LITMIR.BIZ

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herself.”

      “I’d really appreciate permission to help, too,” Caleb said.

      Floby looked at Tim Jamison, who nodded, giving Floby the okay to allow a stranger in on the find.

      “We’ll be starting bright and early, so we can catch all the light we can. Someone will be posted out on the porch twenty-four seven to keep the lookie-loos away, so you just check in with him whenever you get here,” Floby told him.

      “Thanks. I’ll leave you two, then. I appreciate being let in on this, Lieutenant,” Caleb told Jamison.

      Jamison shrugged. “I don’t know who you know, but they sure as hell know all the right people.” He grinned. “You proved your abilities this morning. I’m happy to keep you in the loop—all the loops. And I’m sure you’ll do me the same courtesy in return.”

      “Of course.”

      Two handshakes and Caleb was out the door. He took a minute to turn and stare up at the house—just as a small crowd was still doing from the sidewalk, gruesomely speculating on the state of the bodies.

      Caleb moved quickly past the crowd to avoid being questioned by those who had seen him leave the house and moved farther down the street, then stopped and studied the house again.

      Brick, mortar and wood. The place embodied everything that old-town Southern charm should be. It was a decaying but grand old edifice. It wasn’t evil, it was just a house. Still, he felt that there were things waiting to be discovered there, things that he needed to know.

      But no ghosts danced on the wraparound porch. No specters wavered in the windows.

      The house was just a house.

      He turned and headed back toward his B&B, planning to check his e-mail and then head out for something to eat. He’d barely made it around the corner when he saw Sarah McKinley ahead of him, towing a small wheeled overnight bag along behind her. She was alone. That surprised him; she’d been with a group of friends last time he’d seen her.

      Suddenly she stopped, as if sensing someone behind her. For a moment she went dead still. Then she swung around and stared at him before asking, “What the hell are you doing here?” Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Are you following me?”

      3

      “Man, that was really creepy,” Caroline said, walking along Avila Street. She shuddered and moved closer to Will. It was strange. She had known Will most of her life. They had fought and teased one another as kids. They had become friends as adults. They had shared their trials and tribulations with other members of the opposite sex with one another.

      Then…

      They’d been together one night—at Hunky Harry’s, as a matter of fact—and in the middle of laughing at something together, they had looked at each other and their laughter had stopped. And now…well, it wasn’t as if they’d gone insane or anything, but they were both carefully negotiating the transition from friends to the realization that they wanted to be much more.

      Will set an arm around her shoulders. “Leave it to Sarah. And what happened earlier today, that was pretty damn creepy, too.”

      “Yeah, tell us about it. Who is this Caleb guy, anyway?” Barry asked, strolling up alongside Will.

      “Hey, wait! What about me?” Renee demanded, pushing forward.

      “What are you trying to do? Block the whole sidewalk?” Caroline complained.

      But they all wanted to hear what Will had to say, so they crowded together and walked along in an awkward group, trying to hear him clearly.

      “I think the guy is some kind of corpse magnet,” Will said. “We were looking for that missing girl, Winona Hart, and Lieutenant Jamison said Anderson had to be on the dive team. He didn’t explain why, just said the mayor had told him to extend every courtesy to the guy and let him work with us. He has connections in Washington. Some hotshot sent him down here. I have to tell you, we were ticked at first. But the thing is, in the last year, we’ve dived that area a dozen times, and no one ever found that car. But—he found it as easy as if he had a map. Now that’s creepy.”

      “So who was the guy he found?” Renee asked.

      “Frederick J. Russell, a banker from Jacksonville,” Will said. “He was reported missing about twelve months ago.”

      “So what happened to him? How’d he end up in the water?” Renee asked.

      Will sighed, shaking his head as he looked at her. “He was still in his car, so they figure he just drove too fast and wound up in the water. Not too hard to figure out.”

      “Hey,” Renee protested. “Was he drunk? Had he been suicidal? Maybe someone was after him or something.”

      “She’s right,” Caroline pointed out. “What does the coroner say? Maybe someone shot him and that’s why he drove off the road.”

      “There’s no coroner’s report yet,” Will admitted, sounding slightly embarrassed, Caroline thought. “Who knows? He might have been drunk, though I don’t know if they’ll be able to figure that out this late in the game. The body…well, if you ask me, it was a lot creepier than anything in Sarah’s house. Let’s just say that on land, we eat the fish. But if you die in the water, the fish eat you.”

      “Oh, Lord!” Caroline exclaimed. “I was going to order fish….”

      “It’s not going to be the same fish that ate the corpse,” Barry said.

      “And how do you know?” Caroline demanded.

      “Good question,” Barry admitted. “Cheeseburger for me.”

      “Getting back to Anderson, the guy is a little scary. I mean, he’s okay. I like him,” Will said. “But…he’s been here a day and he already found a body we missed for a year. And then all those bones are found at Sarah’s place and he just happens to show up? It’s pretty weird, don’t you think?”

      Caroline moved even closer, and he hugged her more tightly to him.

      “I don’t think it’s his fault that the bones showed up in Sarah’s walls,” Renee reminded him. “I mean, those skeletons have been there forever. Anyway, you said you liked the guy.”

      “I do,” Will said.

      “I sure liked him,” Caroline offered.

      “Oh, yeah?” Will said teasingly. “You just think he’s hot.”

      Caroline laughed. “He is hot. But you’re the only sizzling hunk of man flesh I’m interested in, mister. I’m thinking about Sarah.”

      “Sarah?” Will echoed.

      “Of course Sarah,” Caroline said.

      “I’m not too sure about that. I mean, we really don’t know anything about him,” Will said.

      “I don’t think it’s a good idea at all,” Barry agreed. “We’re going to have to check him out if we’re thinking about hooking him up with Sarah.”

      Renee giggled. “What’s the matter with you guys? Sarah is an adult, and she’s not going to ask us who she can and can’t date!”

      “Besides, she knows him at least as well as we do, even if they just met today,” Will said.

      “Well, I think he’s a corpse magnet, and I don’t like it,” Barry said flatly.

      They all stopped and stared at him. “Hey, we have to look out for our girl, right?” he asked defensively.

      “Okay, I’ll ask around and see what I can find out about him,” Will promised. “And we’ll all try to get to know him—if he hangs around.”

      “He seems like a decent guy. I hope he does hang around,”

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