Page 32 of Intrigued
“I know,” she strongly claimed. “And is Jasper Christmas okay with her little book?”
I groaned a little, thinking about how much Jasper wasn’t with the program. “No, he’s not.”
“I didn’t think he would be,” she said. “You know, there’s a reason no one else has picked up where I left off. Actually, you’re the first person that’s ever called me to inquire about what I may have found on them. I mean, I presume that’s why you’re calling.”
I flexed my eyebrows. “You presume right. And would you care to share?”
“I can’t.”
I jerked my head. “Is it because of Jasper Christmas?”
“I’m not allowed to say.”
That would be a yes. “Did it have anything to do with your deal with the coroner’s office?”
She paused. “I’m not allowed to say.”
Again, that was another yes. “Did your investigation of the family ever take you to Chattanooga?”
“Chattanooga? What’s in Chattanooga?”
That was a no.
“And by the way, if you’re in their house, asking me these questions, then I’m going to hang up.”
My gaze rolled around the room. I wouldn’t put it past Jasper to be watching or listening to me. Damn, she had a point.
“Can I call you back?” I asked.
“I’ll be waiting.”
My phone went silent.
Chapter Thirteen
The garage door was locked. It wasn’t a mystery who’d done it. To make sure I wasn’t misassigning blame, I walked over and pressed the button to open the center garage door, and it rolled up. My instincts had served me right when I bypassed telling William that I was heading to my car. There was no doubt he would’ve reported back to Jasper that I was leaving. Suddenly, all the sex I’d had with Jasper felt like a humongous mistake. He was definitely trying to fuck me into compliance. But then Gina had said he couldn’t get it up for her. He’d had no problem cramming his rock-solid erection inside of me. I wished I knew what the hell was going on with him. Was he a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?
Regardless, I had to stay levelheaded and figure out what to do next. I pulled my coat tighter as I eyed the line of catering trucks parked alongside the driveway at the back of the house. The snow and gray sky seemed to add a greater chill to the cold. But I couldn’t go in. The next lead I needed to follow up on was the one given to me by Crystal Preacher. I had to talk to her mother.
I focused on the workers going in and out of the kitchen through a special entrance. If only I could sneak off the property in the back of one of those trucks. Of course, that wouldn’t have been feasible. The caterers would wonder who in the hell I was and why I had to sneak away from the estate.Not good.
So my first mission was to escape the property without being seen. I walked behind the garage then past a private forest of winter-bare trees. I remained among the sticks as I moved toward the perimeter of the property. My fingers were freezing, and I began to question my sanity when I finally caught sight of the white fence. I ran toward the barrier and easily climbed over. It wasn’t the first time I’d had to do something like that in the line of getting the story.
I didn’t have to walk far up a dirt road until I met the paved street.Home free.I took out my cell phone, and even though my fingers were nearly numb, I performed a regional search for Sally Preacher, which didn’t take long. There was only one in Providence, so I figured she had to be who I was looking for. Next, I called an Uber, which would pick me up within fifteen minutes. To keep myself occupied, I did some more research. There weren’t any photos of Amelia Christmas on the internet, so I shot a quick message to Kylie and asked if she had any.
She messaged back immediately:Are you using their internet?
I replied quickly:No. I’m off the property. My hotspot. Send pics if you have them and I’ll call u when I’m in the Uber.
Kylie answered by sending a gallery of photographs of Amelia Christmas.
I studied one after the other, enlarging them, taking in every aspect of her face. Then I noticed something about Amelia that I wondered if Kylie had ever questioned.
* * *
“It’sone reason why I wanted that coroner report,” Kylie said. “Amelia always looked stressed, which made her appear older, but her true age is—”
“In the eyes,” I said.
