He walked her back into the bedroom, flipping off all the lights except the one on his side of the bed. Making sure she was tucked in carefully, he rounded the bed and slid into his side. He kept a separation between them, not wanting to make any assumptions.

  “Please tell me you’re not going to sleep over there for the entire night?” she whispered into the dark.

  “I’ll sleep wherever you want me.”

  “Then slide over here, Aaron.”

  He did exactly that. He rolled over to the middle and then turned to face her as she lay on her back. He leaned over and kissed her lips. “Sleep tight.”

  With the sliver of light coming from the bathroom night-light Bess had so thoughtfully provided, he could see her lips curve.

  “You, too.”

  Just as he thought she was about to fall asleep, she whispered, “I’m not happy for the reason I’m here, but I’m happy to be here now.”

  He waited until her breathing evened and her body grew heavy with sleep. Finally, with the scent of her in his bedroom and her warm body next to his, he joined her in slumber.

  31

  The man stared down at the laptop, frustration moving through him. Some programs had passwords he had no ability to unlock. Cursing under his breath, he finally figured out where the files of photographs were stored, grateful they weren’t password protected. Scanning through them, he continued to curse as he scrolled through what seemed like a million photographs.

  Heavy footsteps walked from another room and stopped just behind him. He tried to ignore the person staring over his shoulder but finally twisted his neck and growled, “Do you mind backing the fuck up?”

  “So this was your next brilliant plan? Break into her apartment to steal her laptop? You didn’t think that someone would notice? That someone would call the police?”

  He bolted to his feet, nearly knocking his chair over. “At least I’m trying to fix what you fucked up. You know, if you hadn’t been so pissed, this would have never happened. The man would still be alive, and you would never have called me to come here and take care of things. Why don’t you go back and just stay out of my way? I’m not going down because of you!”

  Once again, they stared at each other before the other man turned and stomped away. Swallowing deeply, he let out a breath and sat down. As soon as he found the photographs he was looking for, he deleted all of them. Hoping this was the only place they were stored, he breathed a sigh of relief.

  He looked at the time and scrubbed his hand over his face. As far as he was concerned, he was ready to get the hell out of the area, back to civilization and a place where he was appreciated for what he could do.

  32

  Aaron looked up from the papers scattered all over his desk, and glanced at Sam’s desk that appeared to be just as covered as he is.

  “I’ve gone through all of Harry’s emails and phone records for the past several months and have only found a few to or from William Gaston.”

  Sam nodded. “I’ve gone through all of Ruthanne’s. She had one email to him about changing the date of their quarterly appointment in Richmond because she wanted to coordinate with Harry’s birthday so she could surprise Harry with a trip to one of his favorite restaurants.”

  Aaron’s brow lifted. “That’s it?”

  “Honest to God, the woman only emails, calls, or texts her kids, grandkids, a few friends, and her hairdresser. It looks like she had nothing to do with William Gaston.”

  “Her reaction to his death seemed strong.”

  Sam held his gaze and said, “What if Harry just thought there was something? Some emotion that he thought was between Ruthanne and William? Harry has a temper—we’ve seen it.”

  “Yes, but would he kill?”

  Sam blew out his breath. “Okay, who else do we have? William had a set appointment with a client in Maryland. What do we know about him?”

  Aaron looked back at his research. “That client is ninety-two years old and lives in a nursing home in southern Maryland. He is wealthy but has no kids or grandkids. He has a will, leaving his money to a variety of charities, none of them local, so William would have no one else there to see.”

  “What if William wasn’t here to meet anybody? What if he was just traveling through on his way back to mainland Virginia over the CBBT,” Sam brainstormed.

  “And what? Stopped somewhere to get gas or something to eat and ran into trouble? We haven’t had anyone come forward saying they saw him, and I’ve had deputies out questioning the restaurants and gas stations along Route 13. So far, no one claims to have seen him.”

  “I’ve been in contact with a Richmond police detective and let him know that we’re running into dead ends here and that it may be time to look to see if William had any enemies in his hometown.”

  Nodding, Aaron agreed. “Just because his body was found here doesn’t mean he was killed here. We don’t have his vehicle.” He looked over to the other side of the room, where Hunter, Brad, and Deputy Mark Robbins were staring at the screens and clicking through photos from Belinda’s camera. Mark was hoping to become a detective, and Colt allowed him duties that would assist the current cases.

  “I know you’d rather be over there,” Sam said, inclining his head.

  Aaron sighed and nodded, running his hand over his beard. “I can’t even pretend otherwise. I feel like we’re getting nowhere with William Gaston, and right under our nose is a crime against the woman I’m in love with.”

  He looked at Sam, seeing the other man’s brows lift to his forehead. “Love? I haven’t heard you use that word before.”

  Sheepishly, he shook his head. “Honestly, I haven’t used that word before. It slipped out, but not untrue. I haven’t said anything to her yet, and I think it might be too soon.”

  “Don’t worry about the right time. My two cents are it’s never the wrong time to tell someone how much you care for them.”

  “Listen to you. We’ll have to start calling you the detective guru of relationships!”

  “Fuck off, and keep looking at the records,” Sam chuckled.

  “Bergstrom!”

  Aaron jerked his head around at the sound of his name. Detectives Colby Sullivan and Sheila Fordham were walking into the room. Knowing they had processed Belinda’s apartment and were now stopping at his desk, he waited, sure they had news for him.

  “We got a partial print from Belinda’s place. The only prints we found were hers and her sister’s. But on the edge of her computer monitor sitting on her kitchen table was another print,” Sheila said.

  “Tell me they’re in the system,” he begged, leaning forward, his gaze darting between her face and Colby’s.

  Colby grinned and leaned down to tap on Aaron’s computer. Sam rose from his chair and hovered over Aaron’s shoulder, looking at what was coming up on the screen.

  “James Bellini. Truck driver for Bellini Transports. Thirty-seven years old. And a rap sheet in Baltimore for numerous petty crimes.”

  Aaron was antsy, barely able to stand still. As though summoned by Aaron’s thoughts, Colt walked into the room, and Aaron immediately asked, “Do you have anybody you know with the Baltimore Police Department who I could speak to about James Bellini and Bellini transport? His fingerprints were lifted from Belinda’s apartment.”

  Colt grinned. “One of the perks of going to some of the law enforcement conferences is to meet people I can call upon later.” He pulled out his phone, scrolled through his contacts, and then grabbed the phone on Aaron’s desk.

  “Detective Marley? This is Sheriff Colt Hudson from North Heron County on Eastern Shore, Virginia. We’ve got fingerprints of one of your friends down here. They were found at the scene of a robbery, and we’re looking at him for some more serious crimes. Have you got a minute?” Colt nodded and said, “I have several detectives with me, and I’m going to put you on speaker if that’s okay.”

  Another nod, and he pressed the speaker button on Aaron’s phone. “You’re here with a group of my detectives. Sam Shackley, Aaron Bergstrom, Hunter Simmons, Brad Stowe, Colby Sullivan, and Sheila Fordham. This is Detective Terrence Marley from the Baltimore Police Department.”

  “Good to speak to all of you,” Terrence said. “Now I’m curious. Which one of our Baltimore lovelies do you have?”

  “We’re interested in James Bellini. Got a match on a partial print from a robbery, and he’s now a person of interest in a murder attempt.”

  “Well, didn’t you just hit the jackpot?” Terrence said. “If you want to know about Bellini Transport, I can tell you that they are a small operation transport company with mob ties. They’re not big-time players, but they’d like to be. The man you’re interested in, James, is the nephew of the man who owns the company. James does a lot of petty things, making a name for himself. They’re also into loans and enforcing in the area around their part of the docks. James is often suspected to be the muscle when they need someone taken out. If you’re wondering why he’s never been convicted, it’s because he’s a slick shit.”

  “Have you ever known him to use a rifle?”

  Terrence scoffed. “Here’s the thing with James. He might not have ever been a sniper in the military, but his uncle made sure James knew exactly how to use almost every weapon. He’s known on the streets as Jesse James because he’s such a good shooter. Personally, I’ve always found him to be a risk-taker and a dumb shit. I could never figure out why Arnold Bellini kept James around other than the fact that he was good at doing whatever his uncle needed him to do, but believe me, he’s more of a follower and not a leader. If you’ve got him down there for a crime, somebody else was yanking his chain and calling the shots.”

  “Can you think of a reason he would be down here? Usually the only reason people come flying through here is simply as a way to avoid highway traffic getting from north to south. Were they drug-running?”

  “Curious thing about the Bellini family. I’ve never heard them to be into drugs. So I’d be surprised if he was down there running drugs.”

  “We have an eyewitness to whoever fired a long-range rifle into a wedding party, hitting a woman. It didn’t kill her, but we really want to get the son of a bitch who did this. And we think the same person was tied into the death of a financial adviser from Richmond who was visiting here.”

  “Sounds like you guys have got some cases that are mind fucks. Tell you what, I’ll talk to some of our officers who are used to seeing the Bellinis around. I’ll ask if anyone has seen him for the past week.”

  Colt said, “You’ve got our gratitude. Anything you need, let us know.”

  Terrence added, “No problem. If you can nail him for what you think he might be guilty of, that just takes one more off our streets. Of course, we take down one Bellini, and there’s another. There are nieces and nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins… there’s always another one of those fuckers around, and they are thick as thieves. Hopefully, you guys will get lucky.”

  After thank-yous and goodbyes, Aaron disconnected the call and looked at the others. “I want car registration info on him and to get that out to our people and the state police. I want that fucker, Colt.”

  “Agreed.” Colt turned to Colby and Sheila. “You two dig into him more and get the word out we’re looking for him.”

  They nodded, turned, and walked over to their desks. Brad and Hunter did the same.

  “You okay?” Sam asked.

  Aaron looked at his partner and nodded. “I will be, but I’m going to take a quick break and call home to see if everything’s going okay. I know Dad would call me if there were a problem, but I just like to hear it myself.”

  “No worries. While you do that, I’ll go check with the others to see if they’re making any headway.“

  As Sam walked away, Aaron called his dad. “I just wanted to check in, Dad. I didn’t want to call Belinda directly in case she was sleeping.”

  “It’s all good here, son. She woke up, had breakfast, and chatted with me and Sally for a while. As she tired, she took another pain pill and then went back to sleep. I hear her stirring around in the bedroom, and Hayley has gone in to check on her.”

  “Dad, I can’t thank you enough for stepping in and keeping an eye on her.”

  “You don’t have to thank me! You know I do anything for my boys and the women in their lives.”

  He thought about what his dad said and knew it was true. Actions had always meant more than empty words. His dad stayed and raised two boys, accepting help when he needed it. He’d been saddled with an angry Andy and a medically needy two-year-old, and never once had Aaron or his brother felt anything other than unconditional love from their dad. “I know that, Dad.” An image hit him, and he gave voice to the thoughts swirling in his mind. “And if I’m ever lucky enough to be a dad, I want to be one just like you.”

  His dad was quiet, then cleared his throat. “That’s the best thing you could’ve ever said to me.”

  “So all is quiet there?” he asked, turning the conversation away from the emotional.

  “It’s all fine here. After you left, Bess stopped by with some goodies from the bakery and coffee for all of us, which was greatly appreciated. Hayley came soon after that, and she’s been sitting here working on her computer. Sally fixed lunch for all of us before she headed home, and I’ve been flipping through the television and reading the newspaper. All is good— oh, here she is. Would you like to talk to Belinda?”

  “Absolutely.“ He waited until the phone was passed, then greeted, “Hey, sweetheart. How are you feeling today?”

  “Tired, sore, but other than that, I feel better. Belle is stopping by in a little bit, and I think she’s going to introduce the home health nurse to me. I’m going to talk to her about coming off the narcotic pain meds and just taking whatever I can that’s over-the-counter. I don’t like being fuzzyheaded.”

  “You do whatever makes you feel best, but I don’t want you to rush things. The last thing we want is for you to take a step backward.”

  “I know. I’ll talk to the home health nurse when she gets here.” There was a few seconds of silence, and then she asked, “So um… has anyone had any luck with my photographs?”

  “Not yet, but…” he hesitated, not wanting her to worry. “But we’re working on it.”

  “Oh… okay.”

  He heard the frustration in her voice. “Babe, we’re doing everything we can.”

  “Oh, I know, Aaron! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful!”

  “No apologies, Belinda. Believe me, no one wants to figure all this out more than I do. I’m just frustrated because Sam and I aren’t getting anywhere on this murder investigation. We’re considering that it didn’t happen here but that his body was just discovered here.”

  “So maybe someone killed him somewhere else and then brought him here to dump?”

  He immediately felt guilty that she was thinking of his job. “Hey, you let me worry about the investigation and you concentrate on getting better. Make sure you rest. I’ll have Dad let me know after you’ve met the home nurse.”

  After they said their goodbyes, he looked up as Sam approached, shaking his head. “They’ve spent most of their time looking at the backgrounds of the bay during the wedding where she was shot. So far, nothing. But they’re starting to look at the last photo shoots she took.”

  Nodding, he looked down at the emails, phone records, and texts from William Gaston to see if there was anyone else on the shore who might have had a connection to their victim. For the first time, he wished he wasn’t at his job but home with the beautiful woman who’d stolen his thoughts and heart.

  33

  Belinda had taken another nap and was wide awake and moving around when Belle knocked on the door. She entered smiling, and as Belinda stared at the sweet nurse, she was instantly comforted. She had no doubt that Belle’s smile lit the hearts of many at the nursing home where she worked. Looking behind her, another woman walked in, her smile just as warm.

  “Belinda, I’d like you to meet Karen Drummond. She’s one of the home healthcare nurses for our county. I’ll keep checking on you because we’re friends, but she will be officially assigned to you.”

  Karen walked over and shook her hand. She was attractive, with blond hair cut into a shoulder-length bob. She didn’t look out of her thirties, but with laugh lines emitting from her eyes, Belinda wondered if she was a little older. It was hard to tell with her youthful appearance.

  “It’s lovely to meet you, Belinda. I wish it were under better circumstances, but I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, nonetheless.”

  Aaron’s dad said, “Ladies, I would offer to step outside, but I promised my son I would stay in the apartment. Perhaps, if you wouldn’t mind using the bedroom, then I could stay here.”

  “That’s an excellent suggestion,“ Belle agreed.

  Belinda nodded, and the three women walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind them. Turning, she faced the two nurses. “I assume you want to look at the wound to see how it’s healing?”

  “Yes. But first, I have some information we need to go over.”

  “Absolutely. If you don’t mind sitting on the bed,” Belinda said.

  Karen laughed and shook her head. “That’s fine.”

  For the next few minutes, they reviewed the paperwork for home healthcare, and Karen explained what she would be doing. “To start with, I will be coming by twice a week to check on your wound, answer any questions you have, and make sure you’re healthy.”

  They went through her basic needs for daily living, and she explained how she could shower and wash her hair with Aaron’s help. They then reviewed her medication, went over her list of symptoms, and Karen took her blood pressure and other vital signs. Belle assisted Belinda in sliding out of her splint and shirt, allowing both nurses to look at her wound.

  As Karen looked at her wound with such a concentrated expression, Belinda suddenly felt self-conscious. “I guess you don’t get a lot of bullet wounds to check on out here on the Eastern Shore, do you?”