ChapterTen
Staring down at the body of what used to be a dear friend, my composure started to crack. There was little doubt the gunshot wound wasn’t self-inflicted.
“Who the hell would kill Doc, Josh? He never hurt anyone and would give you his last dollar if you needed it.”
Taking a step closer, putting us hip to hip, he put an arm around my shoulders in a one-armed hug. “I was hoping you might have an idea. When's the last time you saw him?”
I ignored the raised brow from the coroner. Dude could kiss my ass. My friend was dead, and another friend was giving me comfort. I only felt a slight twinge of guilt that had Loch and Jesse not been made to wait out in the hall, I’d have likely been receiving the same from both of them. That would surely give judgy-McJudgerson a better reason to act the way he was.
Shrugging, both at the coroner and in response to Josh's question, I answered the best I could. “Late this afternoon. He brought a treat bag down to the club for Opal before I took her into town.”
“And your guests? Where were they this evening?” he asked, not ungently and with a fair amount of regret in his voice.
I stiffened in his hold before edging sideways out of it. It might be his job, but jumping right in to pump me for information didn't sit too well. “All four of them came with us to trick-or-treat,” I responded flatly. “Aunt Flo was with us, and I’m sure there's a dozen security cameras that have footage of us downtown. Look for the real culprit, Joshua. Neither me nor my ‘guests’ had shit to do with this.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose before letting out a sigh, he fixed me with a steady yet sympathetic stare. “I know you would never harm a soul without just provocation, but I still have to do my due diligence, Sevey. As it stands, I may need to turn this over since our relationship is a conflict of interest.”
At his underlying warning, I felt my face blanch and hoped the coroner chalked it up to the stress of the night. We weren’t ready to have anyone poking around; the greenhouses, processing buildings, and storage facilities wouldn’t be completed until nearly spring. Until we had our licensing approved and the smuggling wrapped up, we needed to continue to fly under the radar. Hoping to derail his thinking, I snapped back, “What relationship? Surely cops are allowed to have friends, and do you really think right now is the proper time to be bringing this up?”
His lips tightened until they pulled down at the corners, and I vaguely noted our witness’ eyes bouncing back and forth like he was at a ping-pong match. “Guess I was mistaken in waiting around all this time. If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you back to your men,” he said stiffly. Thoroughly chagrined, he turned on his heel to stalk toward the door to the morgue.
With a last glance at Doc before the now visibly uncomfortable coroner covered his face, I whispered to my friend that we’d find who’d done this to him. Out in the hall, Josh stood with his arms crossed over his chest, the vest he wore under his uniform making him almost as broad as Lochlan. Despite my sorrow over the death of a friend, it didn’t escape me that I had a heretofore unknown type—bad boys with a hero complex that didn’t mind walking on the wrong side of the law when circumstances called for it.
That didn’t stop me from blasting my ex-boyfriend though. “What the fuck was that in there?” I hissed at him, cognizant of the surveillance camera in the corner of the ceiling.
In unison, Loch and Jesse immediately turned and cocked their heads to the side. It was sort of creepy as fuck, but it did have Josh turning his attention from me to them. They, of course, were the bigger threat regardless of what the other man might think. Or maybe he did know since his hands went up, palms out, a pointed glance at me to defuse the imminent situation.
Shaking my head at him, I headed for the guys and motioned toward the exit. “Do what you need to for your job, Josh, but don’t lend stock to anything more than a friendship between us again without discussing it with me first.” From his curt nod and clenched jaw, I gathered he wasn’t too happy with my order, but whether it was me calling him out or firmly friend-zoning him, I wasn’t sure. Either way, I hoped it didn’t cause a rift in our friendship that we couldn’t mend. Feeling bad all around, I offered an olive branch. “Sorry for snapping at you. It took me off-guard. After Doc… It’s just a bad time. Keep me updated on what you can?”
His hard stare softened with his reply. “Yeah, I’ll give you a call, or at least stop by when his belongings are released. We’ll catch whoever did this, Sevey. Doc was a friend to most folks around here.”
Heart hurting, I gave him half a smile and let Loch and Jesse escort me out to their truck. I had a meeting to call and bad news to break to my crew—if they hadn’t already started to hear about it through the smalltown rumor mill.
* * *
“We’re going to find who did this, Prez, and put them six feet under,” Tank said, nearly echoing what the sheriff had promised a short time ago. The fury and sorrow Tank displayed was mirrored on the faces around the room, and his declaration was immediately followed by the affirmations of all present.
Fearing there’d be a rash of violence to be laid directly at our door, I tried to curb the bloodlust coursing through the members of my club, rapping my gavel on the soundblock until they quieted down enough to hear me. “Tank is right. We will have justice for Doc, but we can’t go around blaming anyone without cause. You hear anything, and you bring it to me. You all know I’ve been friends with the sheriff since we were kids, and he’s on our side. He’s invested in bringing Doc’s killer in too, so let’s try to make his job easier, alright?” Reluctant nods and belligerent stares from some of the more hot-headed members didn’t bode well for keeping the peace. The last thing we needed was strife between the club and the whole damn town. “I catch wind of anyone going off half-cocked, causing the culprit to go free or harming the innocent, and I will personally cut your tattoo off. Do you understand me?”
That threat garnered the attention it deserved, and I’d follow through and excommunicate their asses too, so it was a damn good thing they understood I was serious. Before dismissing the lot of them so I could go home and grieve with my family, I made sure they would all be available for the police to interview, directly sending down those that had seen or talked to Doc to give their statements. I was plumb worn out and ready for the day to be over. An emergency midnight meeting was almost unheard of, and I hated the reason I’d had to call this one more than any other.
* * *
Iwoke to the bed dipping behind me and immediately pulled Opal to me until I made out Lochlan climbing in on her other side. Sure enough, Gus murmured an apology as he snuggled up against my back. Last I’d seen of them or the other two, they’d been taking shots with Aunt Flo. I’d brought Opal up to lie down, my head sore from tears and lack of sleep.
“We locked up, and Jesse and Coot got your aunt into bed. They’re taking the guest room downstairs. Hope you don’t mind us bunking in here with you?” Loch whispered, tracing a finger across Opal’s chubby cheek as he stared down at her, his love for her plain to see.
I didn’t mind them there at all and told them so before going back to sleep. As I drifted off, I felt a weight lift despite the upset I still felt over Doc’s death. Them being there just felt right, and I planned to see about making it a permanent thing, right after I planned the best send-off I could for my lost friend.