SEAL Wolf In Too Deep(42)

“If you learn Otis did it, will you let me know?” Zeta asked.

“Sure.” Debbie and Allan rose from the couch and said their good-byes, then headed out.

“What do you think?” Allan asked as they got into the hatchback.

“I wonder if Otis ditched that car. It would be easy to spot if he was following anyone. If the one Lloyd was driving was stolen, maybe the red Camaro is too. We’re in the area where these guys lived. Can we check out Sarah’s place? Even though the men gave false addresses, we know she didn’t.”

“It’s worth a shot.”

“Okay. Here’s Sarah’s address. What did you think about this Vaughn Greystoke, PI? Think he is for real?”

“Sounds like it. I’ll see if Paul can run him down.”

“You looked like you might know of him.”

“I might know of Devlyn, but I’ll have to let Paul check into it. We both would know of him if he’s the man I’m thinking of.”

“But you don’t know Vaughn?”

“No.”

“Okay, what about the red Camaro? I’m sure it had no bearing on Franny’s accident, but still, if Otis was driving it, and he killed Sarah and then ran Franny off the road, that seems like a coincidence we can’t ignore.”

“Agreed. Lori can get with Franny on it. I’ll ask if she can check with her since they’re good friends.” Allan couldn’t help but be annoyed with Franny if she knew more than she had been letting on.

When they arrived at the apartment complex, the manager showed them in, complaining the whole while. “I have to steam clean the carpets. It was paid up for two months, so I didn’t know Sarah wasn’t coming back. Not until the private investigator came and wanted to look her stuff over. Don’t you guys talk to each other?”

“With PIs? No. Besides, even if he was with a police force, we each look at the investigations differently and ask different questions,” Debbie said.

“Well, this is a complex that doesn’t allow pets. No kids either. It’s a no-pet, no-kid place for adult living. Swinging singles, except no loud partying. Mainly young professional couples. Once they have kids, they’re out of here. And no pets,” she reminded them, as if pets were the bane of her existence. “But you know what I found? Tons of fur. Shed all over the place. On the furniture, tile floors, and carpet. Probably fleas all over the place. I’m going to have to have the carpet cleaned and a pest exterminator in here. She wasn’t going to get her deposit back.” Then the manager swallowed hard. “Well, I mean if she had been alive. So when are the police going to release the place so I can rent it again?”

Debbie and Allan put on gloves and began searching through things, but they didn’t find anything that would help them in the investigation. No laptop, cell phone, photos, or notes of any kind. When they left the place, Debbie asked Allan, “Fleas?”

“Luckily, if she had them, they don’t bother me. What about you?”

“No, thankfully.”

“Do you want to call Rowdy and let him know we learned who the two murder victims were?” Allan asked as they climbed into his vehicle.

“Sure, I’ll do that. But he’s not going to be happy.”

“Hell, we practically solved the case for him. He’d better be happy.”

She smiled at Allan, but he knew she dreaded calling Rowdy. He was sure to be mad about it, but Allan had to find out if this case involved pack business. The only way to do that was to learn what he could before the homicide detective arrived. Otis sounded like a werewolf hunter out for blood. Had he killed both Sarah and Lloyd? It was beginning to sound like he had. But they still didn’t know if the man who murdered Sarah had been turned.

“Hi, Rowdy. I’m putting this call on speakerphone. It’s me, Debbie. We’ve got some information pertaining to a Sarah Engle and Lloyd Bates. Sarah was the leg-trap murder victim, and Lloyd was the man found in the submerged car in the Van Lake murder.”

“And you know this how?” Rowdy sounded annoyed as hell.

After asking them a million questions, Rowdy told some of his team what to do to look for new evidence in the case. Then he dismissed them and chewed Allan out for investigating this on his own when he should have run it all over to Rowdy and let him handle it. He ended the call. Abruptly.

“Sorry,” Debbie said. “Rowdy seems to think it’s entirely your fault we went down there.”

“It is. I had the clue and I was going whether you wanted to join me or not. Besides, he still likes you, so he’s not going to hurt his chances with you.”

Debbie had thought the issue of who was dating whom was behind them. She wasn’t dating Rowdy. And now it seemed she really wasn’t dating Allan either. Somehow she thought that had changed between them last night.

Annoyed, she waffled between wanting Allan to stay the night and letting him know it was time for him to get on his way. Rowdy could help her get her car from the shop.

But halfway to Whitefish, she didn’t have a chance to decide either way when Allan got a call. “Ah, yeah, okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’m an hour and a half out. See you, Mom. Thanks. Give her my love.”

Debbie suspected what it was about right away, and she wished she hadn’t been annoyed with him. “Rose?”