Deception with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery, Book Two) (18 page)

Rilynne let out a low groan. “I feel like we’re missing something,” she said. “And I have no idea what it is.”

After enjoying a long lunch, Rilynne and Matthews headed back into the office.

“These just came in,” Detective Skinner said, carrying a large evidence box.

Rilynne peeked in and found the box filled with guns, each in its own evidence bag. “There have to be over thirty guns in there!” she exclaimed. “All of these came from our suspects?”

“We executed warrants on their homes, vehicles, and work places, and found a combined forty-two firearms,” Skinner explained. “I’m going to take them up to the lab now to have them processed.”

“Forty-two,” she said as he walked off. “I have a feeling that we caught them just in time. Villarreal was right, with that much firepower behind them, it was only a matter of time before things evolved further and a home owner was killed.”

R
ilynne was frustrated when she walked out of the office just after ten. She had hoped upon arriving at work that at least one member on the crew would have been able to provide them with something useful. Although she was glad they had stopped the crime ring that had been evading arrest for two years, they were still no closer to discovering what happened to Shane Villarreal.

With no traffic on the roads, Rilynne pulled into her driveway in just under five minutes. She was hoping as she reached up to unlock the front door that her mother had not waited on her before eating.

“Sorry I’m so late,” she called out as she walked through the door. “I got caught up with the case and…” she trailed off as she walked into the living room and saw that her mother was not alone.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. Your friend Ben has been keeping me company.” Amber and Ben were sitting on the couch with half a dozen empty beer bottles in front of them. Rilynne couldn’t seem to form words, and instead looked back and forth from her mom and Ben with an amused smile. She finally shrugged and walked to the kitchen for more beers.

“Did you get anywhere with the case?” Ben asked as she handed him another.

“Err,” she said on a long groan. “The men we interviewing today all denied having anything to do with Shane’s death. They were also genuinely surprised when we told them that he had been a cop. I did get one of them to give up the names of the few members we haven’t caught yet, though.”

She drained half of her beer in one swig and leaned back in the chair across from the couch. “Don’t worry, sweetie,” her mom said. “If anyone can solve it, you can. You always do.”

Rilynne smiled and finished her beer. “Thanks, Mom. So, what have you too been talking about?” She looked back and forth between the two of them curiously. She had introduced them shortly after she moved to Addison Valley, but was surprised to see they had become so friendly.

“You,” Ben said with an impish grin. “You never told me that you were a cheerleader. Why have I not seen pictures?”

Rilynne rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Mom, thanks for that.” She turned back toward Ben. “And I made sure all of those pictures were destroyed long ago. Besides, it was only for a few months. It just wasn’t me. I’m not that peppy.”

He gave her a big smile and emptied the last of his beer. “I’ll get another round. Amber, another?”

“Sure.” As soon as he turned his back, Amber mouthed to Rilynne, “He’s so cute!”

Rilynne felt her cheeks growing warm and she couldn’t keep the smile off of her face. Amber saw it and chucked.

“So, Ben,” Amber said when he walked back into the room. “Tell me some more about yourself. Are you seeing anyone?” Rilynne felt as if her entire face was going to burst into flames. She just shot her mom a shocked look and sipped on her beer.

“Well,” Ben started, his ears flushing pink as his eyes flicked quickly to Rilynne before settling on Amber. “Work actually keeps me pretty busy. Not many women understand or put up with the hours.”

Amber leaned back with a smile on her face. It was a smile Rilynne knew only too well, her all-knowing smile. “That’s just a shame. It really does take a special kind of girl to accept that level of dedication. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find the right girl.”

Again his eyes shot toward Rilynne, and she couldn’t help but notice a smile slowly creeping across his face. As her cheeks started to burn again, she redirected her attention to her mother. “So, Mother, I never did ask what brought you to town. I thought you weren’t going to take your vacation until next month.”

“I decided to take it a little early.” She seemed to be amused by Rilynne’s sudden change of subject. “There was a big storm rolling in, so I thought I would come down here to enjoy a little more warm weather before winter starts.”

Ben finished the last of his beer and stood up. “Well, ladies, I have to be in early tomorrow, so I really should be heading home. Amber,” he held out his hand. “It was great to see you again. And you,” he turned toward Rilynne. “Lock the door behind me.” He gave her his familiar stubborn look.

“She still has problems with that one?” Amber asked as she followed Ben to the door. “I have been telling her for years she needs to keep it locked.”

“Thanks for ganging up on me,” Rilynne said. Ben just gave her a blissful smile and walked to his car.

“So how long was he here before I got home?” Rilynne asked as she took Ben’s seat on the couch.

“Oh, maybe two hours. He came by to drop off one of your boxes that had gotten left in his car when you moved. You know that boy is crazy about you, right?” she said bluntly to Rilynne. “Because he is.”

“I…It’s…” Rilynne couldn’t come up with a good response. “I know,” she finally said. “It’s just complicated.”

Amber contemplated her daughter’s answer before continuing. “What’s so complicated? He likes you, you obviously like him,” she said in her mother-knows-all tone. “It seems pretty simple to me.”

Rilynne sighed. “It’s just…” she trailed off.

“Christopher?” Amber asked. She didn’t need to wait for Rilynne to respond before continuing. “Christopher’s gone, sweetheart. And he wouldn’t have wanted you to mourn for him forever. Things are different now; you’re officially a widow, and nothing’s going to change that. You should let yourself be happy.”

“I know, Mom, but it’s not just that. I have to take work into consideration as well,” she said.

“You told me the no-fraternization rule had been lifted.”

“It has,” said Rilynne. “But we work together, closely. What about when things go bad? It would be hard enough to run into an ex-boyfriend around town every now and then, but to have to see him everyday at work, that’s just too much for anyone to take.”

Amber leaned forward and took her by the hand. “And what if things didn’t go bad?”

Rilynne didn’t know what to say, so she just laid her head down on her mother’s shoulder. After several minutes she was ready to speak again. “Telling Christopher about my…ability,” she searched for her words. “It was the hardest thing that I’ve ever done. And you remember how he responded. He thought I was crazy.”

“At first, but he loved you and he came around quickly.”

“But who’s to say that Ben would do the same thing. You know I could never be in a serious relationship and still keep my secret,” she stated. “You didn’t see how upset he was when he found out that I wasn’t honest with him about Derek Hartley. Then to find out that I’ve been spinning this monster of a web of lies; I don’t want to see that look in his eyes again.” When Derek Hartley had been found by hikers, Detective Wilcome had ordered them not to tell anyone, including members of the department, that he was actually still alive. When Ben found out that she had kept it from him, he made no effort to hide how hurt he was. Not because he had been left out of the loop, but because Rilynne had lied.

“You can’t live in solitude because of your gift,” Amber said gently. “If Ben’s truly the man I think he is, he’ll stand by you. And while he may be hurt, he’ll understand why you had to do what you did.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Rilynne said, squeezing her mother’s hand.

“So tell me more about this case.”

Rilynne leaned forward and groaned. “We tracked down the men responsible for the burglary ring. I spent the majority of the day interviewing them, but no one is standing out as Villarreal’s killer. Like I said, they all seemed genuinely shocked when we told them that he was an undercover police officer. With no evidence, it would be nearly impossible to determine which one, if any of them, killed him.”

“Well, what have you seen?”

“The only thing that I saw about the actually killing was Villarreal being shot. I haven’t seen anything relating to who was holding the gun.”

“Have you seen anything about the house he was found in? Anything that could tell you who would have known about it? Or about the beach house?” Amber asked.

“No,” she replied. “Most of what I have seen has been about Villarreal as a person. I think this thing with Christopher has got me a little messed up. All of my dreams lately have been in some way connected to him. I actually had one last week about him and Ben having a few beers out in the middle of the woods.”

“So your subconscious introduced your late husband to the man that you’re interested in,” her mom grinned at her. “Were they getting along?”

Rilynne nodded and took a swig of her beer. “Almost uncomfortably so.”

“Interesting,” Amber said. “So in a way, your dream was telling you that Christopher would approve of Ben.”

Rilynne sighed as she pulled her knees up to her chest. “Or it was just a dream about the two men that I have been closest to over the last few years doing what men do, drinking beers and chatting.”

“You can deny it all you want, sweetheart. But even your ‘normal’ dreams have never been without some kind of meaning. Have you ever started that dream journal that I suggested?” she asked. “I’m sure if you looked back at even your most mundane dreams, they would, in some way, be related to something you were working on, or something going on in your personal life.”

“That’s the last thing I need to do,” Rilynne replied. “What would happen if I wrote down everything I saw and someone found it? How would I explain that one away? They would probably assume that I was either a nut having violent dreams, or was in some way involved with the cases they related to.”

“That still doesn’t mean that you should ignore the dreams you have just because you don’t want to deal with them. Christopher’s gone now, and you obviously have a connection with Ben. Even your subconscious it telling you that.” Amber folded her arms and leaned back, examining Rilynne’s face. “I bet that wasn’t the only dream you’ve had about him. And I’m not talking about dreams related to his abduction or being in danger a few months back.”

Rilynne had never been able to hide anything from Amber. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought that Amber had some abilities of her own. She had even asked her about it once when she was young, but Amber just told her that it was all part of being a mom.

“That still doesn’t change the facts. You even told me yourself that it’s never smart to date people that you work with,” she explained. “Besides, you know that I don’t have the best track records with men. He’s the best friend I’ve had, well… since Christopher. I don’t want to do anything that could mess that up.”

Amber patted her gently on the knee, as if to say that she understood. “You know you will never be able to focus on seeing what you need to if your mind is other places. Why don’t you go soak in a hot bath, try to clear your mind, and see if anything comes to you? I’ll clean up out here.”

“You don’t have to do that, Mom,” Rilynne said as she stood up. “Just leave it here and I’ll take care of it in the morning. Do you need me to get you anything before I head to bed?”

“No thank you, sweetheart,” she replied. “I’m going to turn in soon myself.”

After giving her mother a hug, Rilynne walked to her room and started a bath. Sinking down into the steaming water made her want to fall asleep right there.

“Clear my head,” she said aloud to herself. She took in a deep breath, and tried to blow all of her thoughts away with it as it passed back through her lips. Despite her efforts, she could only keep her mind blank for mere seconds at a time before it drifted back to the sight of Ben and her mother when she walked in. She had been so distracted when she pulled in the driveway, that she hadn’t noticed Ben’s car in front of the house behind her mother’s rental.

Then her mind shifted to Christopher and the way that he used to make her feel.

She had met him her first week of college, and they had become instant friends. From the beginning, she felt like there was something different about him. Even before they had moved from friendship to a romantic relationship after college, she had considered telling him her secret. She had finally decided to tell him half way through their yearlong engagement. He didn’t take it as well as she had hoped. He ended up calling off the engagement for two days until he finally came around. Until that point, he had never done anything to hurt her. As she remembered that feeling, her bathroom disappeared in front of her.

Shane Villarreal was walking up the walkway to the house they had found him in, but he was not in the same clothes. The leaves on the trees were also a vibrant green, instead of the red and orange that they currently were. As he walked through the front door, he stepped onto a path of red and pink rose petals that had been lined by dozens of flickering candles.