Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 135696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Harry nodded. “So, Wade had the great idea, since we’re doing a quiet audit, not to make it quiet seeing as it’s well-known Dern was shit at his job. And instead, let it out in a subtle way that we’re just making sure all the I’s are dotted and T’s crossed because the new sheriff is thorough that way.”
At that, Riggs grinned and shoved the potatoes in the waiting colander.
Harry kept going.
“Using that as cover, we can go over old ground with the Whitaker situation, which folks will think is safe, considering he confessed. So we’ve interviewed some of Roosevelt’s old friends, and his assistant. Cade told you his theory?”
“Yes,” Nadia said, again immediately.
Seriously into it.
Riggs chuckled and replied, “Yeah.”
“Well, we can just say, not everyone in town will think we’re just doing due diligence after a spell of incompetent law enforcement supervision.”
Having finished the slaw, Nadia shoved the flour coating she was mixing aside, leaned into her forearms to get closer to Harry, and she asked, “Really?”
“Yeah,” Harry answered. “No one said anything outright, but some were uncomfortable, others were cagey as fuck, though with all of them, it seemed they had something they wanted to say, they just didn’t. The general consensus Rus and I have is that they don’t think Lincoln did it. And there’s a reason why, and not the normal one where your average person wouldn’t blow holes in two people he loves then burn them to dust.”
“So the brother-husbands theory holds weight,” Nadia pushed.
“Didn’t say that, but there’s something they’re not saying. It’s something big, and everyone is dead that was involved. I don’t think any of them know who did it. I do know, there’s no reason not to talk about anything regarding that family now, so there aren’t many reasons why you wouldn’t. But one of them is loyalty, and in this matter, loyalty could take the form of not saying shit people might think is whacked and hurting the only thing those three got left, specifically the two brothers, considering their celebrity. That being their reputations.”
“That makes sense,” Nadia said.
“Any way you can press that?” Riggs asked.
Harry shook his head but said, “Rus and I both left the assistant wishing we didn’t have to, in order to keep the cover of this being administrative bullshit. We’re trying to figure out another way to come at her. She knows something more than the others. I can feel it.”
“Like what someone might be looking for on my land?” Riggs pushed.
“Maybe, brother, I don’t know,” Harry replied. “She worked for Roosevelt for five years. Both Rus and I sensed she had feelings for him that went unreciprocated, but they’re still there. She invited us inside, and to start, she’s never been married, so the torch she holds might be lasting. She also has pictures of the two of them together, more than one, but not enough to make it skeevy. Still, my last boss was Dern, so obviously I don’t have photos of the two of us decorating my living room. But I don’t think that’s the norm.”
“I’d call my entire crew buds, and I don’t think they have pictures of me either,” Riggs said.
One side of Harry’s mouth went up before he noted, “One thing that might free our hand is that detective in Seattle. Now that he knows we’re sniffing around, he’s after the powers that be to reopen the case. He does that, it’d give us an opening, which is good. The downside is, I made him promise if he gets the all-clear, he tells me. Not only so we can rip the lid off, but if whoever did this thinks they didn’t get away with it, they may make some desperate moves. Especially if we’re right and they’re the ones who’ve been coming back to this land. They might go into overdrive to find whatever they’re looking for.”
Fantastic.
“You got my word, Doc, you’ll know so you can take measures, and I can too, to make sure you’re good,” Harry promised.
Riggs jerked up his chin.
Harry huffed out a sudden laugh and kept going.
“And, brother, you gotta know, you’ve made Rus’s year. Not like he isn’t settling into the quiet life, seeing as he’s got Cin and Maddy to go home to. But he’s all over this case. In his element. I think Cin has had to call Delphine three times in the last week to send his ass home, and the woman works late at the club. And can’t say Cade isn’t a dog with a bone either.”
“Saw the stack of papers he got through in four days,” Riggs noted.
Harry lifted his chin and the corners of his mouth. “They’re like kids with a thousand-piece puzzle. They’re not gonna get up from the table until the last piece of that fucker is set in place.”