Page 26 of Where Secrets Lie

His other hand went to his pocket again. That expression, half hope and half fear, returned. What was he thinking? She pulled her hand back. “I’ll clean up and make coffee since you made dinner.” She cleared the dishes and tableware and carried them into the kitchen. He’d cleaned up as he went, like usual, and all she had to do was load the dishwasher. The trash caught her attention. No. She put coffee beans in the grinder and removed the old filter with its grounds. It had to go into the trash though, so she pressed her toe on the lever to open the lid. No wine bottles were in the nearly empty bag when she dumped the filter into it, and she almost gasped with relief.

Of course he wasn’t drinking. The bottle last time had been a fluke. He didn’t even remember it. Her gaze cut to the recycling bin. Before she could stop herself, she lifted the lid and peeked inside. No bottles there either. But would he drink if he knew she was coming? No, he’d be careful. She moved to the pantry cabinet and found nothing but pasta and canned goods.

“Looking for something?”

She whirled with her hand to her throat. Heat rushed to her cheeks, and her tongue went dry. “Y-you scared me.”

“You still think I’m drinking, don’t you? Savannah, I’m not.”

His mouth flattened to a hard line, but his blue eyes held a depth of sadness that broke her heart. She couldn’t lie to him. “I’m sorry, Hez,” she whispered. “I’m worried.”

He regarded her with that heartbroken expression for a long moment as his hand went to his pocket again. He gave a slight shake to his head and pulled his hand out. “I think you’re right, and we should start counseling. We clearly have trust issues we need to resolve.”

When he left the kitchen, she exhaled and went on wobbly legs to sit on a stool at the island. What was she supposed to do—put on rose-colored glasses and ignore the past? She wished she could.

Chapter 15

Hez yawned and a shiver ran through him. A wintry gray drizzle fell outside the Justice Chamber’s drafty window. The chill clung to him despite the hot mug of coffee he held with both hands. Even the space heater in the corner hadn’t warmed him up.

He rose and stared out the window at his view of Legare Hall, the unfinished Gothic-style building that had fallen into decay. It was supposed to be Pierre’s greatest monument to himself, but the domed grand foyer had partially collapsed. The college had vague plans to convert it into student housing, but Hez didn’t see how they could ever afford it.

He shivered again and turned away. The cold wasn’t just external. He had felt it ever since he caught Savannah going through his trash last night. Every last detail had been perfect until that moment—especially the look in her beautiful green eyes when they talked about their future together. Even the weather had been perfect, allowing him to quickly move their dinner out to his balcony five minutes before she arrived. It seemed like the ideal moment to give her the ring he’d had in his pocket all night.

And then he made the mistake of following her into the kitchen.

He hadn’t slept much last night. The same unanswerable questions kept cycling through his mind. Would she always be searching the trash and checking his breath? What—if anything—could he do to make her trust him again? How could they get remarried if she didn’t trust him? He gulped his coffee and the hot liquid slid down his throat, but it did nothing to warm the icy bleakness in his heart.

An energetic young voice broke into his gloom. “Hi, Uncle Hez!”

He turned to see Simon walking in, an excited smile on his face. He carried a TGU thermal mug and a new binder with a carefully lettered label that saidJustice Chamber.

Hez couldn’t help smiling too. “Hi, Simon. I’ll make you something hot to go in that mug of yours.”

“Thanks, but Aunt Savannah already got me a hot chocolate at University Grounds. So when do we get started?”

“When the others arrive. Toni and Ed are in the same Civil Procedure class over at the law school, and it just got out a couple of minutes ago. Dominga should be on her way too.” As he was speaking, female laughter floated in from the hallway.

A moment later, the three students walked in together. Dominga had her hand on Ed’s arm and laughed at something he’d said. Toni trailed behind, wearing a knowing smile. She cast a curious glance at Simon, but she said nothing.

“Great to see everyone.” Hez gestured to Simon. “As you can see, our merry band has grown. This is my nephew, SimonLegare. His name might sound familiar to you in particular, Toni.”

Her brows went up. “Are you related to Jessica Legare? She was a big help in my investigation of the TGU Extension School.”

Simon beamed with pride. “I’m her son.”

Hez raised his mug to the former accountant. “Toni did an outstanding job. She uncovered a major fraud, which TGU’s management is working to fix. I have a good feeling about how that’s going to turn out.”

Toni smiled at the compliment. “Thanks, Professor Webster. Ms. Legare has already given me leads on three other potential scams. She’s been very supportive of the Justice Chamber.”

It felt strange to have Jess be very supportive of anything Hez did. Even when he defended her in a murder case, she had been so secretive and controlling that he had almost withdrawn. He was surprised at her level of cooperation now, but he shouldn’t be. They both had an interest in cleaning up the university’s finances, and Jess had the extra motivation of killing some of Pierre’s sleazy golden geese in the process. Hez needed to learn to trust her.

“That’s terrific. Open new case files if you haven’t already and load any documents you receive. Simon can help you with scanning.” Simon opened his binder and wrote down his assignment. Hez turned to the other two. “Ed and Dominga, how’s your investigation going?”

“Not quite as fast as Toni’s.” Ed nodded to his fellow law student. “But we’re making good progress. Dominga searched gallery listings, and she found five pre-Columbian artifacts with TGU provenance documents—and two of them werepreviously unknown Huacho wood masks. I suspect they’re currently looting a rich mother lode of items. She checked with Professor Guzman, who confirmed that the documents were forged. One of the forgeries is dated less than a month ago.”

Hez straightened. “So after Beckett Harrison’s arrest and Professor Andersen’s disappearance? Are you sure?”

Ed pressed his lips into a grim line and nodded. “Your hunch was correct. The smuggling is still going on, and it’s ramping up. Valuable items are being lost to the underbelly of the black market.”

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