Page 24 of Investigate Away
He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I’m going to get the paper. I just have to go into the office for a few hours today. I thought maybe we could break out the Harley and take a ride.”
“I think I’d like that,” she said with a smile. “You’re a dangerous man, Jag.”
“Why? It’s not me that will be between your legs. It’s my bike.”
“You are a pig.” She slapped his shoulder.
He shrugged as he made his way to the front porch. He pulled open the door and bent over for the paper. When he lifted it from the ground, two envelopes spilled out onto the wood deck. One had his name on it. The other had Callie’s.
Fuck.
He did a quick scan of the area before he pulled out his cell and found Jenna’s contact information. She was probably still in the office. “Hey, Callie. Bring me a pair of gloves. They’re under the sink.”
“Okay,” she called.
“What’s up, Chief?” Jenna asked.
“I think I might have a situation at my place. I need you to head over with a couple of evidence bags.”
“Please tell me we’re not going to have to call the CSI team again.”
“I can’t make that promise,” he said. “See you soon.” He tucked his cell in his back pocket.
“What’s going on?” Callie pressed a hand on his back. “Oh. What are those?”
He took the gloves. “We’re about to find out.” He glanced around one more time, making sure nothing looked out of the ordinary. And nothing did. Of course, his security system recorded all entrances and kept those recordings for forty-eight hours, so he should be able to see who dropped off this little gift.
“I don’t like that people know I’m staying here,” she said. “I mean, Bailey has a big freaking mouth. I can only imagine what she’s telling people. I should have never met with her.”
“No. I think you did the right thing. People are talking and speculating. I’m actually thinking you might want to call Jackie now and set something up. Do it live. Beat Bailey at her own game. We could do it together.” Did all that just come out of his mouth? His mother was going to have his hide, and if he were a teenager, his father would take the car keys and ground his stupid ass.
But he was a grown man, and for the last year, he’d been hiding out on this island, isolating himself, living with ghosts, yearning for the living and wishing he could find a way to make up for the past.
Maybe this was it.
Carefully, he picked up both envelopes and brought them into the kitchen. “Does the handwriting look familiar?” He studied it for a moment. The letters were block style and bold. It reminded him of his own handwriting when he was trying to be as neat as possible.
“Yeah. Yours.”
He chuckled. Taking a butter knife, he sliced open each of the casings. Three round pendants fell from both.
“Those look like they go to charm bracelets or something,” he said.
There were two matching gold ones.
Two matching silver ones.
And two matching rose gold ones.
“Are those ravens etched into the charms?” Callie asked.
“Looks like it. Do they mean anything to you?” Using the knife, he pushed all six charms around on the table, lining them up in two rows, equal distance apart. “Other than the obvious creepiness of ravens to begin with, they could be considered trinkets, not charms.”
A tap at the front door made them both jump.
She grabbed his biceps and gasped.
“It’s just Jenna,” he said, letting out a puff of air. “Do you mind putting on a pot of coffee?”
