“But she doesn’t name names or speculate who did it. People around here know your reputation, Em. They know you won’t give up, and they know you’re very good at your job.”
“Thanks, I guess, but it’s a hundred-year-old cold case. The chances I can solve it are slim to none. Besides that, whoever was involved in their murders is long dead.”
“Yeah, but no one wants their family name associated with murder. Even a murder that took place a hundred years ago.”
“This isn’t just hypothetical, is it? Did someone call the station and threaten me?”
“No. Jenny found a letter in her mailbox two hours ago.” He pulled out his phone and showed her the screenshot. The words Leave town now or you’ll be sorry were scrawled in red ink on lined paper. “We’ll see if we can lift any prints, but I doubt we’ll be able to.”
“It’s a fairly generic threat, Gabe. And it might have nothing to do with the murders. It’s possible it has to do with Seaton House or Jenny herself.”
“How do you figure?”
“Maybe with the uptick in interest in Seaton House, the people who sold it to Jenny’s grandfather for a song want to buy it back and recoup their losses. The only way Jenny will sell is if they decide not to stay in town. She’s been open about her plans. And she’s just as open that she believes she’s a witch, even if it’s not in the same context that people assume.”
“Half the folks in town believe the Sisterhood are witches, so I’m not buying that has anything to do with the threat. Trying to run Jenny and her family out of town to get a deal on Seaton House, that’s a little more believable.”
“I’ll look into it. Quietly,” she assured him.
“Okay, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you before it sinks into that hard head of yours, but you are on vacation, Em. Besides, I’ve already put Todd on the case.”
She fisted her hands on her hips. “You tell me I’m stirring things up but you’re putting Todd on the case?”
“Not the cold case. The threatening letter case.”
“Oh good, because I’m too busy…” She trailed off, catching herself before she said working on the Seaton sisters’ murders. “… Too busy relaxing and hanging out with my boyfriend to get involved in Todd’s case.”
She smiled at Josh, who was walking over to place a stack of orange cones on the cart. He stopped in his tracks, his expression a cross between shocked and panicked.
“Isn’t that right, honey?” Em called out in an effort to convince her boss of their dating status. Because the way Gabe was looking at Josh suggested he was now questioning whether Em was using their relationship as a cover.
“Umm, yeah, that’s right,” Josh said as he placed the cones on the cart. He joined them, glancing at Em as if he too wondered what she was up to.
Which didn’t help her cause as evidenced by her boss’s narrowed gaze. She laced her fingers through Josh’s, giving them a subtle squeeze in hopes he’d get with the program. “If you’re all set, we should probably get going, honey.” She smiled at Gabe. “Big date tonight.”
“Are you celebrating something special?” Gabe asked.
Of course her boss couldn’t just let it go. She looked at Josh, willing him to come up with a believable answer, but all he did was stare at her as if he had no idea what had come over her. “Date number three. Josh doesn’t usually make it past date number two.”
“I guess that is a big deal. Congratulations,” Gabe said, and Em could tell he was trying not to laugh. “I’ll let you two get to it then.”
As soon as Gabe was out of earshot, she said to Josh, “Why are you acting so weird?”
“I’m acting weird? You called me honey twice, and you’re holding my hand.” He held up their linked fingers.
And maybe because he’d drawn attention to it, she became aware of how her hand felt in his. There was something strangely intimate about holding a person’s hand, his hand, and she immediately let it go. She hadn’t held a man’s hand in over seventeen months and felt almost guilty for holding Josh’s.
“So? That’s what people do when they’re dating,” she said, knowing exactly where the defensive note in her voice was coming from.
It wasn’t like Brad would care that she’d been holding Josh’s hand. This was what he wanted for her. Except this wasn’t real. And maybe that’s why she felt guilty. Because earlier, when she’d been watching Josh coach the boys and they’d shared a smile when Gus ran interference and caught the football, their fake relationship had felt real in that moment, and she’d liked it. She’d liked it a lot.
“Yeah, when they’ve been dating for a couple of months. Maybe a couple weeks for the hand-holding.”
He was right. She hadn’t held hands with Brad for the first six weeks of their relationship or called him babe or honey until they’d been together for months.
“But we’ve known each other forever,” she said, defending the hand-holding and endearments. “It makes sense that we’d skip a few steps.”
“If we were actually dating it would, but we’re not.”
“You say that like you think I need a reminder.”
He said something under his breath. She didn’t catch it because the team were calling out their goodbyes and heading off the field. Both she and Josh waved goodbye at the same time they yelled for Gus, who was trotting after Charlie and Mike.
“You’re right,” she said, instead of asking what he’d been muttering before he’d been interrupted. She was afraid she wouldn’t like his answer. “This is good for Gus.”
Josh nodded as he grabbed hold of the cart’s handle. “It’s good for the team too, especially Charlie and Mike. They like having him around.” He glanced at her as they walked across the field. “I didn’t have a chance to ask you earlier, but how did you know which car Drew drove?”
“I saw him getting something out of the Explorer when I pulled into the parking lot. A couple of his friends were with him, and I heard them call him Drew. What’s the deal with his father?” she asked, patting Gus when he joined them.
Josh filled her in about his run-ins with Drew’s father, Peter.
“He sounds like a jerk. Wait a sec. Drew’s father wouldn’t happen to be Peter O’Brien, would he? The guy who’s running for mayor?”
“One and the same.”
“Huh. He was the only one I spoke to who wanted to shut down Abby’s podcast as much as I did.”
“I guess it makes sense why Drew wouldn’t want him to know he was at Seaton House.”
“Yeah, but after what Gabe told me, I’m wondering if there’s more to Mr. O’Brien’s desire to shut down Abby’s podcast.” She told him about the letter Jenny had received. “That’s why Gabe dropped by. He blames me for stirring the pot.”
“And you wanted to convince him you were too busy with me to investigate the Seaton case,” he said, seeming relieved.
Good thing one of them was. After how she’d reacted to seeing Josh on the field, Em was feeling awkward around him—a little like she had when she was seventeen. “Yeah, and you weren’t very helpful selling our fake relationship.”