An hour or so later, Jules had placed all the information she had gathered on her wall. In her column for suspects the only three photos were of the Greene family, but she was certain more would be added once the investigation intensified.
Featured in the column of people she wanted to talk to were Sandra Timmons, Sedrick Timmons and various members of the country club Sylvia and Sheppard used to frequent. Also on that list were Dalton and his brothers as well as Sheppard, Hannah and a few Sutton Hills employees who worked there at the time Sylvia was murdered. It had been a long time ago, but she needed to talk with everyone to see if they recalled anything unusual about that day.
Over the weekend, she intended to watch the dinner party video Shana had promised to drop by her place later. She still had a copy of the wine boutique grand opening video Shiloh had given her when Jules was investigating the attempt on Caden’s life. At the time, she hadn’t found anything suspicious, but it wouldn’t hurt to take a second look.
Anything to keep her busy this weekend and away from Dalton.
She had felt his intense gaze on her during the meeting with Carson. It was bad enough that they’d walked into the meeting together, but she doubted anyone had believed his lie about helping her through security.
Jules stretched, thinking that at some point during the early part of next week she needed to get into the boathouse. None of the Grangers seemed eager to talk about that possibility when she’d brought it up earlier at the meeting. She’d heard from Shana that none of the brothers had been back to the boathouse since their mother’s death. Nor had they been back to the house where they’d lived with their parents. When Sheppard had gone to jail, the house had been locked and never reopened.
She glanced over at her desk when the buzzer sounded and moved quickly to push the button. “Manning, I thought you’d left already.”
“I was about to, but now you have a visitor.”
“Who is it? Dad?” she asked expectantly. She’d been thinking about what Shana had told her earlier, and knew that at some point she needed to go visit her father and let him know of her decision to investigate Sylvia Granger’s murder.
“No, it’s not your dad. It’s Dalton Granger. Should I send him in or send him packing?”
Jules expelled a deep breath, knowing it wouldn’t be a pretty picture if the latter were to happen. Both men were muscular and about the same height, weight and build, and the idea of them taking each other on was too much to contemplate. “No, it’s fine. Send him in. I’ll be the one to send him packing.”
“Do you want me to hang around for a while?”
Jules shook her head. “No. I can handle Dalton.”
Jules knew her statement was a lie even when she’d said it. It was becoming quite obvious that Dalton was the one man she couldn’t handle.
*
“So you think you’re going to send me packing?” Dalton asked, walking into her office as if he had partial ownership of the place. Jules doubted she would ever get used to his arrogance.
“I don’t recall your having an appointment to meet with me, Mr. Granger,” she said, not moving from behind her desk. So, okay, it was kind of crazy to act so formal with him now, considering that at some point during the night she had fallen asleep with one of her nipples in his mouth. It was the first time she’d ever been sucked to sleep.
“I didn’t think I needed one.”
“I can believe that. You’re ballsy enough to show up just about anywhere, unannounced and uninvited.”
“Yes, that’s me,” he said, grinning. His expression changed when he glanced over at her display on the office wall. “What the hell is that?”
She followed his gaze. “My investigative wall.”
“And my picture is up there?”
She smiled, seeing how such a thing irritated him. “Yes, and so are Jace’s and Caden’s.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Why?”
“Because having a visual chart of everyone involved with your mom’s death helps me keep track of things. And I want to hear your account of what happened that day and the days before and after.”