“It didn’t cross my mind either,” Ronan admitted. “She said she had somewhere to be yesterday, and according to the husband, she’s also a member of the Ladies Auxiliary. Their Toys for Tots drive is wrapping up this week. Jennifer had her hands in a lot of charitable events…” He trailed off.
“What happened in the meeting with her husband today?” Ten took a sip of his hot chocolate. It was delicious. Just what he needed after a long, non-productive day.
“It went like I thought it would at first. Charles is obviously in mourning for his wife, but things changed when we asked about Skye Washington.” Ronan’s eyes glowed like he was on to something.
That made no sense. “He was upset at being asked about a thirty-five-year-old cold case, but not about being accused of his wife’s murder?”
“We didn’t actually accuse him of killing Jennifer. Cisco asked about the last time he saw or spoke to his wife, and then we talked about how the two of them met. It was a sweet love story. Charles stopped to help Jennifer in the rain when her car broke down.” Ronan’s serious look turned into a sappy smile.
Ten slapped a hand against Ronan’s forehead. The sappy smile was Ten’s clue that something was wrong with his grumpy husband.
“What the heck is wrong with you? Smacking me like that in front of our daughter.” Ronan shot Ten the stink-eye.
Everly was drinking her cocoa, seemingly oblivious to the turmoil between her parents.
“I needed to see if you were running a fever.” Ten moved his hand from Ronan’s forehead to rest against his cheek. Ronan wasn’t hot. “You can’t honestly expect me to believe that two seasoned cops didn’t ask the husband of a murder victim if he killed his dead wife.”
“It’s true. Cisco wanted to go easy on him. We don’t have any of the forensics back yet. No DNA, fingerprints, phone records, computers, or things of that nature. Since we didn’t have any evidence to back up our claims, we took the slow road and acted like we were on a fact-finding mission.” Ronan turned his face into Ten’s hand, pressing a kiss against his palm.
“What did you learn?” Ten loved it when Ronan made romantic gestures, just not in the middle of discussing a murder case.
“Charles was perfectly calm and collected until I asked him about Skye Washington.” Ronan bounced his eyebrows as if to signal he was building up to something big.
“What did you ask him?” This was interesting. Why the hell would a grieving husband be upset about the Washington case?
“If he thought Jennifer killed Skye.” Ronan snickered and bit his bottom lip.
“Jesus Christ, Ronan!” Ten slapped a hand against his forehead. Ronan couldn’t possibly be that dense. Charles Blake’s wife wasn’t even twenty-four hours dead yet, and Ronan was accusing her of Skye’s murder?
“Bad Dada! Tie ow!” Everly pointed to the living room. Her little face morphed into an I-mean-it frown.
Ronan burst out laughing. “Our sweet, sweet child has a point, Dada. You did say a bad word. It’s only fair you head to time out.”
“Seriously! You say bad words all the time. I don’t see you sitting on the time out step.” Ten perched Everly on the first step for her time outs. If he sat there, his knees would come up to his ears.
“Now, Dada! Go!” Everly was now pointing with two fingers.
“Yes, ma’am.” Ten bowed to his daughter and headed off to the living room. He could use a few minutes to himself to figure out what the hell was going on with this case. It got crazier by the minute.
Sitting down on the second step, Ten took a deep breath. He could hear Ronan and Everly chatting in the kitchen. He was probably giving her more hot chocolate and another brownie.
“If your baby having too much sugar is your biggest complaint in life, I don’t suppose you’re doing too bad,” a familiar voice said from behind him.
Ten turned to see Skye Washington sitting a few steps above him. “Hi, Skye. How’s it going?” He wasn’t quite sure why she was here. This day had been crazy enough without a visit from the unfriendly ghost.
“Don’t give me that bullshit, Tennyson! You know exactly why I’m here.” Skye looked angry.
“If my daughter was here, that word would have earned you a spot in time out.” Ten smiled to himself. He was worn out from a long day and just wanted to relax.
“What kind of long day did poor little Tenny have?” Skye asked sarcastically.
“I spent the morning at your former BFF’s house. Examining her dead body for clues.” Every time Ten shut his eyes, all he could see was Jennifer’s body crumpled on the dining room floor with a hole in the center of her forehead.
“What are you talking about? What the hell is a BFF?” Skye’s angry look was replaced with one of confusion.
“Best friend forever. It’s a new-fangled term the hip kids are using nowadays.” Not only the kids, Tennyson admitted to himself, everyone was doing it now.
“I don’t have any forever friends. I have myself and that’s enough.” Skye’s usual resting bitch face was back.
“I hope not, Skye. Eternity is an awfully long time to spend alone.” Ten wanted to prod the spirit more about how she spent her time on the other side, but he knew Ronan would want him to ask about Jennifer. “Anyway, the dead body was your friend, Jennifer Baldwin.”
Skye stiffened. “I heard Jennifer was murdered.” There were no tears. No signs of sadness or regret. In fact, it didn’t appear the news was affecting Skye at all.
“You know, it’s an interesting story.” Ten looked away from Skye and started to study his fingernails. They could use a bit of a trim. “I think I’ve served my sentence here in time out.” Ten stood as if he were about to walk away.
“Stop! Don’t you move.” Skye sounded panicked. “What is an interesting story? I came all the way here to see you. Just tell me.”
Sighing heavily for dramatic purposes, Tennyson sat back down. “The last time we spoke, I told you Ronan and I were asked to look into your murder. Apparently, your parents call the Salem police chief every year on the anniversary of your death to ask if there are any new leads on the case.”
Skye rolled her eyes but stayed silent.
“Anyway, this year Cisco Jackson, he’s the chief, called us to see if we could take a look at your case. Ronan and Fitzgibbon worked in the Cold Case unit of the Boston PD for years. He and I solved a lot of cases together and gave a lot of families the answers they’d been waiting for.”
“What the hell does this have to do with Jennifer?” Skye sounded as if Tennyson were riding her last nerve.
“It’s all connected, Skye. Your parents still mourn your loss. We’re on the case to find them the answers they deserve after all these years. Part of our investigation was to speak with the people who were closest to you in life. We interviewed your parents and had been reaching out to your siblings and high school friends.”
“I saw you pawing through my room. Perv!” Skye challenged.
“Oh, honey,” Ten began. “The only thing in your room that interested me were your posters of New Kids on the Block.” Ten raised an eyebrow. “Donnie was always my favorite.”