Page 24 of Cornered

“I’m right behind you.”

Her laughter faded quickly. The truth was, she was uneasy. Something just felt off.

Cole knocked on the door and they waited.

Steph shifted. Tate rang the bell.

Nothing.

“Stan?” Cole identified himself and Tate. “Steph’s here too.” He rapped his knuckles against the wood once more. “You home?”

No response.

Steph reached around Cole and twisted the knob. “It’s unlocked.”

“That’s all well and good, but we can’t go in there,” Cole said. “We don’t have a good enough reason.”

“Exigent circumstances?” she asked.

“There aren’t any.”

“Well, I’m not bound by the same restrictions you are.” Before either man could protest, she slipped past them and into the house. “Stan? Are you here?” She went right intothe kitchen and noticed a pile of clothes on the kitchen table. Weird. But no Stan.

“Steph.” Cole’s exasperation rang clear.

She’d apologize later. She walked into the connecting den and gasped. “Stan!” He lay on the floor, next to a shattered glass coffee table. Blood had pooled beneath his head, the oriental rug stained dark.

Thinking he was dead, Steph nevertheless hurried forward and knelt by her boss to search for a pulse while Tate followed, and Cole called for an ambulance. Steph almost couldn’t believe it when a faint thumping pulsed against her fingers. “He’s alive. Y’all, he’s alive.” Barely. And not for much longer if he didn’t get help.

“Ambulance is on the way,” Cole said.

“What do we do now?” Because doing nothing wasn’t an option.

“Keep him warm for one thing.” Tate grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and covered Stan. “Uh ... ABC, right? Airway, Breathing, Circulation. Is he breathing?”

She checked. “Yes.”

“And he still has a pulse,” Tate said. “So we wait for the ambulance and pray it gets here soon.”

Steph kept an eye on the clock. Three minutes later, paramedics arrived and got him stable enough to transport. Soon their taillights disappeared and the siren faded.

Tate returned to her side on the porch. “How did you know he was in trouble?”

“I didn’t. Not really. Things just seemed odd. He was more stressed than usual. Yesterday I was leaving the office and he was on the phone and pacing, upset about something.” She shrugged. “Individually, those don’t mean much. Everyone has bad days and clients can really stress you out. When you deal with people’s money, things can get hairy sometimes.”

“Right.”

“But just adding it all up and then Brenda’s notes in the journal made me want to ask him myself. See his face when he said he didn’t know what Brenda was working on, then show him her notes. The thing is, wealwayskeep Stan up-to-date on stuff. He’s a bit of a micromanager, so I know Brenda would have talked to him.”

“Why didn’t you tell us this?”

“I don’t know. He said she didn’t, and at the time, while it seemed odd, I believed him. Then I kept thinking about Brenda and Stan and how we all worked together, and I just...” She shrugged. “I thought maybe now that some time had passed, he might have remembered something—or would be more willing to share what he knew.”

“Hmm.” Cole looked at his phone. “Do you have any idea where his wife and kids are?”

“Maybe her mother’s? I think she lives in Asheville. His sister-in-law lives in Black Mountain.”

“Thanks. Those are good places to start. I can find names and addresses with that.” He walked back into the house, dialing his phone on the way. The crime scene unit had taken over the den, and Steph was at a loss as to what to do next.

---