Authors: Lorraine Nelson
As they approached the door, it opened, and
there stood Michael. His grim countenance said it all as he reached to help
As he stepped inside, another vehicle drew to a
halt in front of the house.
Blake Northrup, Luke’s friend, step down from the cab of his pickup and stride
toward them at a fast clip.
“We need to talk,” he said, including all of
them in that one statement.
“Come on in,”
“Is there some place we can talk privately?”
Blake asked.
“Are you here in an official capacity, Blake?”
asked Michael.
“Yes, but I’m also a family friend, as you well
know.”
“We can talk in the living room. I have no
secrets from my family,” said
Blake took off his coat and hung it on the coat
rack. “All right. Let’s get to it.”
“We have to put the groceries away first.
Perishables,” said Lacey in a tone that brooked no argument. She grabbed a
couple of bags and headed for the kitchen. The men followed suit. Soon the
girls joined them and Lynne, being ever the practical one, put on a pot of
coffee.
“Where’s Scott?” asked Blake. “I was told he was
here.”
“And I was told to replace him. He’s already left,”
Michael answered.
Blake nodded. “Good. What we discuss here today
will remain between us. Agreed?”
Silence reigned as everyone nodded his or her
affirmation.
The groceries stored away, they ended up sitting
around the kitchen table, sipping their coffees as if this was just a regular
visit.
Blake was the first one to break the tense
silence. He set his cup down and glanced at Michael. “First off, I’d like to
commend you on leading the investigation, even though all the evidence pointed
to
Michael nodded. “Thanks, Blake, and no, it hasn’t
been easy.”
“The commissioner called me this morning and
filled me in on what’s been going on. Of course, I knew most of it already,
thanks to Luke.” Blake turned his gaze on
which I’ve done.”
“Okay,”
“The
so you know what you’re up against. The
three males in this family that are true Mannings. Am I supposed to suspect my
brother or my nephew of setting me up? No way. I’ll go down for it if you need
a scapegoat, but you’d better have them run those tests again.”
“It’s already being done,” Blake assured him,
“but we need to keep our wits about us. I told the commissioner that I can and
will personally vouch for all three of you. And, Michael, it wasn’t my
intention to step on your toes, but she appointed me lead investigator in this
case going forward. I’ll work with you to find the truth. Are you okay with
that?”
“With or without you, I won’t stop until I find
the truth. So I’ve been demoted?”
“No, just as it pertains to this case. My position
as lead is more in the line of an official consultant capacity. Think of it as
protecting your integrity among those we work with. I have no intention of
returning to the department full-time, but for this case, I’ve made an
exception.”
“Then thank you, Blake. It’s good to have you on
board,” Michael said.
Blake took out a notebook and pen and opened it
to a clean page. “Lacey, is there a chance someone followed you from
previous beau that you’d rejected or one who still had hopes of winning your
affections?”
Lacey smiled. “We own and run a bistro in
customers flirt with all of us, but we’ve never taken them seriously.”
“So there’s not likely to be anyone charging
over here to make trouble for
“I wouldn’t think so.”
“Okay, then. Lacey, if you and the girls feel
uncomfortable at any time, please feel free to leave the room. The questions I’ll
be asking
are very personal.”
if Lacey wants to stay, that’s fine with me.”
“Be that as it may, I have no desire to hear of
your conquests,” she said as she pushed to her feet. “Come with me, girls. You
don’t need to hear this either.”
“Geesh! We always miss the juicy parts,” said
Rena good-naturedly as the girls rose to follow their mother.
“This isn’t a gossip session at a garden party,
Rena. Behave,” admonished Lynne.
“Sorry, Daddy. This is all so unreal. I guess I
forgot for a moment why they’re here,” she said, nodding toward Blake and
Michael.
“I’ll be fine,”
I’ve no doubt about that.”
Rena leaned in to give him a peck on the cheek
and then turned to Michael. “I still want to touch some stuff and see what
happens.”
Michael nodded in answer. “We’ll see.”
The men watched as the women left the room.
Blake gave Michael a considering look. “What was
that all about?”
“Whoever the killer is, we didn’t want him going
after Rena, so we’ve kept this part of the investigation quiet. Rena has been
having visions. She knew of the murder before it ever happened.”
“Wow! I don’t blame you for keeping that quiet.
It would definitely make her a target. So, what has she seen?”
Michael brought him up-to-date and told him of
her current wish, to touch something belonging to Walt or the murderer.
“It’s not a good idea to take her to the
station. Word gets around too fast,” said Blake.
“And the evidence isn’t allowed to leave the
building. So where does that leave us with regard to Rena’s abilities?”
“At a standstill. It’s too dangerous for her to
go public with a killer on the loose,” said
“My
thoughts exactly, and I’m sorry,
worked this case steady, but the
“I know you’ve done your best, Michael, and I’m
glad you’ve been able to keep Rena out of the reports. Now tell me, how can
this guy falsify
“That’s a tricky question. I haven’t had time to
research it much, but according to what I’ve learned so far, scientists have
found that a desired genetic profile can be constructed using standard biology
techniques without using actual tissue from that person,” said Blake.
“My knowledge of biology isn’t that great, but I’ll
be checking into it more if these new tests render the same results. I have
contacts in
“So the killer must have some kind of degree in
biology to make this work. Right?”
“Exactly. And that narrows the search down considerably,
once we have something to go on.”
“I still think Rena is our best bet. Her visions
have proved correct so far,” said Michael.
“Is there any harm that will come to her in
trying to force these visions?”
“I don’t have an answer to that,
“Walt’s personal belongings are still at the
station. I’ll sign them out and filch something to bring here. Then I’ll put it
back as soon as I can.”
“Blake, you can get into a load of trouble for
doing that,” warned Michael.
Blake just smiled. “What are they going to do?
Fire me? I don’t think so. Besides, I’ll be careful. No one else ever needs to
know.”
“All right. Let’s get to those questions you
had. You want me to make a list of every woman I’ve dated over the years?”
“Nope, just the ones you’ve bedded,” said Blake
with a grin.
“Then we’re looking at my early years. I was
pretty randy and wasn’t always responsible about using protection back then.”
“I’m ready. I need names, approximate dates, and
anything else you remember.”
to start. Recent years had all been focused on finding Lacey, and everyone who’d
come before meant virtually nothing to him.
One name came to him then another, and he began
relaying the information to Blake. A full hour later, he was finished. “That’s
it. That’s all of them. Now what?”
“Now we investigate these women and hope we find
something before the retested
Michael did the same and
“I just remembered. Winnie came up with a
different spin on things this morning. Blake, could it be that someone at the
station wanted your old position and is trying to hurt Michael by forcing him
to arrest a member of his family?”
Blake thought for a minute, and a huge grin
broke out. “Leave it to your mother to come up with an idea like that. It does
have merit though. I’ll check it out.”
“And,
that Blake is in charge of the investigation, I’ve been appointed as unofficial
bodyguard during the overnight hours. I’ll be back to help guard your family
when my shift ends. In the meantime, keep the doors and windows locked.”
“Thanks, Michael. We’ll be here.”
he locked up and rejoined his family. “Sorry to say, it doesn’t look good for
me, my lovelies.”
“Oh,
do we do?”
“All we can do is wait and hope the test results
were wrong.”
“Of course they’re wrong. You don’t even smoke,”
Lacey said, her words huffy, on the defensive.
“I’m just sorry this had to happen to spoil your
stay. I’ll understand if you ladies decide to return to
“Not a chance, Cameron Manning. You might have
given us open-ended tickets, but I’m not leaving when you need me the most.”
Lacey glanced at each of her girls in turn. “Girls, you staying or cutting
out?”
“I’m staying,” said Lynne.
“I’m not leaving either,” Abby said.
“I
can’t
leave,” said Rena. “Daddy and Michael need my help to catch this guy.”
“Then it’s settled. We’re staying. And when this
is over, you’d better make an honest woman of me, Mister Manning, because I
don’t intend to leave your side.”
proposing?”
“Yep! You got a problem with that?”
Lacey’s face was wreathed in smiles, her eyes
alight with secret wishes. “Not a one, Miss Kerrigan. I’d be pleased to have
you as my bride. I might even adopt these girls of ours if they’re willing to
carry my name after it’s been dragged through the mud.”
his family came together—really together—for the first time.
The End
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