As Good as Dead (13 page)

“I’ve been thinking about it. I have some business to take care of first, though.” Angel didn’t go into details.

“Hope it’s soon.” For the next few minutes they talked about how the dynamics of the Sunset Police department had changed. And they talked about Nick. Brandy had been up to see him that morning. “He’s still shook up after yesterday, but he’ll be okay. Nick’s tough.”

“Getting shot is a pretty scary thing, and then having another attempt made in the hospital. That’s freaky. I imagine it will take him a while to get over it—emotionally, I mean.”

“You’re probably right. Which means he’ll be on administrative leave for at least six weeks. Joe is already looking for two officers to fill the empty slots. He’s hoping he can draw someone from Newport or Lincoln City.” She grinned at Angel. “He’d take you back in a heartbeat, Angel.”

Angel almost wished she could say yes. But she couldn’t, not now. Like she’d told Joe, she had to find Luke.

Callen and the ME got to the house at about the same time. Dr. Bennett, a tall, thin, silver-haired man, grabbed his bag from
the trunk of his car. Callen greeted him, and the two came up the walk together.

Brandy pushed open the front door, which she’d unlocked earlier. “She’s in there, doc. And she’s all yours.”

After donning booties and gloves, Callen followed him in, his dark eyes taking in every detail. Angel wished she could have been in there with them. She’d become a cop to please her father, but lately she’d been thinking she needed to go back to being a cop to please herself.

The CSI team came as Dr. Bennett and Callen finished their initial walk-through and stepped out onto the porch.

“I’d say she’s been dead for several days,” Dr. Bennett said. “We won’t know for sure until I do the post. There were ligature marks around her neck, so she may have been strangled, but there’s also trauma to the head.”

“It’ll take a while to sort through all of this.” Callen snapped off his latex gloves. “There are tons of photos in there. We’ll separate the pictures out. See if the photos she took at the funeral are there.”

“Did she do her own developing?” Angel asked.

Callen nodded. “There’s a darkroom down in the basement. It’s a disaster too. I’d say the killer was definitely looking for something.”

“Yeah.” Angel stared past him to the woman on the floor. “An incriminating picture of himself.”

When Angel got back to the house, she had two phone messages. One from her mother saying she’d be having dinner at Tim and Susan’s and, of course, Angel was invited. The second was from Callen saying he’d be by at 6:30 and would cook dinner unless she had other plans. She called Tim to let him know she wouldn’t be there. After making the call she ran on the beach and worked out at the club, then came home to shower and dress.

Callen showed up at 6:30 as promised. “I thought we’d eat at my place tonight if you don’t mind. Your mom can come too if she wants.”

“Sounds good. Ma’s at Tim and Susan’s, so we’re on our own.”

Callen smiled and pulled her into his arms. “You mean we’ll actually be alone for a change?”

“I take it you approve.” Angel kissed him, then backed away, pulling her jacket off the closet door knob. She locked the door, and Callen escorted her to his SUV. It almost seemed like a date, something they hadn’t had in a while.

“How is the investigation going?” Angel snapped the seat belt.

“Our CSI crew is still there and will be for several more hours. They’ll call me if they need me for anything. I thought I’d go home for a while and relax with my favorite PI.”

“I’m glad you called. I didn’t really want to have dinner at Tim’s, but I didn’t want to be alone either.”

Callen reached over to take her hand, then brought it to his lips, and Angel’s heart melted. It took only a few minutes to reach Callen’s place, which was just a half mile from her home.

As they turned into the driveway, Angel could see Callen’s bichon frise attacking the window. The ball of fluff bounced off the door and ran around in circles. By the time Callen got the door open, the dog had worn himself out. “Hey, little guy.” Angel scooped him up and rubbed her cheek against his soft hair as he licked her face and hands.

“Easy, Mutt.” Callen chuckled as he set a bag of groceries on the counter. “It’s only been a few hours.”

Angel set the dog down, taking in the warm and comfortable feel of Callen’s house. It had been an old rundown beach hut, and Callen had transformed it into something suitable for review in
Coastal Living
magazine. She loved the Italian villa feel of the immaculate kitchen with its tiles and pottery. Angel could almost taste Callen’s succulent salmon dish with capers and hollandaise over rice.

She must have looked pensive as Callen wrapped his arms around her from behind. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just admiring your house. We’ll have to bring Ma over to inspect your kitchen. She’ll love it.”

“It’s not as nice as hers, but I couldn’t help notice we have similar tastes.”

Callen turned her around in his arms and pressed his lips against her forehead. “I’m sorry you’re having to go through all of this. It’s bad enough that you’ve just buried your dad, and now to almost lose Nick and to find Faith’s body. I wish I could do something to lighten the load.”

“You’re here.” Angel slid her arms around Callen’s waist, holding him close and resting her cheek against his blue dress shirt. She loved the gentle scent of his cologne and the secure feeling she had when he held her. At times like this Angel wanted nothing more than a lifetime with this man. She pulled away, breaking the intimacy. “So what are we having for dinner?”

“It’s a surprise.” He kissed her again and moved away. “Give me a minute to change and check my messages, and I’ll get dinner started.”

Angel nodded and made her way to the couch, where Mutt joined her, circling until he found the perfect position against her thigh. Absently petting him, she leaned back against the cushions and closed her eyes. Thoughts of Luke invaded her mind once more as she considered the bearded man she’d seen at the cemetery. It was hard to imagine that anyone could change that much in six years. Even though Nick had assured her that the man was Luke, she couldn’t fathom the Luke she knew walking away. Her Luke would have talked to them, hugged them, and acted like family.

Not if he was running from the law, and not if he was trying to protect his family.

Callen came out and started pulling out pots and pans. He unloaded the grocery bag, pulling out makings for salad and something else, which he sneakily set in the sink.

“Want some help?”

“Not right now.”

Callen looked at home in his kitchen. He’d told her he often cooked to relieve tension. She could almost see his shoulders relax as he halved two lemons and squeeze the juice into a measuring cup.

She wanted to talk about the investigation but didn’t want to
raise his stress level. He surprised her by bringing it up himself. “I can’t believe no one reported Faith missing.”

“I talked to her boss at the paper earlier today and he said she was a freelancer. He didn’t seem concerned.” Angel stroked Mutt’s head.

“She had a ton of messages on her machine, though; you’d have thought someone would get suspicious.” Callen had his back to her. He brandished a cutting board and a butcher knife and brought the knife down on something hard. From the sound of the crack, it had to be crab or lobster. Angel loved them both. “I did find out that she’d gone into Portland on the Monday after the funeral to visit family and a boyfriend for a few days. One of our guys delivered the death notification. She apparently left for the beach again on Thursday.”

“Did you get a cause of death or a time?”

Callen shook his head. “Ligature marks on her neck, a blow to the head. The ME says either one could have done the job. As to time, it’s hard to tell. Her phone messages ran from Monday on through to today.”

Angel shuddered. “Maybe he was waiting for her to come home Thursday.”

“Why didn’t he just break into the house? Why wait for Faith to get back so he could kill her? It doesn’t make sense.” Callen had put whatever he’d been working on into a bowl and set it aside. He pulled out another knife and cutting board and began peeling an onion.

“Unless he didn’t find what he wanted the first time, but how would he know when she was coming home?”

“That’s easy enough.” Callen set a garlic clove on the cutting board and whacked it with the broad side of the chef knife. “We found a note on the porch from her to someone letting them know she’d be back Thursday night.”

Angel watched him demolish another clove and peel the skins off. “An invitation to murder.”

“Not a smart thing to do.” He concentrated on dicing the garlic and after a moment asked, “How about some music?”

Angel got up and began looking through Callen’s CD collection.
A minute or so later, an easy-listening Kenny G album filled the house with soft jazz. Callen worked quietly in the kitchen for the next half hour, while Angel set the table on the patio and made a salad. Whatever Callen was making, it smelled fantastic.

“It’s ready,” Callen finally said, taking covered plates out to the patio table.

He made one more trip inside before revealing his masterpiece, and brought out a vase with pink roses and baby’s breath. He took off the covers, and Angel gasped. Creamy seafood fettuccini with lobster, crab, and salmon, capers, tomatoes with a red pepper sauce, and asparagus spears on the side. The dinner was as scrumptious as it looked. “This is wonderful. Are we celebrating something?” Angel asked.

“Nope. I just wanted to surprise you.” And he had, especially with the chocolate mousse.

After a perfect dinner, the two of them cleaned up the kitchen and settled out on the patio to soak up the moon’s rays. They snuggled down on a lounge chair to watch the sunset. Angel leaned back against him, enjoying the feel of his arms around her.

She hadn’t meant to bring up the investigation; it just happened. “Do you have any suspects other than the gardener?”

Callen cleared his throat. “We’ll be looking at several people. Her boyfriend, for one...”

“And...”

He sighed. “I’d rather not say.”

He didn’t need to say it. Angel knew perfectly well who he was talking about. Angel shifted so she could look at his face. “Luke? You suspect Luke?”

He didn’t respond right away, apparently choosing his words. “I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t look at all the angles.”

“He’s my brother.” A small part of her knew Callen had no choice, but loyalty to her family kept her from admitting it.

“He was at the funeral. He undoubtedly saw Faith taking photos. We don’t know how far he might go to protect his identity.”

Angel brushed the blanket aside and scrambled to her feet. “Luke would never kill anyone. Never.”

“Luke is a fugitive,” Callen reminded her. “He’s wanted in connection with the murder of those two men in Florida.”

Fury, not common sense, took over. “How could you even
think
he could kill someone? You know my family.”

Callen stood as well and rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know Luke. You don’t either anymore.”

Angel gritted her teeth. “I’m not going to stand here and listen to you accuse my brother of murder.”

“I’m not accusing him. I’m just not ready to cross him off my list.”

“What about me, huh? I’m the one who found her.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m going home.”

“Fine. I’ll get my keys.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll walk.”

“All right. Have it your way.” He opened the patio door and stepped inside, closing it behind him.

By the time she got home, Angel’s anger had resolved itself, but she still felt shaken and very tired. She made herself a cup of tea and turned on the fire. Ma wasn’t home yet, so she had the house to herself, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Angel kept thinking about the dead reporter and the day of the funeral. Images of the gardener, or rather the man who’d pretended to be the gardener, drifted into her mind and faded, then came back again. Callen had told her early on that the landscaping company hadn’t sent anyone out to work the grounds that day. Still, she’d think of him as the gardener. He’d no doubt seen Faith taking photos, and in wanting to get them back, had killed her.

And what about Luke? Was Nick accurate in thinking the gardener planned to go after him?
Idaho.
Luke had told the woman at the hotel that he had family in Idaho. The chances of finding him without more specific information were about as good as finding a flea on a black dog.

On top of all that, she kept going over what Callen had told her after dinner. During what should have been a romantic sunset, he’d told her that they needed to look at Luke as a suspect in Faith’s death. She’d acted like a spoiled child. As a detective, Callen had
to look at all the possibilities. She knew that. He couldn’t afford to turn a blind eye to what the evidence was telling him, even if Luke was her brother.

Her mother came home at 10:00. They talked briefly, and Angel went to bed. Sleep evaded her, her mind churning with questions and frustrations.

Some time after 2:00 in the morning, she finally drifted off. When she woke up, she smelled breakfast. Had Callen come to cook for them again? She hoped he’d understood her tirade and forgiven her. She quickly dressed in gray sweats, brushed her hair, and made herself presentable, then padded barefoot to the kitchen.

“Hey, sleepyhead.” Callen tossed her an apologetic smile and gestured for her to sit.

“Where’s Ma?”

“Susan picked her up. They were going into Lincoln City to do some shopping for your mom’s trip to California.”

Glancing at the clock on the kitchen wall, Angel noted that it was past 10:00. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you out chasing down my brother?”

“I have the day off, and I’m officially off the case.”

“You’re what?”

“I’m leaving, remember? Besides, I’m finding it hard to be objective, what with Luke being your brother. Detective Downs is taking over as of today. I’m going to do what I can on the remodeling and get packed. Tomorrow’s Sunday, or have you forgotten?” He slid a plate in front of her. “I’m sorry about last night. I should’ve kept my thoughts to myself.” He smiled. “And I should’ve known you’d have a fit.”