Page 58 of Raging Inferno

He took in the space. “Nice.” He motioned to the couch. “Mind if I join you?”

A shiver of awareness shot through her. They were alone in the house. Oh, the fun they could have. “Sure.”

Before she could suggest several activities they could do naked, her cell rang. “It’s my office. I’ll put it on speaker.” She punched the button. “Hey, Tyler.”

“Hey, Presley. I’ve got some information about your former boss, Ed Smith. He’s working as a security guard for a gated community near the country club in Wausau.”

She winced. That was a colossal downgrade—police captain to glorified gate keeper. She could see how he’d resent her.

“He hasn’t missed work all week,” Tyler continued. “In fact, I have proof he’s there now.”

Presley sat up. “What? That can’t be. Someone shot Bill Fitzgerald.”

“He must be pulling strings from afar,” Tyler suggested. “I checked into Fitzgerald’s finances. No large deposits or money transfers. I’m still digging. He could have a hidden account.”

“I’m not surprised there’s no paper trail. I’m sure they used cash. And I doubt a career criminal who has been caught dozens of times is smart enough to set up an offshore account.”

“You’re probably right. Also, Ed Smith’s wife is divorcing him and it’s contentious. She’s trying to take him for everything. She’s stated under oath that he’s had several affairs and even paid off someone who insisted the sex wasn’t consensual.”

“He’s done it before,” Presley growled.

“Apparently. He has two daughters, Raye and Penny, and one son, Ed Junior. Raye is a marketing manager in Minneapolis, and Penny is a stay-at-home mom in Wausau. Eddie is a detective in Rapid City.”

Presley shot forward and almost knocked her computer off her lap, grabbing it at the last second before it crashed to the hardwood floor. “Did you say Rapid City? As in South Dakota?”

“Yes.”

Presley gaped at Dominic. “Jed Flowers is from there.”

“That’s not a coincidence,” Dominic insisted.

“What am I missing?” Tyler asked.

She explained about Jed Flowers and how he’d been spending time in Serenity Shores. “I know the detective he was working with. I’ll give him a call.”

“Hit me up if you need anything else.”

“Thanks, Tyler. I will.”

She disconnected and called Reggie.

“Branch.”

“Reggie, it’s Presley Parrish and Dominic Bianchi. Is Jed Flowers with you now?”

“No. He left last night.”

“Is he coming back?”

“No. He’s headed home to South Dakota.”

She told him what Tyler had learned and how Eddie Smith worked in South Dakota, like Flowers.

“I verified his credentials myself with his department. Hold on, I’m going to call his cell phone.” There was a pause, and then he came back on the line. “It instantly kicked to his voicemail, so he probably turned it off.”

“Do you have the number for his station?”

“Give me a second . . . here it is.” Reggie recited it to her.

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