Page 64 of Out to Get Her
“Yes, sir.” Erin saluted with a grin.
“McFly!”
“Ugh, Marty,” Erin growled. “Enough.”
The storm had them all on edge. Marty especially. But Samantha noticed Erin’s patience with the bird’s noise was also dwindling.
“The vet was talking about some study the other day,” Zack said, while he diced cheese. “Apparently, just hearing birds boosts your mood or something. For like eight hours.”
Erin rolled her eyes dramatically. “Surely they didn’t mean Marty.”
“I don’t know,” Samantha said. “I feel like I’m in a better mood around him.”
Never mind that being around Marty meant she was also around Erin. That seemed a key element in this particular equation.
Marty aside, Samantha couldn’t remember the last time she felt this happy. Especially with a group of people. The only gatherings she made time for were family dinners or holidays. Those gatherings felt more like work. But with Zach and Erin, this was more like what a family should feel like.
Here, with these two, Samantha’s shoulders relaxed a little. She felt like she could be herself here. No walls up. No playing a role. She was just… Samantha.
Erin put a hand on Samantha’s and nodded her head toward the hall. “Want me to show you that bookcase?”
“Bookcase?” She was still swimming in good family vibes and didn’t want to come up for air. But she’d follow Erin and her smile anywhere.
“That’s where I found the prescriptions,” Erin said. “And a whole lot of other junk.”
“Sure. That would be great.”
More than great.
It was the reason Samantha had been able to justify staying here through the storm. Shewantedto stay here for a bunch of other reasons, so checking out the scene of the crime and the evidence she hadn’t been able to see for herself made a great excuse.
Especially since that evidence was now missing.
Samantha ignored that pit in her stomach and followed Erin down the hall into the late Mr. Sonnier’s bedroom, where Samantha was riding out the storm. Dexter met them at the door with a flurry of yaps, but he settled once Samantha picked him up and shushed him.
When she returned him to the floor, he scurried off to lie down in his bed, and Samantha met Erin in front of her grandfather’s overflowing but meticulously organized bookshelves.
“You found them stuffed in here?”
“Yes, but more importantly…” Erin pulled out a book, showing Samantha the cover.The Colour of Magicby Terry Pratchett. Then she opened it, revealing a neatly carved hole in the middle section of the pages.
“Oh, wow!”
“Yup,” said Erin. “They were all stuffed in here. Which explains why Paul didn’t find them, even if he’d had plenty of time to look before he was murdered. Grandpa loved his books, but he loved thinking he was clever even more.”
“But why would your grandfather hide his unused prescriptions?” Samantha realized she had never asked a very important question for an answer she would have known if she’d had a chance to look at that evidence before it walked off her desk. “How many prescriptions are we talking about?”
Erin’s eyes grew wide. “Alot. More than anyone should need.” She chuckled. “Or that insurance would pay for.”
“Why would he have so many if he wasn’t filling them or taking the meds?”
“I have no idea,” Erin said. “His medicine cabinet is practically empty. Regular anti-inflammatories and over-the-counter stomach stuff. Supplements in the kitchen for achy joints. That’s all. From everything he told me on our calls, he was in good health up until the heart attack.”
There was an extra weight to Erin’s last statement. Guilt, if Samantha had to guess. As much as Erin hated this town, Samantha knew what her grandfather had meant to her. Not knowing what was going on with him and how he landed in the middle of all this was probably eating her up.
“Do you remember what the prescriptions you found were for?”
Erin hesitated, maintaining eye contact. It was clear she didn’t want to say whatever was about to come out of her mouth.
