Page 48 of Gentle Fox

I was on the move before I could talk myself into letting her have just a little more of her carefree time before I burst the bubble. There was a sinking feeling in my gut that whoever was in the picture, would upset Annalee.

Both women stopped talking as soon as Hendrix and I stepped through the door.

“Uh, I better get back to the shop.” Maisie hopped off the desk and was on the move without a single glance back. “I’m glad you enjoyed the snack I brought you. Come see me later and I’ll have more for you.”

That was weird. Maisie never ran away when I walked into her bakery. I looked over at Hendrix to see if he had any idea what caused Maisie to split so fast. The intense look on his face did nothing to squelch the curiosity. My friend was never this hyper-focused on anything other than work. He was the jokester of the group but I didn’t have time to figure out what was going on with those two. I needed to ask Annalee about the picture.

“What did you do to Maisie?” Annalee was honed in on Hendrix just like I had been seconds before.

Her question pulled my friend out of his stupor and he was plastering his goofy smile back on his face in no time. But only a person who had known him as long as I had could see it was fake.

“Not a clue.” He shrugged it off and I took that moment to change the subject.

“I need you to look at a picture and tell me if you recognize the second person in it.”

Annalee huffed but she didn’t continue her interrogation of Hendrix, so I considered it a win. I handed her the phone and watched her reaction closely. I knew my gut feeling was spot on when she gasped and her hands shook.

“That’s my father’s lifelong friend. Or he was. I got the feeling they had a falling out the weeks before my father’s death but I couldn’t be sure. My father never spoke to me about those kinds of things. Why would he be here in Texas with Dennis?” She looked to me like I would have the answer. Unfortunately, I was just as lost on the why as she was.

“I’m not sure but we’re going to find out. Come in the back with us so we can get the details from you.”

“But I need to watch . . .” Her words cut off as she looked around the receptionist area.

“We can see out here, remember? You can join us in the back for a bit.”

I was able to guide Annalee to the back without further questioning. She looked to be in a daze as I led her to the chair I had vacated when I got the text from Lex.

“Can I get you water or anything?” It was the one rare time I got to see Hendrix being anything other than goofy.

“A water would be great, and maybe the muffin Maisie brought me, if you don’t mind. Please and thank you.”

A little of the color was coming back into her cheeks.

“Coming right up.” Hendrix was out the door in a flash and eager to do her bidding. It seemed she had that effect on everyone.

“You okay to tell me more about the man with Dennis?” I didn’t want to push her. If she needed some time to gather her composure, I would be happy to give it to her. I didn’t like how white she got seeing that picture.

“Yeah.” Annalee shook her head like she was trying to clear away some of the fog. “I’m not sure why that freaked me out so much. What do you want to know?”

“How about we start with his name and how long your father has known him?”

I’ve spent time looking into her father, Seraphina, and Dennis but I had yet to expand to those in their lives. Seraphina and Dennis had enough problems for me to wade through.

“His name is Walter Henderson and I believe my father had known him most of his life. Certainly before he met my mother and they had me. He was just always there when I was growing up.”

“So, like family?” Annalee nodded, and nibbled on her lip. It appeared that she wanted to say something but didn’t know how it would sound. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

“Did you ever have that feeling that you didn’t like someone, but you couldn’t put your finger on why?”

I nodded my head because I knew exactly what she was talking about. But in my line of work, it was called a “gut instinct” and we followed that shit hard because if not, it could mean death for us.

“That’s how I’ve felt about Walter my entire life. Even as a kid, he weirded me out. He never did anything to me, but I didn’t like being around him. Before my mother died, he wasn’t around as much. Then after she died, it was like he couldn’t stay away. I never understood how my father was friends with him. They were nothing alike. My father worked hard for everything he had and wanted a good life for his family. Walter was lazy and constantly blamed others for his problems. I always thought he would be better suited for Seraphina than my father ever was.”

I was adding Walter to my list of people to look into.

Actually, based on what Annalee said, he was going right to the top.

“You said you think he had a falling out with your father?”

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