Chapter Eleven
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The young female assistant ushered Zach into his brother-in-law Mayor West Anderson’s office. Zach’s appearance wasn’t a surprise as West had asked him to stop by on his way back to the station.
“Come in.”
Zach pushed open the heavy oak door and stepped into West’s office. Anderson was all business normally but he did have a photo of his wife Gigi – Zach’s sister – and their new baby son on the desk. The new daddy looked like he could use some extra sleep.
To Zach’s surprise, Jason Anderson was sitting on the edge of his little brother’s desk. A cup of coffee was in one hand and a file folder in the other.
“Come in,” West said again. “Help yourself to some coffee, although I should warn you that I made it. My assistant is a tea drinker and hers is even worse.”
Helping himself to the coffee, Zach added plenty of cream and sugar. Just in case it really was bad. “It can’t be any worse than what we have at the office. That stuff will strip the varnish from your furniture.”
Laughing, Jason took another sip of his own coffee. “Bad coffee is part of law enforcement. It’s practically a tradition.”
Zach settled into the chair across from West. “So you wanted to see me?”
Jason rolled his eyes at Zach’s tone. “West wanted an update and I thought it would be easier for you to update me and him all at once.”
“I appreciate that.” Zach rubbed at his tired eyes. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Actually he’d slept zero hours.
Folding his hands on the desk in front of him, West’s expression was somber. “I don’t like murder in Tremont and I like a killer on the loose even less. Do we have any suspects?”
“A bunch of them. Too many, in fact. Pretty much everyone at the reunion last night, although luckily most of the guests had left before the estimated time of death. It should make things a little easier. I’m headed back to the office now to start putting together a report of everyone’s whereabouts—the ones I have, anyway. There are still several people to be accounted for.”
Jason picked up a piece of paper with handwriting on it. “Troy Wallace and Darrell Madison are the main suspects, correct? Have you talked to them yet?”
Zach had a feeling Jason already knew the answer to that. Who had done the talking? The medical examiner? A patrolman? “We can’t find them. We have a BOLO out for both. We’ll get them and bring them in. However, I think we need to act cautiously here. While they are suspects for Drew’s death, they don’t have much connection to Carole or Bitty.”
“But you’re looking for one?” West asked.
Rubbing his chin, Zach nodded. “Yes, but it’s early in the investigation. Things can change quickly as you know.”
West sat back in the oversized leather chair. “That’s true. Have we heard anything from the lab?”
“The lab is working on the broken champagne bottle and if there are prints, that should point us in the right direction.”
Jason pulled out his phone and began typing into it. “The state lab can take a long time to get you those results. I’ll see what pressure I can put on them.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
There was more West wanted to say. Zach could see it in the other man’s eyes. What was holding him back? Something was definitely going on.
Fiddling with a pencil, West took his time before speaking. “My sister was there last night.”
Ah, this is about Leann.
“She was,” Zach confirmed, instantly wary. He didn’t know where West was going with this line of questioning but he was smart enough to know this meeting wasn’t a casual sit down about Drew Marshall’s death. It was much more.
“Jenna is a good friend of Leann’s.”
Zach could only agree. Again. “That was apparent from how they interacted.”
“I’m sure she’s devastated for Jenna.”
West was playing Captain Obvious this morning and Zach hadn’t had a wink of sleep. He wasn’t in tip-top shape to play this game but he could make vague, obvious statements too.
“She is, of course.”
West nodded. “It’s just that…well…Jason and I were talking…”
The older brother’s head popped up and he grinned, shaking his head. “No, you don’t. Do not drag me into this with you. This is all your show. I’m staying out of it.”
Was Zach about to get the “stay away from my sister” speech? No one knew the “guy code” better than he did. Leann was the little sister and that meant she was off limits. End of story. That’s why he’d been staying as far away from her as possible despite his growing attraction. She wasn’t just gorgeous, she was also smart and funny too.
“We don’t have to do this,” Zach said. “I get it. Leann’s out of bounds.”
West’s cheeks turned pink and he shifted in his seat. “It’s not that we don’t like you, Zach. We do. Shit, you’re family, man. This isn’t a lecture about keeping your grubby paws off of our sister.”
But that’s exactly what it was.
“But I need to do that.”
Apparently Jason had had enough of his brother’s fumbling. “As far as I’m concerned, all you need to do is keep Leann safe. Anything else is between you and her.”
West scowled at Jason. “Of course you need to stick close to Leann and keep her safe, but not too close, if you know what I mean.”
Zach kind of enjoyed West’s discomfiture. “You mean close like you are with Gigi? My sister? Like that close?”
Laughing, Jason stood and refilled his coffee. “He’s got you there, little brother. You’re doing all manner of things to his sister.”
“We’re married,” West sputtered, the color on his cheeks deepening to red. “It’s different.”
“You weren’t always married,” Zach pointed out. “The only saving grace you had when I met you is that you were keeping Gigi safe. Otherwise I would have pounded you into the ground.”
Jason lounged back against the credenza and grinned. “I can’t begin to tell you how much fun this conversation is. West warning Zach off for exactly what he himself did. Pot and kettle.”
Zach shook his head. “Not exactly. I haven’t touched your sister.”
“Do you want to?” West growled, the pencil he’d been playing with snapping in two pieces.
“Let’s take a breath here,” Jason suggested, straightening from his perch and settling into a chair next to Zach. “We’re all family and we need to start acting like it. Zach, if you want to start something with Leann then don’t let me or this asshole stop you. God knows you’re better than most of the guys she’s dated, not that we’ve seen all of them since she moved but we’ve seen and heard enough. We know you’ll do everything in your power to keep her safe and treat her well. Right, West?”
The younger brother sighed. “Right. We know that you’re a good guy. It’s just she’s our little sister…”
“I get that,” Zach replied quickly, not sure he wanted to have this discussion. He was attracted as hell to Leann and there were times he thought the feelings were returned but he couldn’t be positive. “Listen, I’m not sure anything is going on between us and while I’m protecting her isn’t the best time to find out. Maybe after we catch this guy she and I can talk about it.”
West sat back in his chair, seemingly satisfied with Zach’s response. “That’s all I’m saying. Take your time. Don’t rush into anything.”
“What West is saying,” Jason replied as if his brother hadn’t spoken at all, “is that this is none of our fucking business and you two are grown adults who don’t need us to tell you what to do. But if you break her heart? You’ll wish you’d never been born. Got it?”
West had frowned when Jason started speaking but now he was grinning ear to ear. These Anderson boys were a real piece of work. West was lucky that Gigi was so happy. Zach wouldn’t mind reminding the mayor that he was twice as big and could put a hurt on West that he wouldn’t forget in a hurry.
“Message received. Are we done here?”
The two brothers nodded and Jason stood, following Zach out onto the sidewalk.
“I meant what I said back there. Don’t worry about West. He’s always been like this, overly protective of Leann. They’ve butted heads more times than I can count but his heart is in the right place.”
Zach studied his employer and the sentiment seemed genuine, which surprised him. Jason didn’t seem to have an issue with the foster kid romancing his sister. That was a shock.
“Right now it’s all business,” Zach responded. “Your sister is probably just tolerating me at this point.”
Jason palmed his car keys. “Time will tell. Call me later and update me. Don’t worry about calling West. I’ll keep him in the loop. Just keep my sister alive. I don’t care what you have to do. Don’t let her out of your sight.”
That was the plan. “I’m headed there right now.”
Romance was tempting but it was going to have to take a back burner to protecting Leann. If anyone wanted to hurt her they were going to have to go through him.
* * *
Jason strolled back into his brother’s office after Zach drove away. He and West needed to have a talk. As usual, he wasn’t seeing the big picture here and Jason was going to have to draw him a map.
“I thought you’d left,” West looked up from his paperwork in surprise. “Have you come here to tell me that you only temporarily lost your mind and that you warned Zach away from our sister after all?”
Flopping down into a guest chair, Jason had to rein in his impatience. Hopefully once he explained all of this to his brother he’d be on board.
“I have not,” Jason replied flatly. “What I have come back to do is straighten your ass out. Now listen to me. Do you or do you not want Leann to move back home?”
“I do,” West answered, tapping his pencil—a new one—against the desk. “We all do.”
“That’s right. Now follow me and think about it before you shoot off at the mouth again. If Leann and Zach become a couple, what do you think might happen?”
West’s mouth fell open and his eyes widened.
“Exactly,” Jason stated, a smile coming to his own face. “There’s a decent chance Leann will move home. She gets a good man to take care of her and we get her back in Tremont. Do you follow me?”
His younger brother threw up his hands. “How did I not think of this myself? It’s fucking brilliant.”
“Don’t beat yourself up too much. I didn’t think of it myself until a few days ago, but this could be just what we need to lure her back home. I think she likes Zach a lot and I know he likes her. You can tell when they’re in the same room with each other. Now we just need to encourage that and what better way than to push them together? I told Zach not to let her out of his sight.”
“They’ll either fall in love or end up hating each other.”
“Let’s hope it’s the former and not the latter. Then she might never come back.”
West stroked his chin. “Do you really think they like each other?”
“No doubt in my mind. The way they were looking at each other at the memorial service was obvious. They’re attracted but Leann’s too shy to make the first move and Zach wouldn’t do it because of me and his job. Now that I’ve lifted that barrier, hopefully he’ll let his feelings be known.”
Smiling, West pulled a bottle of whiskey out of his bottom drawer plus two glasses. “Damn, this is going to be great. Leann finally coming home. It’s been too long. You’re a genius.”
“Damn right I am.”
Zach and Leann would fall in love, get married, and settle down in Tremont. They just needed a little bit of encouragement and the plan was foolproof.