Page 60 of Something to Dye For

“It never really felt like a home,” Gabe said with a small shrug. The way his voice thickened with emotion told me so much more than his words actually did. In case I didn’t pick up on his unspoken meaning, he cupped my face and said, “I’m home now.”

“Big Daddy’s home,” Savage squawked.

“Even the bird knows,” Gabe said.

“I wonder if the bird knows how much I love you, Gabe?” I asked.

“I do,” Gabe said, pressing his forehead to mine. “I love you more, Sunshine.”

I stood in his arms and thought about where I had been just a few months prior. I had known what it was like to be with Gabe, but not what it was like to be loved by him. I had known the way his naked skin felt pressed against mine, but not the sound of his heart that beat for me. I had known that there was something between us, but I never guessed it was something to live for.

TWO WEEKS LATER,JOSHand I had been invited out to eat with Adrian and Sally Ann. They’d had an ultrasound the day before and wanted to celebrate the upcoming birth of their baby girl with us. Sally Ann chose an upscale steakhouse in Northern Kentucky that overlooked the Ohio River. As far as steaks went, it honestly wasn’t as good as the one Josh made for me the night I officially moved in. The smug smile on his face told me he knew it too.

Sally Ann told Josh all of the details she was planning for their unnamed daughter’s birthday while Adrian and I caught up on the week’s activities on our different task forces.

“The Feds came back with some surprising information about the drugs Billy had in his possession,” Adrian said. He had my attention and knew it. “The drugs in his urine, the ones from the school locker, and the stash from Bianca’s house all trace back to drugs that had been stolen from the evidence room in an El Paso police department. Guess who worked there at the time?”

“Billy?” I whispered, not wanting the name to ruin Josh’s fun night.

“You guessed it.” Adrian leaned forward and continued. “When faced with the evidence against him he confessed. He brought them with him back to Ohio and had them at a storage unit. They turned up missing and he feared that the drug cartel had tracked him back home. Billy was sure they had an inside guy on the force feeding the drug cartel information. He was afraid to be around his wife and kids so he started squatting at vacant homes around town, including Georgia Beaumont’s. He kept moving around in hopes that he wouldn’t be caught.”

“That’s how he ended up with the scissors,” I said to Adrian. Unfortunately, that meant we still didn’t know who ransacked the mansion. “How did the drugs end up in the school?”

Adrian shook his head as if he still couldn’t believe what he was about to tell me. “It obviously wasn’t the drug cartel who took his drugs, it was his mother. She thought by taking them that he would get clean. She didn’t realize that she’d only found part of his stash in his storage unit. She was the one who disabled the cameras in the high school so she could hide them until she figured out what to do. She wanted to help him but couldn’t bring herself to turn him in. Now, she’s in hot water too and out of a job. Ironically, Mary Rogers,” the former principal that Delaney has suspended and cast suspicion on in the process, “was appointed as the temporary superintendent until the board convenes after spring break.”

“Holy fuck! Billy told you all of this?” I asked him.

“No, Delaney came in with her attorney and confessed to taking the drugs and stashing them in the school locker. Even if Billy hadn’t confessed, she had come to terms with turning him in.”

“Wow,” I replied.

“So, what’s been up with you this last week? Anything new on the Nate Turner case?” Adrian asked.

I started to answer him, but my attention got snagged by a tall, dark, and handsome man entering the restaurant. My mouth dropped open in shock for a few seconds and then I said, “I don’t fucking believe it. Adrian, either I’ve lost my fucking mind or Nate Turner just walked into the restaurant.”

Adrian turned and looked behind him then faced me with wide eyes. “Or we’re both seeing a ghost.”