Page 88 of Tessa's Trust

That one little statement relieved me greatly.

“Where are you now?” he asked. “We should grab dinner.”

I warmed. I shouldn’t have. But I did. I would love to grab dinner with Nick. “Um, I’m still over the pass,” I muttered. “I have a quick legal question for you.”

“All right.” He sounded wary.

“Does crime scene tape bar entry to a residence?” I asked. “I mean, is it like some sort of law that you can’t cross it?”

His silence held weight before he spoke. “What exactly are you doing right now?”

“I’m at Rudy Brando’s rented cabin,” I murmured. “I thought I’d take a look around.”

“Franco’s not going to let you get away with a second B&E in one day. He’s a nice guy, and he likes you, Tessa, but come on. At some point, he’ll have to do his job.”

The world was silent around me, save for the light dropping of snowflakes. “Nobody knows I’m out here.”

“I love that idea, considering people keep shooting at you.”

“They actually shoot at you,” I retorted, not forgetting that the last shooter had wanted to scare me, as well. We still hadn’t figured that one out. “Seriously, Nick. I just want to look around.”

“I’d tell you not to, but I know you wouldn’t listen to me. Keep me on the phone.”

“All right.” I kept the cell with me as I jumped out of the car and sank about a foot into the snow. It was amazing how much the powder piled up in just a couple of days since the police had no doubt searched the place. I cautiously crept up the stairs to the front door and tugged the crime scene tape out of the way. The knob turned easily.

“They didn’t lock it,” I said.

“There’s probably nothing in there to steal. Most of those cabins aren’t locked in the winter. If somebody needs shelter, they take it, and if they really need it, they’ll just break in.”

True. That made sense. Cold and darkness instantly assailed me when I walked inside. It was still light enough outside that I could see clearly. The cabin held one bedroom, a comfy living room, and a small kitchenette. The furniture was log-made and comfortable-looking, fronting a wide fireplace. Mountains rose high and white in the distance, framed perfectly by the back sliding glass door.

There was dust everywhere—the black kind, as if they’d dusted for prints.

“You see anything?” Nick asked.

“Just finger-printing dust.” Even though I was alone, I tiptoed quietly to look through both the bedroom and the bathroom. Everything was empty. They must have taken out anything that was Rudy’s and filed it for evidence. “There’s nothing here,” I said.

“I’m sure the police took everything. So, how about you get out of there and come back over the pass? We can go to dinner and try to figure out this case.”

I wanted that dinner more than I should, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Nana’s words. “Are we working together now?”

“We’ve always been working together,” he retorted.

Now that was just sweet. “Fair enough.” I started toward the doorway just as one of the wooden floorboards caught my eye. The color was lighter than the other planks. I wouldn’t have even noticed if a shadow from the nearest chair hadn’t slid across it as the sun went down. “Huh,” I said.

“What?”

“Something is off with a floorboard.” I moved toward the odd patch, which was closer to the kitchen than the living room.

“What about the floor?” Nick asked.

“I don’t know.” I tried to keep the frustration out of my voice as I bent down and felt along the smooth wood. “There’s just a slight discoloration that I wouldn’t have noticed at a different time. The shadows were dancing across it.”

He made a low sound of frustration. “Forget the dancing shadows and get out of there.”

“I will.” Yet something about that floorboard bugged me. I tugged at it and felt a slight indent at the end of the board. “Hmm. There’s something here.” Standing, I went to the kitchen and searched through the drawers to find a butter knife.

“What are you doing?” Nick’s voice now held a bite.

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