Chapter 10

TEN

SUNDAY MORNING, Steph texted Cherry Bolin and asked to meet with her. While Tate and Cole had come up empty-handed after visiting the company again and were on the way to the hospital, Steph wanted to talk to Cherry personally. Now that the person who’d likely been after her was lying unconscious in the hospital, she felt safer driving to Bolin’s Nature Nurture Expeditions without an escort or self-appointed bodyguard. Safer, but not completely relaxed. She’d keep her guard up.

Cherry texted right back and said she was at work and to come on by. They’d talk in the café.

Twenty minutes later, Steph checked the café and found it empty except for a young couple huddled over a laptop in the back corner. She went to the counter and ordered a mocha. Once she had the drink, she looked around. Still no Cherry.

Taking a seat, she considered whether to wait or let Cherry know she was there. She finally texted her.

Give me ten minutes , came her friend’s reply.

“Fancy meeting you here.”

She jumped and turned to see Benji Bolin, Cherry’s brother. He was in his midthirties, tall, and in good shape, thanks to his physical lifestyle. He wasn’t what she would consider good-looking, with the scruffy beard and shaggy hair, but he had a nice smile. “Hi,” she said. “I’m just waiting on Cherry.”

“She said you were coming by. Hold on a sec.” He went to the counter and grabbed a water from the bucket, turned, and walked back to drop into the chair opposite her. “She got held up by a customer. I told her I’d keep you company.”

“Well, it’s good to see you. I hear you’ve taken over most of the operations of the place in addition to your guided hikes and rafting.”

“I have. Mom and Dad wanted to slow down a bit, so I said I’d handle the business.”

“Good for you.” That all seemed kind of weird to her, though, because Cherry was the one who was more business oriented and stable while Benji ... wasn’t.

“Any news yet on what happened to Brenda?” he asked. “The detectives were here this morning again asking questions, but they didn’t have much to share.”

“No, they don’t know yet, but they’ll figure it out before too long. Brenda left a notebook that will probably lead them to her killer.”

“Yeah, that’s what the detectives said. You know what was in it?”

She raised a brow. Should she say? Probably not. She didn’t want to lie, but... “Well, it was in code.” Which was true.

“Oh right. They said something about that. They also said Bolin’s was in it and that’s why they wanted to talk to us. Wanted to know why Brenda thought she needed to write the information in code. It was all very weird. And kind of insulting.”

She shrugged. “I don’t think you should find it insulting. Brenda loved this place. She loved you and your family. I’m not surprised she would mention this place. Whatever she said in her notes might not be negative.”

“Huh. Yeah, I guess.” He sipped his drink and seemed about to say something more when Cherry rushed in.

“I’m so sorry, I got held up. Benji, your rafting party is ready to go. They’re waiting on you.”

Benji stood and saluted her with his drink. “Duty calls. Nice to see you again, Steph.”

“You too.”

He left and Cherry took his seat. “I’m so glad you called and came over. I hear you had quite the incident the other night. Someone broke into your house?”

“Someone did. Oddly enough, it turns out it might have been Stan, my boss.”

“What! How do you know that?”

She sighed. “It’s a long story—and I don’t even know all the details—but I went looking for Stan and found him in a pool of blood on the floor. He’d hit his head on his glass coffee table.”

“I’m so sorry to hear he’s dead. That’s terrible. Stan was a frequent customer here. He loved the zip line.”

Steph stared at her. “He’s not dead, but he’s in the ICU. Cole and Tate are just waiting for him to wake up so they can question him. But hold on. Let’s circle back to Stan and zip-lining. He hated that kind of stuff. What do you mean he loved it?”

Cherry frowned. “Well, he was here like clockwork every Sunday morning, signed up for the two-hour zip line package.”

Steph groaned and dropped her head into her hand. “I’m so confused.”

“Never mind that. Why on earth would he break into your place?”

Steph looked up, making a note to come back to Stan and zip-lining. Maybe his wife would know. “He was looking for a notebook I’d found hidden in Brenda’s desk, but I’d already given it to Detective Cooper. And then Stan broke into his place and managed to steal it.”

Cherry gaped and Steph sighed. “I know. It’s all a bit much, isn’t it?”

“A bit much for sure. And Brenda...” Tears welled in Cherry’s eyes and she sniffed. “I don’t even know what to think about that one.” She brushed away a stray tear. “So they think she was killed because of the notebook?”

“It’s just speculation, of course, but I can see it being the case if she was looking for something, found it, and recorded it.” She paused and narrowed her eyes. “But it was a notebook no one probably knew about—not even her husband—until I found it and showed it to Stan.” Stan, who’d been desperate to get his hands on it and had called someone immediately after their conversation. Well, Stan had gotten the book. But what about the phone call right after she’d shown him the journal? Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe his call had spurred the incidents that followed. Like her stalker in the garage and at the library. Because that person hadn’t been Stan. And she still wasn’t a hundred percent sure the person in her house had been Stan.

Steph grabbed her phone. “I’m sorry, Cherry, I need to make a call.”

“Of course.”

TATE’S PHONE RANG, flashing Steph’s number. He tapped the screen. “Hello?”

“Hey, I just thought of something and it may be nothing, but I figured better to be wrong than right and say nothing. Right?”

He blinked. “What?”

“I’m at Bolin’s—”

“What!”

“Uh ... why are you shouting at me?”

Tate closed his eyes and counted to three. “Because,” he said in a much calmer tone, “we’re investigating the Bolins, remember?”

“I remember you came up here to chat with them, but I didn’t realize you were doing a full-on investigation.”

“That’s because I can’t tell you everything about what we’re doing, but you need to leave there and don’t go back until I or Cole give you the all clear. Can you do that?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll just say goodbye to Cherry and text you when I’m on the way.”

“Good.”

“But first, I need to tell you about a phone call Stan made.” She went on to explain about what she’d witnessed after Stan saw the journal. “It may be nothing,” she said, “but I don’t know. At the time, I didn’t think much about it, but knowing what I know now...”

“Right.” It wasn’t a bad idea. “I’ll see if we can find who he called around that time. Thank you for that. Now get out of there.”

“I’m getting, I promise. I’ll text when I’m in the car.”

He hung up and said a quick prayer for the woman. He’d only known her a short time but was far more interested in spending time with her than he should be. Could he date her and still focus on his job? On climbing the ladder of success? Balance a relationship without sacrificing everything he’d worked for to get to this point?

He honestly wasn’t sure, but for the first time since he could remember, he thought he might want to try.

He checked his phone. No text from Steph saying she was on her way home. He tapped on the screen.

Steph, please. Leave. While I think Stan was the one causing all of your problems, we’re not sure what role—if any—Bolin’s played in Brenda’s death. Or if someone from there was involved in Stan’s “accident.” Let me know you’re away from there.

He hit send, then waited for the three little dots to appear.

How long did it take to walk to your car, climb in, and lock the doors?