Temptation Trails - Page 138

In the early afternoon, I was finally able to head back into town. I made a quick stop at the bakery to check on Harper. She was fine, just busy.

I’d also called in reinforcements. The Squirrel Protection Squad.

I didn’t think a bunch of mostly retired townspeople were going to be able to protect Harper from a killer. But at the very least, they’d hang around and make sure she was never alone. And they’d call me if they saw anything suspicious.

She sent me back to the office with a box of cookies. When I got there, I went in and took them to the break room, but I was too focused—or maybe too distracted—to grab one for myself. Not that I had a shortage of Harper’s baked goods in my life. But I had a question I needed to investigate.

What was the deal with Matt Rudolph?

I hadn’t run his background before, mostly because I didn’t have good enough cause. A guy who seemed weird and appeared to like my girlfriend a little too much wasn’t a justifiable reason to dig into his record—if he had one. And when he’d threatened to file a complaint against me, I had to keep out of it. Otherwise it would have looked like I was trying to dig up dirt on the guy to get myself out of trouble.

But at this point, I needed to know if he had a criminal history. It wouldn’t tell me everything, but it could tell me something.

I ran his name and got a hit. Matt had been arrested seven years earlier. For breaking and entering.

Holy shit.

No conviction. There wasn’t much information, but it looked like the case had been dropped. It was likely there hadn’t been enough evidence to prosecute.

That didn’t prove Matt had broken into Harper’s house, or mine, but it definitely painted an interesting picture.

One arrest. No conviction. What did that mean? It might mean he’d been innocent—and according to the law, he was.

But it could also mean that he was just that good.

I needed to talk to him, preferably without spooking him so he wouldn’t lawyer up too quickly. There was so much more I needed to know. Riled up as I was—that fucker was not going to hurt my woman—I knew I needed to stay calm and rational.

The original investigators in Jasmine’s murder had made too many assumptions. It had cost us the case and a killer was still on the loose. I didn’t want to make the same mistake.

But it would help if I had more to go on. I hadn’t had an opportunity to talk to the florist yet. That was kind of a long shot, but what if it was the thing that connected the dots? If I could show there was even a possibility Matt had bought the flowers Jasmine had received, it would be enough to justify questioning him.

My gut told me that was where I needed to go next.

“Haven.” Jack’s voice cut through my concentration. He stood next to my desk with his arms crossed over his wide chest. “Can I see you for a minute?”

“Sure.”

I got up and followed him to his office, my mind still reeling with possibilities. With next steps. I shut the door to Jack’s office and took a seat while he did the same.

“What’s going on with the Joyner case?” he asked.

I hesitated, debating how to answer his question. “I have some leads to pursue, but I don’t have anything concrete.”

He nodded slowly and I couldn’t read his expression. “I have some concerns.”

“About what?”

“Whether you should continue on this case.”

I straightened. “Why? Are you still concerned about the complaints? I told you, those don’t have any merit.”

“I’m concerned because I’m seeing a pattern that I’ve seen before. I’ve been at this a long time, Garrett. I can tell when the job is getting to someone.”

“The job isn’t getting to me. And what pattern?”

“A guy starts to seem off. Slips up when he didn’t used to. It might be breaks in protocol, evidence handling, badgering suspects—takes a lot of forms. Then comes paranoia.”

“What makes you think I’m paranoid?”