Adams Grove 03-Wedding Cake and Big Mistakes (31 page)

Wouldn’t matter if they took something—there wasn’t anyone left to care if it was missing. Maybe Gina had been here, or maybe someone else had and didn’t want Gina to come back.

Connor walked back outside, where Carolanne was standing.

Scott walked toward them from around back. “Y’all follow me. You’re not going to believe what I’ve just found.”

“What?” Carolanne ran to catch up with Connor and Scott.

“Let me get some things from my car, and I’ll take you back to see for yourself.”

They followed Scott to the backyard. As they walked, Scott called in to dispatch from his radio. “Dispatch, I need Deputy Taylor out here at the Dixon farm.”

Scott’s radio crackled. Then dispatch made the call and confirmed the connection as they walked. When they got around back, they walked to the far end of the house, near the old garage.

When Scott flashed his light, something reflected back. “See that?”

“I saw something, but what is it? Some kind of a reflection. A mirror?” Carolanne said.

“That’s what caught my attention, too.” He started pacing forward. “Follow me.”

They walked toward the garage, and when they got close enough, a vehicle came into view. Not just any vehicle, though. Mac’s old bakery van.

“I don’t understand.”

Connor turned off his light. “Mac said they traded in his old van. He and Anita traded it while they were up North.”

Scott nodded. “And when he told me about it, he said that Anita had talked him into doing it and she handled the whole thing.”

“Why would she do that and then put the van back here?” Carolanne looked at Connor for an answer.

Scott walked to the front driver’s side of the van. “Look.” He waved Carolanne over. “Here. Hold this, but don’t y’all touch anything.”

Carolanne held the light. Connor looked at the damage while Scott ran back to the cruiser.

Scott came back with some supplies, including a digital camera. He took several pictures of the van.

Carolanne shifted the light to just below the headlight.

Connor squatted and examined it closer. “Look at the damage to the front quarter panel.”

“Looks new,” Carolanne said. “And is that blood?”

Scott took more pictures. “When the forensics team gets here, they’ll take the official photos, but I always like to be able to prove that nothing changed between when I found the site and when they start, just in case something goes awry.”

Then he snapped on a pair of gloves and handed Connor a paper sack.

“Hold this,” Scott said as he lifted the door handle to the van. “The key is still in the ignition.”

“Look how far the seat is pulled up,” Carolanne said. “Mac could never fit behind the wheel with the seat that close.”

Lights washed over the overgrowth as a car idled down the path to the house.

“That should be Deputy Taylor,” Scott said. “Come on.”

Dan stepped out of the car just as they walked back out front. “What do we have?”

“Couple things. Someone has been in the house. Not sure there’ll be anything worth spending a lot of time on in there, but there’s a vehicle out back. I’ve got the forensics team on the way. Just need you to sit tight here and be sure nothing gets disturbed before they arrive.”

“No problem.”

Scott turned off his floodlight and placed it inside his trunk. “Did you hear anything back from the team that was looking at Ben Baxter’s car?”

“I did. No trace evidence. Hard to say if he’d hit a person if they’d been in the same spot he’d hit that tree, but the fenders were clean.”

“That’s good.” Scott looked to Carolanne. “We’ll be releasing your dad. Any circumstantial evidence we thought we had has been explained now.”

“While you’re waiting, you might go ahead and collect anything out here on the grounds. It was pretty clear last time I was out here,” Scott said to his deputy. “Could be something new now. See what you find.”

“Will do. What time is the team supposed to be here?”

“Around eight. You’ve got all night.”

“Won’t be the first time,” Deputy Taylor said.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Connor escorted Ben to his car to give him a ride home.

“I can’t thank you enough.” Ben reached for Connor’s hand and shook it.

“If Mac hadn’t come to me with what he knew when he heard you’d been arrested, no telling how this would be going right now.” Connor clicked his key fob to unlock the car doors. “You know what we have to do first, don’t you?”

“Oh yeah. Tell Carolanne that I told you to keep the information from her to get your ass out of a sling.” Ben pulled his seat belt into place.

“I’d appreciate that.”

“You’re a good man. Thanks for everything. I promise I won’t put you in that kind of a position again.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that, because if I have it my way, I’ll be asking her to marry me. I’m not going to putz around and take a chance on losing her. With that fiery temper of hers, we could be up and down a million times, but one thing I know is that I want that little redhead by my side.”

“I know exactly how you feel,” Ben said. “Her momma was the same way. You’ll have my blessing, but good luck. She can be a little stubborn.”

Connor gave him a sideways glance. “I’ll count on you to help me out, then.”

“Well, I do owe you.”

“And Mac—you owe him, too. If he hadn’t come to us with that information, you could still be in a heap of circumstantial trouble. Trust me—even circumstantial evidence is still no picnic. You’d be surprised how many convictions get made on that.”

Ben traced his hand on the door handle. “Do they know what happened to her yet?”

“Scott has a theory. He’s going to try to prove it today. That’s all I can tell you for now.”

“That’ll have to be good enough, then.”

Connor pulled into Ben’s driveway. “I’ll keep you posted.”

“You’ll keep me posted on the case
and
on my daughter, right?”

“You got it,” Connor said.

“Before you leave, do you have a minute?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

Ben opened the car door. “Wait here. I have something I want to give you.”

When Connor got back to the office, Carolanne was filing. He watched her for a minute before walking over to her. “I’m sorry,” he said, reaching for her hand.

She let him take her hand, but she kept her gaze on the file drawer.

“Look at me.” He tipped her face toward him.

Carolanne lifted her eyes to his.

“I love you. I will never let you down, I will never hurt you, and I will never keep anything from you again. I know I’ve disappointed you, but trust me on this. Please.”

Her lips parted. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. You don’t know what the future holds.”

“I do know.”

She was keenly aware of his determination. “Why are you making this impossible?”

“Because I can’t be without you, and I’m afraid you’re going to walk away from what we could have together.”

Carolanne wiggled out of his hold. “I can’t do this.”

“Please let me in. I promise you the worst thing that can happen is you decide you don’t love me, and you can leave. No harm. No foul. I’m not asking you to give up anything. Please. Just try.”

The door to the office slammed open, and Derek Honeycutt came running inside. “I need your help.”

Connor jumped up and ran out to the lobby. “Derek, what’s the matter?”

“They’ve just arrested my dad.” The twentysomething man had the fear of a fourteen-year-old boy in his eyes.

“This can’t be happening.” Carolanne ran out to the lobby. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Derek was already sprinting toward the bakery. Carolanne and Connor ran to catch up with him in a mad dash to help Mac.

By the time the three of them got there, Mac was in handcuffs.

Carolanne’s heart dropped. “No.”

Connor pulled out his phone.

“Who are you calling?”

“Anita.” He hit send. “Anita? This is Connor. They’ve just arrested Mac. You’ve got to get down here.”

Derek stood frozen, watching the arrest go down. Carolanne ran to his side, wishing something comforting would pop into her head to say to make him feel better, but she knew what he was
feeling. Embarrassed. Helpless. She’d been there a million times herself.

Connor ran over to Scott. “What’s going on here? There’s got to be a mistake.”

Scott had never looked so serious. “Mac’s old van was found behind the Dixon farmhouse. Forensics just confirmed the blood and material on the damaged fender of the van match Gina Edwards.”

Derek’s eyes went wide. “No. My dad would never…”

Carolanne knew that they’d found that van last night, but Mac had already talked to Connor. Something wasn’t right. This arrest seemed a little over-the-top. She put her arm around Derek. “Connor will sort this out. There’s got to be an explanation.”

Derek ran a nervous hand through his hair. “He didn’t like Gina hanging around. He’d seen her talking to me. He told her not to hang around anymore. Do you think…?”

“No. No, I don’t.” Carolanne pulled him to the side. “This isn’t the time to speculate. Let’s be calm, and don’t say anything like that aloud. That’s a totally innocent remark, but the police will hang on to it like a life raft if it helps their case.”

Derek nodded.

“Let’s lock up the shop, and I’ll give you a ride home.”

“I can’t sit at home. I’m working on a cake in the back. I think I’d rather do that than go home.”

“OK.” Carolanne’s heart was breaking. She led him back inside. “That’s a good idea. You keep busy, and I promise I’ll be back as soon as I have information.”

Carolanne flipped the sign on the door from
OPEN TO CLOSED
and locked it behind her. She rushed down the street to catch up with Connor at the police station.

She was glad the focus wasn’t on her dad, but there was no way Mac was guilty. She felt it strongly. Connor stepped outside just as she walked up the steps.

Out of breath, Carolanne prayed he’d have good news. “What’s the deal?”

“Come on. I’ll fill you in on the way back to the office.” Connor took her hand, and they walked up the block in silence.

When they walked into the office, he sat in a chair in the waiting area, and Carolanne sat across from him.

“So?”

Connor smiled. “Everything is OK.”

She looked at him like he was crazy. “It’s not OK if we just traded Dad for Mac. Mac isn’t any more guilty than my dad in this. There’s no way. I don’t believe it.”

“That Scott Calvin is one slick dude.” Connor leaned back in his chair and laughed.

“Why are you so giddy?”
This is not the time to joke around.
“Would you please be serious?”

“That whole thing with Mac just now, the arrest—it was a total setup.”

“What?” It took a moment to process. She leveled a stare. “You knew the whole time?”

He nodded.

She picked up a magazine from the coffee table and flung it at him. “I could kill you. I was worried to death! What happened to no more secrets?”

“Well, I didn’t know all the details until a few minutes ago.” Connor ran down the chain of events, blow by blow.

“I know all that, Connor. I was there, although I did think it was weird that you had Anita’s phone number in your phone.”