Page 7 of Condemned By Secrets

The next day, Luther found himself on a call that was an exercise in frustration. He sat hunched over, his elbows leaning on his desk, as he pinched the bridge of his nose and hoped the headache developing between his eyes didn’t spread. Hanging up the phone, he sighed. The noise of the bullpen echoed around him. Phones rang, officers yelled, but he was used to tuning all that out. No, his focus was on the fact that he’d gotten nowhere with the mayor’s office. The best they were able to do was make him an appointment with the woman for the end of next week.

Luther straightened and stared blankly at his computer screen; his thoughts stuttered as though they’d come up against a brick wall. If this had been a different crime, he’d have pushed the cop card and demanded to see the mayor sooner. But with no one hurt and him not even sure the victim wanted to press charges, he had little ground to stand on.

No use pissing the woman off.Luther shook his head to clear it.

Everyone knew the mayor liked being in a position of authority. She was the type of woman who enjoyed lording power over others. Luther needed her cooperation, and he’d never see the security footage if he challenged her.

The document on his computer screen swam before his tired eyes. Luther blinked a few times to bring it into focus. At least he’d madesomeprogress. He was halfway through the names of people who’d attended the meeting at Town Hall when Anna’s tire had been slashed. He’d spent the morning working his way down the list while waiting for the mayor’s office to call him back. There had been over thirty in attendance, and, so far, no one had noticed the flat tire or anything suspicious.

Luther ran a hand down his face in frustration and frowned when his stomach growled. He glanced at his watch.2:34 p.m.

Realizing he’d missed lunch, Luther thought maybe it was time for a break. He needed to follow up with the victim anyway. Find out if she wanted to press charges or not. He could’ve called Anna this morning to ask, but he’d wanted to put the question to her in person. His eyes gleamed, and the corner of his mouth tipped up. Luther was happy to use any excuse to see her again. He wondered what she’d be wearing today and if he could fluster her, make that enticing blush spread across her cheeks. Smiling at the prospect, Luther pushed back his chair and rose.

As soon as his head cleared the partitions, Sergeant Jameson called his name, “Monroe!”

Luther winced. Annoyed his plan to leave would be delayed, he turned around. “Sarge?”

“Got something for you. Come take a look.” The sergeant beckoned with his baseball mitt of a hand as his eyes stayed trained on his computer screen.

When Luther reached Sergeant Jameson’s desk, he leaned down to look over the man’s broad shoulders, and his eyes widened at what was on the screen. It was a sonogram. “Congratulations!” He clasped the sergeant on the shoulder.

Sergeant Jameson jumped at the contact, shrugging Luther’s hand off in the process, and closed the sonogram picture. “Shit! That’s not what I wanted you to look at. Here.” He turned and shoved a folder at Luther. “Stop hovering over me and tell me what you think.”

Luther took the folder but couldn’t help the silly grin that crossed his face. This would be the sergeant’s first kid. “Boy or girl?”

Sergeant Jameson shook his head. “I don’t know. This was the first ultrasound. Look, Monroe,” his voice sharpened, and he speared Luther with a look that brooked no room for argument. “You weren’t supposed to see that. It’s too early to tell people, all right? You can’t say anything, or Daisy’ll have my balls.”

Luther chuckled, knowing the sergeant’s wife could be a real ball-buster, but as he took notice of the man’s glare, Luther sobered, miming zipping his lips closed.

He opened the folder Sergeant Jameson had given him and scanned the report. As he read, his eyebrows knitted, and his mouth firmed into a thin line. Having finished it, he glanced back up at the sergeant. “Is there anything to this?”

Sergeant Jameson crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “You tell me. Haines was skeptical, which is why I want your eyes on it. I’m not dismissing something like this. Not if it has even the slightest possibility of being legit.”

Luther nodded, stunned by what he’d just read. Possibilities swarmed in his head. As the shock wore off, excitement flooded in, and his blood raced along with his thoughts. “I’m on it, Sarge.”

“Good.”

Luther strode away, dropping the folder on his desk on his way out of the building. He was still planning to talk to Anna, but now, he had another stop to make.

???

At the outskirts of town stood a brand new strip mall—The Shoppes at Rolling Brook. It was completed six months ago, and businesses were slowly filling in. So far, there was a pizza shop, a cash advance place, a knick-knack store, a hair salon, and a small grocer’s market. The developer was out of Chicago, and he’d modeled the shopping center after the city’s Southport Corridor.

Even though the buildings along the strip were new construction, they were a mix of historic and modern architectural styles, making them look like they fit with Rolling Brook’s aesthetic. The problem was it was built to look like a street lined with shops when it sat in the middle of nowhere. It looked out of place amidst the surrounding hills and farmland, almost like a ghost town.

A few storefronts remained vacant, but the mayor was confident they’d be occupied before the year was up. At least that’s what she said anytime someone brought it up at a town hall meeting. Luther wasn’t sure if she knew something the town wasn’t privy to or if it was her attempt at placating them.

Mulling that over, he pulled into the parking lot in front of the row of stores. It held only a handful of cars, which suited him just fine. He needed to have a conversation with a worker at Lou’s Pizzeria, and the less chance of being overheard, the better.

But the lack of activity didn’t go unnoticed. Either this place was losing money, or something else was going on. Judging by the file he’d just read, Luther was betting on the latter. And he was going to find out, starting with talking to the person who’d triggered the Suspicious Activity Report.

???

Luther pushed his conversation with the informant from the pizza shop to the back of his mind as he made his way to the back door of the preservation society’s office. The guy had given him a lot to think about, but Luther wanted to let it simmer on the back burner before he made any drastic moves. Tipping his hand too soon was a surefire way to end the investigation before it began.

And he had another investigation to take care of at the moment. Like finding out as much as he could about Anna Hendricks. Luther couldn’t help the grin of anticipation that lit his face as he opened the back door to the building. It opened into the society’s gift shop, which offered books on local history, hand-crafted jewelry, and reproductions of Native American artifacts.

Wares littered the shelves and the central table, but the room was empty of people. Luther wandered past the cash register into the hallway. Poking his head in the rest of the rooms on the ground floor, he found them similarly empty. This part of the building was set up as a museum and included vignettes of life in the house from different periods of history. He knew the society did tours a couple days a week, but today didn’t look like one of them.

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