Page 30 of Seven Deadly Sins

She yanked open the passenger side door and slid into her seat. “Do you know the way?”

“GPS.” He slipped his phone into a holder on the dash. “Twenty minutes, fifteen if we speed.”

She laughed and put the revolving light on the roof of her jeep. “Have at it.”

He pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant in fourteen minutes. Once, he’d complain about Harper’s need for speed, now he seemed to enjoy it as much as she did.

Side-by-side, they approached where a man in a nice suit lay crumbled against a Jaguar. His open hand held Harper’s business card. A brunette sniffed and dabbed her eyes from near the building’s door, while a blond sobbed on the chest of a dark-haired man.

“Did anyone see anything?” Harper asked the police officer standing next to the body.

“Nobody saw anything. Two couples out to dinner. One stepped outside to smoke. When he’d been gone too long, his buddy went to check on him and found him here. Best I can tell, a car rammed him against the Jaguar, then sped away. Man’s name is David Alexander. The brunette is his wife.”

“Hmm.” Harper studied the ground. No sign of skid marks. No sign that someone had tried to stop before running the man down.

She eyed the large glass windows along the front of the building. A popular restaurant and no one saw anything? She knelt next to the body. The corner of a pamphlet stuck out from under him. She pulled a rubber glove from the pocket of her jacket and pulled it over her hand before slipping the pamphlet free.

She stared at the word Cancer written in bold red letters on a black background. The subtitle read,You’ve got it, now what? What’s the next step?

Straightening, she handed it to Liam. “Might be related, might not. Doesn’t look as if it’s been out here long. It rained earlier today which would have ruined the pamphlet.”

Liam slid it into a paper sack and handed it to the other officer. “I’m not noticing a different color of paint on the Jaguar’s dent. Whatever hit him had to be the same color. Want to speak to the wife, or shall I?”

“We’ll both go.” Although, she doubted they’d get anything from them.

They approached the three standing next to the restaurant. “Mrs. Alexander?” Harper stopped in front of the brunette. “Mind if we ask you a few questions?”

“I’ve already told the officer we didn’t see anything.” Her voice broke. “We were celebrating tonight.”

“What’s the occasion?”

“We sold off a significant property for a large sum of money.” The other man gave a heavy exhale. “I’m Stan Reynolds, David’s partner.”

“Any hard feelings about the sale?” People had killed for less than business.

“No. We hadn’t made a formal announcement yet.”

The blond woman’s wails increased. A bit overkill for someone not the man’s wife in Harper’s opinion. The wife barely sniffled in comparison.

Harper motioned her head for Liam to follow her. “Nothing more we can do here. This isn’t our crime.”

He slid into the driver’s seat. “Get the feeling blondie and the victim might have been close? The wife could’ve figured it out and hired someone to off her husband.”

“That’s quite the stretch.” Harper tilted her head. “But it’s up to HPD to figure this one out.”

“I’m beat. I’m sure we’ll have our own dealings soon enough. Why your business card, though, and what’s up with the pamphlet on cancer?” He turned the jeep toward Oakdale.

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” She stared out the passenger window. Her gut told her they’d be getting involved in solving the man’s death. Her head told her it didn’t make sense to get involved without more reasons. But" she’d learned a long time ago to trust her instincts. Now, they waited for the reason.

Liam stopped in front of his hotel. “Good night.”

“Good night.” She got into the driver’s seat. “See you tomorrow.” She watched him enter the room on the second floor before driving home.

Guilt ate at her that she actually hoped for the Seven Deadly Sins Killer to pop up again so Liam wouldn’t leave. She hadn’t realized how lonely she’d gotten until working with him every day for the last few weeks.

She pulled her vehicle into the garage, cut the engine, and entered her house. She punched in the security code before the alarm could sound and set her keys and weapon on the kitchen island.

As was her usual routine, she went through the house checking doors and windows. Confident her home was secure, she kicked off her shoes, discarded her jacket, and then poured herself a glass of wine before padding to her bedroom to get into something more comfortable.

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