Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Hope’s eyebrows went up in surprise.
Griffen sent me a look.
I shook my head. “I think you should stay.”
I’d been an idiot, pushing her away, but I’d done it because I felt so much for her. I didn’t want her to walk—not now, not later, not ever—which meant I had to stop shutting her out.
“I don’t want you to go,” I said, “unless you want to.”
She resettled Stella in her arms and shook her head. “I don’t want to go.”
“All right, then,” Griffen said. He glanced at his phone screen. “Hawk is headed here. Billy Bob are on the way with a jackhammer. Call Edgar—let’s see what he knows.”
Hope stabbed her finger at the phone screen, and the sound of the ring filled the room.
“What is it, Hope?” Edgar’s gruff voice said through the speaker.
“Uncle Edgar, I have a question. I’m wondering how good your memory is.”
I grinned at how well Hope knew her uncle, to start with a challenge that would get him engaged.
“My memory is sharp as a tack,” he said, and a tiny smile curved the side of her mouth.
“We’ve got some invoices,” she explained. “Savannah and I are going through old household paperwork. She’s found some journals. We’ve been trying to catalog the history of the house.”
“As you should be. Wish you’d put working with Griffen aside and focus on domestic matters more. But this is a start,” he said.
Griffen rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut. Hope didn’t respond to the comment and went on smoothly, “We found some invoices for concrete work in the garage in nineteen eighty-six. Nobody remembers any work in the garage in eighty-six. We were wondering if you did.”
The pause extended longer than was comfortable before Edgar said, “I suppose I do. I’m surprised there are still invoices around. It was years after the big renovation. There was some sort of septic issue. They had to break up the floor, get in there to repair the leak. It smelled terrible.”
“You’re sure?” Hope asked doubtfully. “We didn’t see any invoices related to septic repairs.”
We hadn’t found any related to plumbing either—only the concrete repair, but Hope didn’t mention that.
“I’m sure,” he said. “Nothing to remember or remark on, especially after all this time. Not surprised you can’t find the other invoices. It’s been thirty-some years.”
“We know, but we’ve been having some issues with the garage,” Hope said, crossing her fingers to negate her lie. “Billy Bob is headed over with a jackhammer. We’re going to dig into the floor and make sure it’s not leaking again, or whatever the problem was back then.”
“Well, that’s just a waste of time, Hope,” Edgar argued. “You’re going to make a big mess with nothing to show for it. Whatever was wrong there, Prentice got it patched up good and tight. No need to go busting up the garage floor.”
“You seem awfully sure about that for someone who’s not a plumber or a contractor,” Hope said. “I haven’t even told you what the problems are in the garage.”
“You don’t need to. Tell Billy Bob to take their jackhammer home. You have a problem, call a plumber.”
“Maybe I already did,” Hope said.
“Hope Sawyer, you listen to me—” Edgar ordered, steel threading through his gruff tone.
“I don’t think so,” Hope said pleasantly. “Thanks for the input, Uncle Edgar.” Her finger stabbed the red button on the screen. The call cut off.
“That was suspicious,” Griffen said.
“Very,” I agreed. “Because when I talked to Bailey Toms, he specifically mentioned that it smelled funny in the garage. And I asked, ‘like a busted septic line,’ and he said no. Didn’t smell like any septic line he’d ever come across, but it didn’t smell good.”
“I don’t think Prentice buried old stock certificates or the key to a hidden safe under the garage,” Hope murmured.
“Me either,” I agreed.
“Shoot.” Paige interrupted, looking down at the baby in her arms. Stella’s eyelids were drooping, her cheek snuggled against Paige’s shoulder. “It’s past time for her nap. I’m going to run up and put her down, and then I’ll find you wherever you are.” She rushed past me and out the door.
“What are you thinking?” Griffen asked, tapping his pen on his desk blotter.
“I don’t know what to think,” I said. Possibilities tumbled in my mind, and I couldn’t bring myself to put them into words. Not yet. Not when we hadn’t seen what was there.
“We’d better go move the vehicles,” Griffen said, standing.
“Good idea,” Hope agreed.
The three of us headed to the garage, meeting Hawk coming down the hall, a black vest hanging from his hand. “If you’re going to the garage, put this on.” He shoved the bulletproof vest at me. I took it, almost dropping it, the weight a surprise even though I’d tried it on a week before, when we’d worked out the plan if Cole came for me. I strapped it on and grabbed a jacket to cover it as Hope and Griffen put on their own jackets.