Chapter 4
As soon as Jace left, Emily couldn’t get the idea out of her mind to visit the site of the two men’s drowning. She often went out in the field for things related to work. But this time it was personal. She considered asking for a day or two off work, but they were swamped. And seriously so. Now was not a good time.
It was never a good time for a death in the family, though they were no longer family. She’d had no contact with them since she broke off the relationships with each of the three men. Although she hurt for the family, those weren’t close deaths as far as the company was concerned. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t well within the scope of her job to take a look at the accident site. She burrowed deeper into the files. The more work she got done the better. She could leave early if she got something more accomplished.
By the time she lifted her head, it was late already. She groaned and looked outside. Being summertime, the sun was still above the trees. It’d probably take close to an hour to get to the river location. She didn’t want to leave it until tomorrow. She shut down her computer, got up, grabbed her purse, and walked out.
She waved at Wilson, who was still in his office, talking on the phone. He looked like he was having a hard time. Often these late-in-the-day phone calls came from the head office.
She knew the company had taken some serious hits with all the flooding across the state. And it would continue for months. Still she couldn’t do anything but churn through the paperwork as fast as she could. They had investigators going from place to place, looking at the damage and sending in reports. Other staff processed those as well. But she was the one with the suspicious cases.
She hadn’t talked to Ice yet, but, after seeing Jace this morning, she figured there wasn’t anything important to report or Ice would have contacted Emily herself.
First she drove toward Lyle’s house. It only took fifteen minutes to get through traffic. She parked on the same street, got out, and walked. Bloodstains remained on the pavement where he’d supposedly been run over. She stood and stared. Thinking that she’d almost married him was even more upsetting.
She turned to study the house where he’d lived with Sicily. It was a simple clone of the houses on either side. She’d never thought he’d like that style of home. But then she hadn’t expected him to be enthralled with the idea of that whole marriage scenario either, yet he’d proposed to her out of the blue and with great enthusiasm. She didn’t know when he had decided she wasn’t enough and that his current wife was a much better pick. His decision had certainly turned her off of marriage. He, on the other hand, had jumped into it quickly, and they’d managed six months of wedded bliss. She was happy for him. Glad to hear he’d been happy at the end. For a time there, she’d been anything but happy.
She had been devastated and angry. How did one handle coming home to find her fiancé in bed with a strange woman? She’d gone downstairs and made coffee. The girlfriend had walked out with a big smirk on her face. Her fiancé had come down and apologized profusely. When she didn’t give in, he swore at her. Called her names. Said it was her fault. She shook her head at the memory. According to him, she was the unreasonable one. If that was what made her unreasonable, then she’d accept that.
The fact that he was several steps out of sync with reality wasn’t something he was prepared to look at. But after he’d done some screaming, then he’d calmed down and asked for a few of his things that were still in her house. She’d left those out on the front step. Not wanting to stay there—thankfully it was a rental, with a month-to-month lease—she’d packed up and moved to an apartment. The bad memories were too much for her.
She turned her gaze to the neighborhood, then brought out her camera and took several images. A vehicle was parked in the driveway of his house. She walked past it and took an image, capturing the license plate and the make and model. If she could do one thing for him, it was to make sure his insurance was paid out correctly. He’d always been a big one for insurance. Maybe that could have been some of the attraction he’d felt toward her.
Did he have any inkling he would die so young?
She wasn’t up to talking to Sicily, Lyle’s widow, right now. If ever. As it was, Emily didn’t want Sicily to see her walking up and down the street. She had every right to be here, but that wouldn’t make Sicily feel any better. And Emily wasn’t here to cause trouble. She was here to make sure there was no trouble.
Back in her vehicle she sat in the driver’s seat, pulled up her notes, and jotted down the thoughts coming to her. The vehicle in the driveway bothered her. She already knew Sicily was a cheater, so Emily had to wonder if another boyfriend was already in the mix.
As she watched, Sicily, still as pretty as ever, came outside with a young man in tow. At the SUV he bent down and kissed her gently on the lips, got into the vehicle, and drove away.
“Wow. Now that is interesting.”
She shook her head and watched as Sicily stood, her fingers on her lips, staring after the vehicle. Then her gaze swept the area as if looking to see if anybody was watching. Instinctively Emily shrank down in her seat so she couldn’t be seen.
After a moment, Sicily turned and walked back inside. Emily jotted down the date, the woman’s actions, then started the car. In the back of her mind she wondered if this case was even related to the two drowning cases. Or had Sicily wanted to be free again? As well as gain a nice chunk of change at the same time?
Emily would look into the case a little further.
Next she headed to the river where the two cousins had lost their lives. She drove to the parking lot near one of the entrances to the path along the river. She wasn’t exactly sure where the accident happened, but, as soon as she got onto the path, she could see it easily enough. Scars still ran alongside the road from where the vehicles had gone into the river. Although the water had receded in many areas, the river was wider than normal, and the path had been washed away or was still underwater. She stood in awe of the power of Mother Nature. So much water was still here.
“Those poor men.”
She slowly walked along the new path created by the many people who had been to this area. It wasn’t anywhere near safe, but it was up out of the water and back a foot or two.
As she stared at the water, she realized that even being a strong swimmer wouldn’t have helped if they got caught up in any of the debris in the river. It wasn’t a nice thought, but she knew it happened all too often. These brave souls gave their lives to help others without a thought that they might be the ones who needed saving.
As she viewed the devastation, her mind crept forward to consider murder. Such a horrible thought. Especially in this case. Why would anybody do something like that to two volunteers here to help others?
It made no sense. She knew that humans were often twisted and what she thought people should be doing was not even on their radar. She wasn’t one to see the bad side of people, but it came with her career.
That somebody might have killed two unpaid rescuers … boggled her mind.
Up ahead was a lone woman, sitting on a large rock. Emily’s steps faltered. Was it her? She hadn’t seen Manila in a decade.
As Emily approached, the woman looked up and frowned. Her gaze went back to the river. Emily couldn’t help but feel she was intruding. As she walked closer, she asked, “Excuse me, are you Manila?”
The woman turned slowly to look at her, and she nodded. “I am. Who are you?”
Emily gave her a small smile and introduced herself. “Ronnie was my husband a long time ago, for a short while after high school.”
Manila didn’t just smile, all her wrinkles reformed into a breathtaking look. “Emily? How lovely to see you. Ronnie was so happy when he was with you.”
At that Emily smiled. “We were happy. We were young, and, for a while, we were happy.”
The smile fell off Manila’s face.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Manila,” Emily said, sitting next to Manila and squeezing her hand. “I came because I found it so hard to believe they are gone. Both were such strong men.”
Manila shook her head. “It shouldn’t have happened. They knew these waters like no one else. They grew up swimming in the river. They only became close as adults, but, once that bond was forged, … they were like brothers.”
“I’m so sorry.”
For a long moment the two women sat in silence, staring at the water that had taken their loved ones away. Finally Manila stood and said, “I have to go home. These old bones of mine don’t like the water as much anymore.”
Emily hesitated, wondering if she should say something to her. “Did the police talk to you about the accident at all?” she asked before Manila turned away.
Manila nodded. “They asked a few questions but not much. I spoke to a man earlier, told him it couldn’t have been an accident. That I wanted somebody to find the truth. And I’m afraid nobody can tell the truth because, when there’s a killer, he usually is as dark and deep and silent as these rivers.”
“Why would anybody want to kill those two men?” Emily asked softly, barely keeping her tears back.
Manila raised her eyes, displaying an ageless despair. “I don’t know. I can’t think of any reason except jealousy, rage, and greed.” On that odd note, she turned and slowly walked back up the hill.
Emily could only stand and stare, tears in her eyes. Please let these men not have met foul play. That would be so much more painful for this family to bear.
*
As Jace and Logan drove back to the hotel later that night, their headlights shone bright in the darkness outside. Jace picked his foot off the gas pedal as he headed into a curve. “This job seems like it’ll be more of a paper chaser.”
Logan snorted. “This isn’t the type of job we usually get, working with Levi and Ice. But, yeah, a paper-chasing job isn’t for me at all. Ice, Sierra, and Sienna will have a heyday with this one.”
“Maybe,” Jace said thoughtfully. “We need to talk to somebody from TxSAR, see if there’s any chance these men could’ve been murdered in front of the rest of the team.”
“That’s the part that bugs me. If they were all together as a group, surely somebody would’ve seen something. I hate to say it, but I’m thinking it must be another male—and most likely one of the other volunteer members.”
“I was trying to avoid thinking about that. It goes against the grain to think that somebody would kill another team member.”
“But just because we’re all close, we’ve still seen other units that did not jive well. And often one person was at odds with everyone.”
“That’s true enough. But, more often than not, we were at odds with the brass, not with each other,” Jace joked.
Logan nodded. “Ice will have a connection within TxSAR. We have to find out who was at the scene and interview them ourselves.”
“That’s tomorrow’s agenda.”
Jace’s phone rang. Keeping an eye on the road, he pulled it from his pocket and checked to see who it was. He handed his cell over to Logan. “I don’t recognize the number. Answer it for me?”
Logan put the phone on Speaker and said, “Hello, who’s there?”
“Who is this?” Emily said, her voice suspicious.
Logan shot Jace a wicked grin. “It’s Logan. Jace is driving, but the phone is on Speaker, so he can hear you.”
“Emily, what’s up?” Jace asked. He let a silly grin slip out. It was dark, and nobody could see it anyway. Besides it was good to hear that voice. If she ever went into sales, she’d make a killing.
“I just left the river site. I talked to Manila. She seems to think something is wrong here.”
“I know. I spoke to her myself. Remember? Yet she had no evidence of any wrongdoing.”
“Maybe but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any to find.”
She hung up before Jace could say anything else. Under his breath he whispered, “Damn.”
“That voice of hers …” Logan said.
“I know.” Jace grinned. “Now what?”
The two glanced at each other, and Logan shrugged. “We wait … again.”
“So much of what we do is waiting.”
“But when the action hits, it hits hard and fast,” Logan said in a delighted tone. “Best damn job ever.”
Jace chuckled. “I can’t argue that.”
“You haven’t been doing this for very long. Neither have I, but I’ll tell you. Rhodes, Merk, and Stone started with Levi, and it’s been rock ’n’ roll since day one.”
Jace liked the sound of that. To have the same team you cared about being at your side when you helped the rest of the world, well, a lot to be said for that. “You like being a hero,” he said to Logan.
At that Logan snorted. “Don’t let Levi hear you say that.”
“Too late. I mentioned something about it on the first day. Hadn’t realized it was such a taboo word.”
“The women love it,” Logan said. “Levi is not so hot on it. He’s afraid he’s turned the compound into a matchmaking service.”
“Well, there is a hell of a lot of partnering at the compound.”
“Yes, but Michael found his outside the compound.” Logan grinned as he looked at Jace. “And she’s not living there either. Mercy’s got a place in town, so he’s been back and forth.”
“The last discussion I heard, he bought the land next door to the compound, is building a house for him and Mercy, plus has rented a house in the town closest to the compound. So they could stay at either place, both commuting a few minutes either way.”
“Makes sense. Michael would find it very hard to be caged in with everyone else living in the same house on the compound,” Jace admitted.
“He’s also trying to sell off his old place. Once he gets that deal done, he’ll be in a position to turn around and buy something much bigger,” Logan added. “I know that Levi would like to keep him close.”
“Michael was part of my unit. As was Tyson.”
“And Rory too, right?”
Jace glanced at Logan. “What do you know about Rory?”
“Levi’s looking for men to tap. Michael suggested he ask Rory.”
“Rory would be good. And, yeah, he’s one of my old unit too. They’re all good men.”
Logan nodded. “That’s how we all feel. At this point, Levi has more ex-military than any other company going.”
“That’s because he’s easy to deal with. It’s work that we love to do, that we’re trained to do, and that we’re good at.” He shrugged. “A marriage made in heaven. But, if any of those women start decorating that damn place with wedding bells, I’m getting the hell out of there.”
“You know? That’s one thing that hasn’t happened yet. There’s been lots of talk of partnering. But nobody’s mentioned marriage. I’m waiting for the first woman to get pregnant.”
“Can you imagine the compound full of kids?” Jace said. “It boggles the mind.”
“Alfred would be in heaven.”
“Maybe. But our lifestyle is hardly conducive to family living.”
“No. But the compound is as close to that as I think we’ll ever get. Everyone safe, happy, and well loved. Lots of properties around the compound. Those who want their own space can have it,” Logan said. “Not everybody needs to be there. I spend a lot of time on my dad’s estate because he’s aging.”
Jace pulled up outside the hotel. “Anna’s business is getting bigger and bigger all the time,” he commented. “It’s pretty amazing the kind of animal rescue work she does.”
“I know. My father and Levi both contribute to the place on a regular basis.”
“That’s good to know. It’s a worthy cause,” Jace said. “I know there was talk about building some more pens or something for her this weekend.”
“If we’re not still working this case, yes. But chances are, you and I will still be in Austin, working.”
“I’m all for that. But, if I’m home, I like to be busy too.”
“You won’t have to say that twice. Something always needs to be done. I think Alfred’s even talking about a garden now. So, if you open your mouth at the wrong time, you can be doing all kinds of shit work.”
Jace grinned. “You know? That doesn’t sound half bad. As a matter of fact, it sounds damn good.”