Page 74 of A Flower for Angus

She arched an eyebrow. “Is there a real difference?”

He nodded sternly. “Aye, there is. Ye didn’t have to deceive me at all. Ye could have just been honest and mayhap I could have helped ye more. That excuse sounds like somethin’ I’ve heard before in yer dealin’s with yer past men. And I’ll tell ye the same thing I told ye then, that tactic may have worked with them, but it won’t fly with me.”

She watched him warily as she finished the last swallow of her coffee and set the cup on the desk. “Look, Angus, I am sorry. Okay? And I’ll try not to do it again. Now can I get a shower so we can get some food?”

His eyebrow stayed in its impossibly high stature almost in his hairline.

She managed not to roll her eyes. “Please?”

He finally conceded with a brief nod of his head as he received a notification text on his phone. Poppy made her escape and darted across the foyer, up the stairs, and into her bedroom without encountering anyone else in the house, much to her relief.

***

IN THE STUDY, ANGUSread the text from Vince asking him to call him when he could. Hitting the call button on the text, Vince’s voice came across the line.

“Is Poppy around? I tried to text her and she didn’t answer.”

“She’s getting’ a shower,” Angus replied. “What’s goin’ on?”

“They found Sarah Solano’s body this morning. It’s been made to look like a heroin overdose.”

“Cripes,” Angus swore softly. “Where?”

“In a dive motel down in south Chicago. Looks like she’s been hiding out. The coroner places the time of death around two days ago. The hotel manager called it in when someone started complaining about a smell coming from the room. She was registered under a fake name, but she’s been positively identified as Solano.”

“Sounds like they are still cleanin’ up,” Angus observed.

“Funny you should mention that. She left a suicide note saying she was tired of hiding, and that Nesbitt was the one who forced her to implicate Adrian in the death of his father. That Adrian really hadn’t been at home that day.”

“Which, according to Nesbitt, it wasn’t Adrian anyway. But it’s one more peg in the evidence against Nesbitt,” Angus murmured. “They’re settin’ her up for everythin’, aren’t they?”

“Running for cover sure enough. A dead woman can’t deny or testify.”

“Anythin’ else?”

“I finally tracked down the mechanic who worked on Poppy’s car. He said it looked to him like the brake line had been cut, but no one was asking about it. Since his opinion wasn’t required on the bill for the car, he didn’t worry about it. And he’s right to a certain extent. Even if he’d reported it, the police would most likely never have investigated it, or put it down to malicious mischief given what was going on at the time.”

“Understood,” Angus replied. “Any news on Ace Ducat?”

“I did find a paper trail leading to Florida and the rental home he’d been living in. I was one step ahead of the FBI and they are crawling all over it now. I know they won’t tell me what they find unless Morgan volunteers it. I don’t want to get my digital fingerprints on their radar so I’ll leave it alone from here on out. If she really did dump him in the bayou, it would be dumb luck if the body ever surfaced.”

Angus chatted with Vince until Poppy came into the study. “Here’s Poppy now, did ye still want to speak with her or do ye want me to pass on what ye told me?”

“Is that Vince?” Poppy asked, reaching for the phone.

“Aye.” He handed her the phone and waited patiently while the conversation was obviously all on Vince’s side until Poppy spoke up.

“Okay, well, thank you for checking it out, Vince. Let me know if you find out anymore.”

She hung up and handed Angus his cell phone back. “Well, that’s one less person missing,” she commented. “Poor Sarah, she didn’t deserve that. I’ll have to make sure her family gets a severance package. She wasn’t a junkie, no matter what anyone says. She was a mom with a nice husband and two young children who must be out of their minds with worry and grief.”

“Ye knew her personally?” Angus asked.

“Yes, I’d met her family at a couple of company parties. She was a nice person. It makes me wish I could shoot Nesbitt all over again,” she fumed.

Angus chuckled and hugged her. “Come on, wee one, let’s see if some food will quell that ferocious temper.”

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