Guns and Roses (41 page)

As Rebel came back around to the front to the house, she found Cash leaning against his cruiser, his long legs crossed at the ankle and his muscular arms crossed over his chest. Her belly did a weird little somersault, but she kept moving forward. He cocked a brow when he caught sight of her. She shook her head.

“Not one cotton pickin’ Mr. Lincoln! Doesn’t mean Colette’s innocent. I know her mama grows them. And that means Colette
and
Drew can get their hands on one.”

“You positive it was a Mr. Lincoln?”

“I’d have to see it up close and in person, but it sure looked like one to me.”

“This town is full of red rose bushes. It could have come from any one of them.”

“Not any one, a specific one.”

“I guess we’re just going to have to keep our eyes peeled for that specific one.”

Rebel smiled. He’d said we, not I. “Yes, suh,
we
sure are. Now how about a ride into town? I have a few things I need to take care of.”

When she reached for the door handle, Detective Cantrell went to open it for her at the same time and caught her hand in his. As her fingers tightened around the handle, the detective kept his hand on hers.  His skin was warm, his hand strong. She turned a quarter turn to fully face him. Then looked up at him and sighed. They were close. No more than ten inches separated them. Rebel felt the fireworks going off again, and this time, she didn’t want to stop them. And from the hungry look in the detective’s eyes, neither did he. She licked her dry lips, and could have sworn she heard him groan.

“I’ll give you a ride, Miss Culpepper,” he said, his voice low and huskier. “If you promise me that your town business has nothing to do with my business.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I can’t make that promise. What if I see something that incites my curiosity and it happens to lead me somewhere, like straight to Jami’s murderer?”

Cash groaned again. The girl was driving him to multiple brinks. “Give me your word or you walk this time, no golf cart.” He looked down at her sandaled feet. He’d noticed right off she had showered and changed her clothes. He’d been too pissed off at her in the house to admire the way her low-slung blue jeans hugged her ass and the way that buttercup-colored jersey top she was wearing accentuated the high firmness of her breasts. But up this close and personal, she smelled clean and fresh like seashells and sunshine. Her thick, cinnamon-colored hair was still damp except for the tendrils that danced in the morning breeze. She wasn’t more than a mite, maybe five foot four and not sickly thin like so many of the girls on campus. She had nice curves wrapped in creamy soft skin. The kind a man could lose himself in.

He tried not to think about the age difference between them or the other differences, but they crept in nonetheless. Didn’t mean that he couldn’t enjoy the moment. Because flirting with Rebel Yell Culpepper stirred his blood up in a way even the most exciting car chase didn’t.

“You thinking about kissing me, Detective Cantrell?”

Leaning into her, he smiled and shook his head. She was direct. “No.” He breathed in, then honestly said, “I was thinking about after I kissed you.”

She smiled wide. Her teeth were glaring white and straight with just the slightest hint of an overbite. Her cheeks flushed a soft shade of pink. “Why, I do declare. I’m feeling all warm and flustered.”

“In another place and another time, I’d make you feel a lot more than that.”

“In another place and another time, Detective Cantrell, I would surely let you.”

Cash shook off the heat that had taken control of him. This wasn’t like him. He was serious, focused and committed to his self-imposed rules. He straightened and opened the door for her. “Just remember, I’m the detective; you’re the college student.”

“Oh, I won’t forget that. If only you would.”

He shook his head and closed the door. As they drove back to town, Rebel was unusually quiet. Several times he glanced over at her to find her looking straight ahead with a slight furrow to her brow. He rolled his eyes. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“I’d heard there was another murder about five years ago here at Gilman.” She looked at him. “Is that true?”

“Yes.” He wasn’t giving her any more information than he had to.

“A girl. Strangled. The killer never found?”

“Yes, yes and yes.”

“Colette’s been here six years. Four as a student, two as a graduate assistant. She coaches the lady’s basketball team. I think I heard that other dead girl played basketball, too. I bet the murders are connected to Colette and basketball.”

“Anything is possible,” he safely said.

“I know what you’re doing, Detective. And that’s ok, you go on and keep me in the dark, but I’m not going away.”

“Far be it from me, Miss Culpepper, to try and shut that out-of-control imagination of yours down.”

“Was there a rose at the other girl’s murder scene?”

Cash grasped the steering wheel. That fact was never revealed to the public.

“By your silence, I’ll take that as a yes. It would interesting to see if the roses are the same kind. I bet they are. Find the source of the roses and you find your killer.”

“This town is full of roses. Every yard has roses in every color. I’ve never seen anything like it.” And it was true. Lockerby had dubbed itself the rose capitol of the Carolinas. And the residents took great pride in them.

“Just like each person, every rose has its own unique traits specific to that one type. Let’s see if they match.”

“I never said there was a rose.”

“Detective, I told you when we first met not to underestimate my southern-belle demeanor. You need to take stock in that.”

As they pulled up in front of the small, brown-brick PD building, which was actually the backside of the courthouse, he turned to Rebel and asked, “Where would you like me to drop you off?”

“Here’s fine.”

She was out of the car before he could open her door.

As Cash walked into the PD, she followed him in.

“Goodbye, Miss Culpepper,” Cash said over his shoulder.

“Good bye, Detective Cantrell,” she said too easily.

Cash set her from his mind and called to the PD secretary. “Sara, did you pull that old file I asked you to?”

“It’s on your desk, Detective,” she called from the file room.

“Thank you,” he said and proceeded down the hall to his office. Before he opened the glass-topped door, he turned around to the pesky girl who had followed him. “
Goodbye,
Miss Culpepper.”

“I needed to ask where the ladies room is.”

“Back up the hall near the front door where we came in.”

“Thank you, Detective.”

As Rebel walked away, Cash shook his head and let himself into his office. He set the evidence bag down beside his desk, shrugged off his suit jacket and loosened his tie. He was in for a long day, and thankfully, it was Sunday. Not much happened in Lockerby on a busy day. On Sunday, most folks were in church then headed home for  Sunday dinner.

He was about to step outside his office and ask Sara to put on a pot of coffee, but didn’t want to bump into Rebel again. She was too much of a distraction and she never shut up. For the second time that day, he felt sorry for her boyfriend current or future. He waited several minutes before he opened the thick manila envelope on his desk. It was all that was left of the Katie Burkhart file. The evidence was gone. Only the reports and photos were left.

Once he had all the crime scene photos laid out on his desk, he stood back and carefully looked at each one for similarities between cases. After several minutes he felt eyes on him. Looking up, he caught and held the dark brown ones staring intently at him from the other side of his door.

“I thought we’d said goodbye?”

She let herself in and he cursed himself for not locking the door. As her gaze swept the photos, he began to scoop them up. “Hey,” she said, “Let me see that one. The one with the necklace.”

Cash shook his head and piled them one on top of the other. “This is official business, Rebel, not a game. I’m not going to ask you to leave again. Now, I’m telling you. Go home.”

“Jami had a necklace just like the one it that picture.”

Cash’s heart slammed in his chest. He dumped the eight by ten glossies back onto his desk, and handed her the one with several of Katie’s personal articles on it. “Are you sure? Just like that one?”

“Yes, a gold heart pendant. Exactly the same. She had it on yesterday. She said Drew gave it to her.”

“There was no pendant at the crime scene. A broken gold chain, but no pendant.”

“I’m telling you, I saw it yesterday. Jami was flying high; she said Drew had left it in her locker as a way to say he was sorry without actually
saying
he was sorry.”

“Well, finding out about the ledge party must have changed things because we know they were back to fighting again.”

“What about
that
girl’s boyfriend?” Rebel said pointing to the picture. “Who was he and was there any doubt about him?”

“It’s been a long time since I looked at the file, but as far as I remember, he had an airtight alibi.” Cash dug through the reports until he found the one he was looking for. “It says here her boyfriend was in Winston-Salem for his niece’s christening.” He read further down. “When asked about the pendant, he said he had not given it to her.” 

“Maybe she had a secret admirer.
Maybe
Drew
didn’t
give Jami hers, either. What if she had the same secret admirer that gave Katie hers?”

Cash’s heart did a giddy up and go. “Miss Culpepper, you might just be on to something there!” He dug through the pictures until he found what he was looking for. “Is that a Mr. Lincoln?”

Rebel looked at the picture. “Sure looks like it, but I’d have to see it in person to say for sure.”

Cash reached down and picked up the evidence bag then withdrew the clear bag with the withered rose in it. “I can’t open this, and you can’t touch it, but is that a Mr. Lincoln?” he asked holding the bag up for her to get a good look at.

“Yes, suh, it sure is.”

Cash grinned. “You really want to help me with this case?”

“More than anything.”

As Cash gathered up the pictures and put them back into the folder, he said, “I need to make a call, then we’re going for a ride.”

Chapter Six

“Where’re we going?” Rebel asked Detective Cantrell from the passenger seat of his police car.

“West Jefferson to talk to Katie’s mama.”

“That’s over in the next county!”

“I’m aware of its location, Rebel. Now, while I drive, from page one, start reading me the report.”

Rebel smiled. “Really? You’re letting me in on official police business?”

“For now.”

Never satisfied with simple answers, Rebel had to ask, “Why? What made you change your mind?”

The detective gave her an odd, sideways glance before he turned his attention back on the road. “A few reasons.”

“Name them.”

The detective let out a long exasperated breath. “One, if by some slim chance the killer finds out you were there, even though you were passed out, you’re safer with me. Second, I’m an instinct man and my gut tells me with you so closely tied to the victim and to Gilman, you’re going to see something I’m not, like the type of rose connection and the pendant connection. And third, if I leave you to your own devices, you’re going to get yourself or somebody else killed. And since my job is to serve and protect the citizens of Lockerby, they’re all safer with you right where you are.”

“I suppose I could take some of that the wrong way, but I won’t because boiled down it means you trust me. And for that I thank you, Detective Cantrell. It means a lot to me.”

“I’m trusting you to see what I don’t, Miss Culpepper. And my name is Cassius, my friends call me Cash.”

“My friends call me Rebel… Cash.”

He smiled, but didn’t look at her. “Get to reading, Rebel.”

She shuffled through the papers until she had them all in order. “I’ll say this from just glancing at these reports, whoever wrote them did a poor job of articulatin’.”

“That would have been the old Chief. He medically retired. Dementia.”

“Well, without sounding insensitive, this reads like a mentally challenged person wrote it.”

“Let’s take from it what we can.”

“Ok, so the body of Katharine Mae Burkhart was discovered on a Sunday morning five years ago this month at Kappa house.” She shivered. “By Robert Merle, a pledging freshman.” Rebel swallowed hard. “Says here that she was found in the third-floor study hall. Strangled and bludgeoned, her body positioned spread eagle and her clothes removed from her.” Rebel shivered. “Just like Jami.” She exhaled and continued. “A bloody red rose and a gold heart pendant necklace was found wrapped in her bra that the killer had wound around her neck.”