Page 36 of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

I didn’t respond, mostly because it felt like maybe I hadn’t really known my mother after all. “I can’t believe Momma had a sister I never knew about,” I said. “It seems wrong.”

“If anything ever happened to you, I bet Roy would never mention you,” Belinda said. “Not unless he was cursing you.”

“True enough,” I said with a sigh. “So does that mean Momma hated her sister? I can’t believe I don’t even know her name.”

“That should be easy to find out,” Chief Montgomery said. “I suspect her name’s somewhere in this house, but if it’s not, all it will take is some askin’ around to find out.”

“You mean hiring your girlfriend,” I said in a dry tone.

“I’ve got no horse in this race,” he said, holding his hands out at his sides. “Summer’s got work to keep her busy, but I know she’d rather be workin’ on your case.” Then he added, “And no, it’s not because of who you are or her hopin’ to use you for publicity. She told me she’d prefer to keep both your names out of the tabloids. She truly likes helpin’ people.”

“She seems very sweet,” Belinda said.

“I admit that I’m biased,” he said, “but I believe her heart is in the right place. She could have gone along with that producer of her TV show and had fewer headaches, including the one induced by the concussion she suffered while investigating a case her producer didn’t want her to dig into. But she promised a woman she’d find her missing brother, and Summer was determined to keep her promise.”

“For ratings,” I said.

His jaw tensed. “She had no idea that show would do as well as it did. And sure, she hoped the case would make the show, especially considering the crap her producer was givin’ her, but she did it to give a woman closure, and she damn near lost her life for it. Twice.”

I was impressed he was still being civil, considering that I was being borderline rude.

“Sorry,” I said. “I’ve gotten pretty skeptical in the last six months or so. Forgive my antagonism.”

“It’s understandable,” he said evenly, but I was pretty sure I saw a flicker of pity in his eyes. “And not to worry, I’ve got a pretty tough skin. It takes a lot to get under it, but even Achilles had a weak spot, and I admit that Summer’s mine.”

“I apologize,” I said. “I was out of line.”

“No,” he said. “You’re entitled to your skepticism, whether she’s my girlfriend or not.”

I glanced around the room, feeling overwhelmed. This room was like a time capsule too. How soon after my mother left town had my grandparents died? “I can probably find the information about my mother on my own.”

“True,” he said, “and sometimes we don’t have to ask for help, but there’s no shame in takin’ it when it’s offered.”

I didn’t answer. Instead, I walked over to the lavender bed and picked up a couple of the photos. They had curled at the edges and were faded enough that I could barely recognize that the images were supposed to be people, let alone determine who they were. When I flipped them over, the names written on the back had faded and what ink was left had bled so much I couldn’t read them. It was clear the photos wouldn’t give me any clues to my mother’s past.

Turned out nothing else in the house did either. My grandparents had lived meagerly and hadn’t saved anything that gave me any insight into their lives or my mother’s, not even my aunt’s.

Looked like Belinda and Chief Montgomery were about to get their way.

“Okay,” I said, running a hand over my head. “Let’s call Summer.”

Chapter Fourteen

Summer

I’d been shocked when Magnolia called and said she wanted me to help her find out more about her mother, but Dixie was beyond excited.

“We have to straighten up the office,” she announced as she bounced out of her seat and started tidying up papers on the table by the door.

“She’s already been here, Dix,” I said. “And it’s not messy.”

“Still,” she said. “No reason not to put our best foot forward.”

“What time is Bill coming back?” We’d been working on which cases to include in our film schedule, and Bill had left to scope out a few locations for filming. Good backdrops and B-roll sometimes helped us make those decisions.

“I texted him after we heard from Magnolia and told him to stay away until he heard back from us.”

“Good.” Magnolia was already skittish. Something told me that Bill being here would send her running. “We won’t be filming any of it anyway, so there’s no reason for him to be here.”

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