8
I’m happy to help,” Sabrina said. “But I’m not ready yet.”
“You’re killing me,” Gabe said.
“I’m sorry, but right now I have a crazy amount of information swirling in my brain and it wouldn’t make any sense.” How could she get him to understand when she was still figuring it out herself?
“Can you give me a synopsis? Something? Anything?”
“I can give you a little bit,” Adam said.
Bless him.
“Fine,” Gabe said. “Her stuff is better than yours, but I’ll take what I can get.”
Adam stood, grilled cheese sandwich in one hand. “First, Lisa Palmer was a very good accountant.”
“Fascinating,” Gabe said, clearly not fascinated.
“No, I don’t think you appreciate how good she was,” Adam said. “She worked in a specialized division that handled some of the most delicate accounts her firm managed. When she left to start her own business, forty huge clients went with her. Ten of them, including Zinzer Hospitality, got together and paid off the firm when they tried to come after her for violating her noncompete clause.”
“It is.”
“What was so awesome about her?”
“Well, I’ve been doing some of my own digging today and I don’t have proof yet, just some hints, but I think what made Lisa Palmer so good was she kept a lot of secrets.”
“This is supposed to be helpful? That she kept secrets doesn’t tell me much. Any secrets she kept died with her.” Gabe bit into his sandwich.
Adam didn’t back down. “Why were you so good as an undercover cop?”
Sabrina didn’t make eye contact with either man. She’d never heard Gabe talk about his undercover work. She wasn’t sure if she was going to now. She risked a glance and found him in a staring contest with Adam.
“Fine,” he said. “People trusted me. I’m very good at getting people to confide in me.”
Adam didn’t say anything. He just let Gabe’s words sit there. Adam took two bites of his sandwich before Gabe spoke again.
“Once someone has shared their deepest secrets with you, there are only a couple of options. Either they want to keep you close or . . .”
“Exactly,” Adam said.
Sabrina couldn’t take it anymore. “Exactly what?”
“They’ll either keep you close or get rid of you,” Gabe said. “There aren’t any other options.”
“So you think Lisa Palmer was an accountant for a lot of nefarious individuals and one of them decided to have her killed?” she asked.
“I think it’s an angle worth pursuing.”
“Let me guess,” Gabe said. “A lot will depend on what Sabrina can get off the laptop.”
“Maybe,” Adam said. “But if Sabrina’s conclusions are accurate, it’s unlikely this woman would have been driving around with a laptop full of incriminating evidence.”
“What if the killer put it in the car with her, hoping to destroy it?” Gabe asked.
“I think the killer put it in there to get us looking in the wrong direction,” Adam said.
“And what’s the right direction?” Gabe wasn’t really asking her or Adam, and neither of them tried to answer.
Poor Gabe. He looked so frustrated. “Gabe. I need another day or two. My head is pounding. I hurt pretty much everywhere. And I need to let this information marinate as I keep digging. I’m not trying to be evasive. We have evidence of two very different Lisa Palmers. On the one hand, we have the choir-singing, good-neighbor, nice lady who may have been clueless about the people she was working for. At least for a while. The torture might have been inflicted by the people she worked for to guarantee her continued cooperation after she did find out.”
Sabrina took a sip of her soup. “On the other hand, all of her so-called good behavior might have been a front to disguise her own evil. She may have been up to her eyeballs in dirty money long before she left Atlanta and came to Carrington. She may have known exactly what was going on and only recently decided to come clean.”
“Why do you say that?” Gabe asked.
She chose her words with care. “Sometimes people who know their time is short will try to make amends, or confess to criminal or immoral activity.”
Adam gave her an encouraging smile.
“True,” Gabe said. “So you’re thinking she might have been getting ready to confess or turn over evidence to Adam?”
“Possibly,” she said. “We’ll have to do some checking, but I won’t be surprised if we find she refused treatment for her cancer. She may have seen it as some sort of just retribution.”
“Like she was getting what she deserved?” Adam asked.
“Something like that.”
“And they found out.” Gabe wadded a napkin into a tight ball and lobbed it toward a trash can.
“I suspect so.”
“Come on, Sabrina. What did you find that makes you think that?” Gabe asked.
She had to give him something. “The internet history on the tablet,” she said. “She researched colon cancer. And not general colon cancer. A very specific type. And then she researched life expectancy with and without a specific type of treatment. From what I can see, she actually had a good chance of surviving and living a long time if she’d pursued treatment.”
“But Sharon said the cancer was advanced.”
“These searches go back a year. This is all speculation, Gabe. But my guess is the reason we haven’t found the files we need is because she hid them. She’s probably been building a case—possibly many cases—and I wouldn’t be surprised if she knew she didn’t have long to live and was going to bring it all to Adam and then disappear with the hope the cancer would get her before the bad guys did.”
Gabe shuddered.
Adam slumped.
“How do we know if you’re right or wrong?” Gabe asked.
“I’m not sure,” Sabrina said. “We’re going to need to catch a break. Maybe something in her house will give us a clue. Can I look at the crime-scene photos?”
“You can do one better,” Gabe said. “You can come look for yourself.”
Adam straightened. “She has a concussion. She needs to be in bed.”
“I’m not saying she has to go right now.” A mischievous grin spread across his face. “But you know she wants to.”
Adam looked from Gabe to her.
She was hurting, but she was going to be hurting wherever she was. And she did feel a compulsion to find out more about Lisa Palmer. “It might be helpful,” she said.
“Yes!” Gabe didn’t bother to hide his glee. “Finish eating. We have a crime scene to visit.”
This was a bad idea.
Adam pulled in behind Gabe on the street in front of Lisa Palmer’s house. Sabrina moaned as she straightened in the seat beside him.
“Did I fall asleep?”
“For about five minutes,” he said. “You need to rest.”
“I know,” she said. “But I feel like this is important. Don’t you?”
He wanted to disagree, but he couldn’t. “Yes. I’m worried if we don’t move fast we’re going to miss something big, but I’m concerned you’re overdoing it.”
“I’m tough.”
“I know.”
“Let’s go.” She reached for the door.
“Wait,” he said. He hopped out and rushed to her door. He opened it and offered her his hand.
“Always the gentleman,” she said as she placed her hand in his.
“Do you mind?”
“It’s who you are, Adam. I love it.” She blinked a few times, and Adam got the impression she’d been unintentionally honest.
“Good.” He helped her from the car and closed the door behind her. She tucked her hand into the bend of his arm, even before he’d had a chance to offer it to her. Like it belonged there.
Which was fine with him.
“Can we walk around the outside first?” Sabrina was in full investigatory mode while he was mooning over where she’d put her hand. He needed to get a grip.
He stayed with her as she meandered around the small bungalow.
“Cute house,” Sabrina said.
“You think?” It was a house. He wasn’t sure if cute was the appropriate description.
“I do,” she said. “If I were to upsize, I wouldn’t mind something like this. It has great curb appeal, a nice color palette, blends into the area. Well, it would if it wasn’t wrapped in crime-scene tape.”
“I don’t know.” He tapped the tape. “It adds a certain panache.”
She laughed. “You’re terrible.”
“You’re laughing.”
“I’m terrible too. This woman died. I realize she may have done some horrible things—or helped people do horrible things—but that doesn’t mean someone had the right to kill her.”
“Agreed.” If she was going to insist on being professional, he would be too. “Do you see anything about the exterior of her house that gives you any insights?”
“No. I’m not even sure what I’m looking for.”
“You’ll know it when you see it.”
Gabe called to them from the porch. “Where do you want to start? Upstairs? Downstairs?”
“Wherever she worked,” Sabrina said.
Gabe nodded and held the door for them to go inside. “Right this way.”
They stepped into the tiny entryway and Gabe opened the French doors into what had probably been intended to be a formal living room but Lisa Palmer had used as an office. Sabrina released Adam’s arm and wandered through the space. Gabe leaned against the door frame and watched Sabrina. “Can I sit in her chair?” she asked.
Gabe nodded.
Sabrina sat down and swiveled the chair from left to right. “You’re sure there was no computer when the forensics team got here?”
“No. But I can’t imagine that she didn’t have one.”
“Two,” she said.
“Why do you say that?” There was no rancor in Gabe’s voice.
“The desk is faded. In two identical places. One is a little lighter than the other, which makes sense with the way the sun comes in.”
“Which means someone took them.”
“Unless she destroyed them herself,” Adam said.
“Why would she do that?” Gabe asked. “If Sabrina’s supposition is correct and Lisa Palmer was planning to hand over all the evidence to you anyway, wouldn’t it have made more sense for her to leave them?”
“Maybe she knew what people like Sabrina can do. That they can find files that were supposedly deleted.”
“Okay. I like it. Or maybe she wanted to control the narrative,” Gabe said. “She gives you files, but they’re the files she chooses to give. And to avoid risking us uncovering anything she doesn’t want us to know, she destroys the computers the files were created on.”
Another very real possibility.
“Or the murderers took them and melted them down in acid, and that was that,” Sabrina said. “It’s all conjecture. Not one shred of evidence.”
“We have to start somewhere,” Gabe said. “If you were living in this house, where would you hide a hard drive?”
Sabrina grinned. “Oh, Gabe, there are so many places.”
“I’ll make a list. We’ll have forensics search every one of them,” Gabe said.
Adam had to give Gabe credit. He wasn’t taking anything lightly.
For the next hour, Sabrina walked through the house. Every now and then she’d make a suggestion. By the time she was done, Gabe’s list had everything from the more obvious places, like false bottoms in desk drawers and cushions, to the not-so-obvious possibilities, like the soles of boots and eye shadow containers.
“Seriously? Eye shadow?” Gabe had asked.
“Do you know how small a microSD card is?” Sabrina didn’t give Gabe a chance to answer. “You’re looking for something the size of a fingernail. It could be hidden beneath any kind of pressed makeup, like eye shadow or blush, or it could be in a lipstick tube. The problem with the micro cards is that they could be almost anywhere.”
They entered Lisa Palmer’s upstairs bedroom. Gabe went first, followed by Sabrina. Adam was bringing up the rear, but he rushed forward when Sabrina groaned.
“Are you okay?” Adam asked. “Do you need to sit down?”
“No,” she said. “Look at this room.”
“Oh.” Now he understood. One entire wall was a bookshelf filled with books. On the other wall was a large shelf with a display of Japanese puzzle boxes.
Adam shook his head. “This could take days—”
“Weeks—” Gabe said.
“Months.” Somehow Sabrina’s pronouncement of the situation made it much more dire. “Of course, it’s probably not in here at all.”
Gabe threw his hands in the air. “What? This is the most logical place to hide something small and flat.”
“Which makes it the least logical place.”
“Unless,” Adam said, “she figured people would assume it was the least logical place, thereby making it the most logical place.”
Gabe and Sabrina glared at him.
“What?” He wasn’t wrong. They were just mad because he was right.
“Forensics is going to hate me,” Gabe said.
“They already do.” Adam tried to keep his expression serious.
“Not helping, Campbell.”
Sabrina had already moved on. She examined the bathroom, the picture frames in the short hallway, and then spent twenty minutes in the kitchen looking at everything from salt and pepper shakers to trivets to cabinet pulls.
“You seriously think she hid a memory card in a cabinet pull?” Gabe pretended to pound his head against the wall.
“No, but I think you have to check. Forensics should already know this, but make sure they take all the outlet and light switch covers off. They’re going to have to literally take this entire place apart to be sure we aren’t missing something.”
“We already know we’re missing something. Like the entire computer system. Why are you sure there are other things to find?” The way Gabe asked the question made Adam think he didn’t disagree with Sabrina, but that he was looking for more reasons he could use when he contacted the forensics team and told them what he needed.
“If she was planning to turn over evidence on someone, she would have needed to have the information stored on a small, portable, easily concealable device. It’s obvious she thought they were on to her.” Sabrina picked up a set of candlesticks and examined them.
“Why do you say that?” Gabe opened a cabinet door, and three spice jars fell onto the counter.
“Add the spice cabinet to your list,” she said. “And I say that because that message she wrote on her body was her final insurance policy. She knew they suspected her, and she hoped if they killed her, they wouldn’t notice she’d left a message from beyond the grave.”
“They must not have noticed,” Adam said. “Or they wouldn’t have left her body to be found at all.”
Gabe shrugged. “Actually, if it hadn’t been for that message, just based on the evidence we have—her note, no skid marks to indicate that she tried to stop herself from going off the road, no obvious car issues like a cut brake line—we might have been leaning toward suicide as the cause of her death.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Sharon says she drowned.”
“What?” Sabrina grasped the edge of the kitchen table, and Adam moved to stand beside her.
“Sorry,” Gabe said. “I guess I forgot to mention it before.”
Sabrina’s hands trembled on the table. She had to be past the point of exhaustion.
“I say we discuss this later.” Adam made eye contact with Gabe and then cut his eyes in Sabrina’s direction.
Gabe got the message. “I agree,” he said.
“But—” Sabrina wasn’t going to let it go.
“I need to get forensics over here,” Gabe said. “You go with Adam to get your stuff from your place, and let me see if I can pull all my thoughts together on this. We’ll check in with Ryan and Anissa to see if they found anything in the lake today.”
“That sounds great,” Adam said. “Leigh has already invited everyone over for dinner. Let’s plan to hash it out then.”
Sabrina frowned but tucked her hand in the bend of Adam’s arm and walked with him to the front door. Gabe noticed, but other than a quick smirk he kept his comments to himself.
Although Adam wasn’t sure Sabrina would have noticed if Gabe had said anything anyway. She was lost in thought, eyes unfocused, as they stepped onto the small front porch.
“She okay?” Gabe mouthed to Adam.
Adam didn’t know. Maybe the stress of the day had caught up to her? Maybe her brilliant mind was solving the case? Who knew?
The window to his right shattered. Were they being shot at? His first thought was to throw himself on Sabrina and cover her from bullets.
But then he saw it.
A streak of smoke snaking through the yard.
“Run!” Adam pulled his arm away from Sabrina and wrapped it around her waist. It took half a second for her to fall into step with him. He hated to force her to move like this. It had to be excruciating, but—
The force of the explosion threw him to the ground. He covered Sabrina as debris fell all around them and the air filled with smoke and dust.
A second explosion shook the ground, and the air around them warmed in an instant.
Then something heavy landed across his back.
And he couldn’t move.