Page 59 of Sadie's Guarded Harbor

The clomp of boots came toward them, and Sadie was surprised to spot Taylor. She brushed snow from her shoulders and offered a wide smile. “Hey guys. What’s new?”

“Sadie wonders if Judge Downs will let us check out her house.” The lines on Tommy’s raised forehead nearly touched his hairline.

“Good luck,” Taylor said with a small snort. “I can’t help you with that, but I did find something interesting before I grabbed some lunch.”

Tommy sat Sadie’s list back on the desk and stood straight. “What’s that?”

“A storage unit in Shawn’s name. He’s been paying for one monthly for years.” She fished a slip of paper from her back pocket and handed it to Tommy.

Tommy frowned. “Why would he rent a storage unit two towns over?”

“Good question,” Taylor said. “Especially since I checked other storage units in town and the one Shawn’s been using is more expensive.”

“A storage unit would be locked, right?” Sadie asked, wheels spinning.

Tommy tilted his head to the side, brow furrowed. “Most likely.”

She grinned. “Where’d you put that key?”

Thirty minutes later,sunlight reflected off the snow-covered fields, nearly blinding Sadie on her drive to Litchman. The storage units sat on the outside of town, cutting down on the drive time. Her pulse hummed as she neared the city limits. This could be the break they needed.

As long as the damn key worked. If not, it’d take a little bit of time to wade through the red tape to get into the unit.

Tommy sat beside her with his phone in his hand. He waded through digital files he’d been sent by Owen and updates on Curtis’ case. At this point, most of the precinct was trying tofigure out what had happened to the bar owner and the part he played in Shawn’s death.

One thing was certain, Curtis hadn’t killed himself. Water’s Edge either had two killers on the loose, or someone willing to silence anyone who got in the way. Sadie’s money was on the latter.

The entrance to the storage facility loomed a few miles ahead and to the left. “These places creep me out.”

Lifting his head, Tommy stared out the window. “You mean you don’t like spending time in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of little structures that could be hiding anything?”

A nervous laugh bubbled in her throat. “You nailed it.”

She drove past the sign announcing her arrival to Litchman and came to a halt at a stop sign. Tommy hooked a thumb to the left, and she turned toward the cluster of buildings and into the entrance of the storage facility, then navigated down the rows of squat units.

Slowing the cruiser to a crawl, she studied the units. Bright orange roofs adorned shabby, off-white rectangular structures. Little black numbers marked small garage doors, giving an indication of the size of the spaces.

“There’s the one we want.” He pointed ahead, a couple units down in the wide, gravel aisle.

She came to a stop in front of the number Taylor provided. She drew in a deep breath to clear her head then cast Tommy a let’s-do-this look. “Ready?”

He nodded.

Turning off the engine, she exited the car and pocketed her keys.

Tommy rounded the hood of the cruiser and joined her in front of the miniature garage door. He inserted the key then lifted the door until the rusted barrier disappeared from view. “Bingo. Finally found the missing lock to this damn key.”

The sunlight was enough to chase away the shadows inside. A large structure under a cream-colored cloth dominated the majority of the space. Otherwise, the room was empty.

“A car?” Her voice echoed off the concrete floor and cinder block walls. Stale air settled inside her nostrils and bits of dust floated in the sunbeams.

“Judging by the layer of dust covering the cloth, no one has touched the car in years.” Tommy crouched, lifting the end of the material draped over the car. “Help me get this thing off.”

Stepping to his side, she grabbed a fistful of the thick cloth. Working together, they rolled it up until they could toss it to the other side of the hood. The momentum carried the material over the other side where it landed with a heavythud.

Her jaw went slack and her blood pumped furiously through her veins, threatening to make her heart explode. The red sports car matched the one in the picture she’d found of Shawn and his buddies.

Tommy gaped,stunned into silence. Of all the things he’d expected to find in the storage unit, Shawn Downs’ old car wasn’t one of them.

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