“Sounds good,” I said. “Make sure everything is locked down here.”
I headed out and heard the dead bolt slide into place as soon as I stepped off the porch and the beep of the security system. The rain was still pouring down as I drove home. I parked in the garage, then retrieved Ida Belle’s motorcycle and moved it inside the garage. I reached for the garage door opener before realizing it wouldn’t work while the power was out, so instead of pressing it, I stood staring out into the stormy weather.
If only we knew for sure what he was doing in his truck.
No one assumes you’re anything but what you claim to be.
How could he hide something that disturbing for so long?
Gertie’s words echoed in my mind and the longer I thought about them the more frustrated I become. And then suddenly it hit me—the one answer that made sense. The only way all the pieces fit together.
I turned on the flashlight on my phone, opened my Jeep, and dug around in the box of equipment. Somewhere in there was a camera. It was tiny, but it had a chip that could record at least a day of footage. It would fit easily into an air vent and unless someone was looking for it, they’d never know it was there.
Aha!
I pulled the tiny black camera out of the box and smiled. Now I just had to get it in place and somehow manage to avoid Carter seeing me do it. Despite his claim that he would wait to question Brandon until he had a plan, I had no doubt that action would take priority over the paperwork he claimed he needed to complete. Which meant he’d be lurking around to see if anything odd happened.
Carter would spot my Jeep blocks away, so I couldn’t risk taking it. Instead, I grabbed a black rain jacket from a hook in the garage and pulled it on, then slipped the camera in my pocket and set out down the street. Twenty-four hours of camera footage. With any luck I’d get what I needed the first round.
Chapter 17
It was still raining the next morning, but the power was back on. I took my time stretching before I got out of bed, pretty sure I broke some kind of record by sleeping until 8:00 a.m. No pounding on my door or emergency phone calls. No creepy critters of the four-or two-legged variety disrupting my slumber. And best of all, I didn’t have to put on a dress. If it hadn’t been for the whole murder thing, it might have been an almost-perfect day.
I headed downstairs to fix breakfast and grabbed my cell phone. A quick check of the GPS tracker showed that Brandon’s truck was still parked in his driveway. Given that it was Sunday in Sinful, I wasn’t sure he’d go anywhere, but if he did, I intended to know about it. I stuck a Pop-Tart in the toaster and gave Gertie a call to check on her ankle.
She said she thought it was a tiny bit better than yesterday, but Ida Belle had made her breakfast and insisted she stay put. Gail’s parents were due in town sometime that afternoon. They were staying with Marie, but Ida Belle and Gertie wanted to be on hand to pay their condolences as they’d known them all their lives. Gertie was still fussing over following Brandon, but Ida Belle said Carter would be all over him and we needed to steer clear, at least for a little while. They planned on having a Gunsmoke marathon until Gail’s parents arrived, and told me to come over and join in.
I declined the invitation. One, because despite the fact that it had guns, the television show didn’t appeal to me. Two, because I wanted to be available to track Brandon if needed. Ida Belle assumed Carter would be watching him, but I figured Carter would want to work Nolan’s house with the forensics team, and he couldn’t do both. If Brandon took off this morning, Carter would probably still be at Nolan’s house. By the time I got off the phone, my Pop-Tart was singed around the edges and the coffee was done brewing. I poured a cup and headed into the living room with my breakfast and turned on the television. I flipped through the channels and located a Jurassic Park marathon. I’d seen the first movie and liked it, so I figured what the heck. Maybe prehistoric killers could take my mind off the more contemporary kind.