison. Or just gotten sober enough.”

Zach closed his front door, then leaned against it. Tired lines creased her face. He longed to take her into his arms as she had for him at the hospital. But now she needed the comfort.

Fighting her demons had to be hard enough, but trying to save someone who didn’t want to be saved must be even more difficult. “Let’s talk to Dolores when she comes home tomorrow.”

Her face lightened. “You mean it. She’ll be more receptive with you there.”

He reached out and brushed a hair from her face. She flinched, but didn’t back away. “Am I that repulsive?”

Her eyes found his. “No,” she whispered.