Her Grave Secrets (Rogue River #3)(17)

“Any C-22?” Zane held Stevie’s gaze as she listened intently to his side of the conversation.

“No. A few sources said he’d told them he could get it, but no one admitted to ever buying it from him. Surprise, surprise.”

“So Roy was killed by a gun used to kill a dealer at the coast,” Zane summarized as he checked close by for listening ears. “More connections to a possible drug ring.”

“It’s looking more and more like Roy may have been dealing,” Seth said.

“I don’t want to believe that. I like to think I worked with a better man than that.”

Zane ended the call as Stevie tapped her fingers on the table, deep in thought. “That didn’t sound good.”

“It’s not.”

“I want to go look around Roy’s place some more,” said Stevie. “I know the county forensics team removed the boat and other stuff. But I just have a feeling . . .”

Zane studied her. “Go ahead. Officially they’re done.”

Stevie glanced at her watch. “The rodeo starts in a few hours. I’ve got time to go poke around a bit and I’ll meet you there.”

“You’re on duty tonight. Don’t be late.”

“I’m never late,” she stated. “I’ll be there before they start singing the national anthem.”





CHAPTER EIGHT





Stevie bit her lip as she strode toward the rodeo ring. The sun was getting ready to set and the sky had turned faint shades of pink and orange. From a hundred yards away, she’d recognized Zane as he leaned against the painted white railing, watching the Founder’s Day court warm up on horseback for the opening ceremony. The five girls wore pink cowboy hats with tiaras and had bouquets of pink and red roses mounted behind their saddles. Nostalgia washed over Stevie. She’d served on the Founder’s Day court three times during high school, traveling to county fairs and rodeos all over their corner of the state. Her tiara sat in one of her unpacked boxes.

She took the place next to Zane, propping her foot up on the bottom rail. “Hey,” she said softly.

He turned, his eyes brightening as he took her in. Then he frowned. “What’d you find?”

She jerked her head away from the ring, and he followed her a few steps from the growing crowd. She didn’t know whether to be excited or sick over her discovery at Roy’s place. She took a deep breath. “I found eight thousand dollars in a plastic bag at Roy’s.”

Zane’s eyes widened. “Where?”

She rubbed at her forehead. “There’s a false back in one of the cupboards in the kitchen.”

“How did . . .” Zane stared at her. “You knew about it?”

Stevie grimaced. “I forgot. He used to hide candy in there for us kids. He called it his secret stash. I didn’t think of it when we searched the other day, but it occurred to me during lunch today. I wanted to see if I was right before I told you.”

“Anything else in there?”

“No. I called county to come process it. That’s what took me so long.”

Zane sighed. “While you were gone I finished his banking stuff. It all looks very clean. He deposited his paychecks and paid bills. There weren’t any big cash deposits. He had two credit cards that were maxed out.”

“Why didn’t he pay off the credit cards? Was it for more than eight thousand?”

“It was for about ten thousand total. I suspect he didn’t want to deposit any of the money at the bank and create a trail.”

“So it was easier to purchase toys with the cash?” Stevie asked.

“I found the receipts for the boat and WaveRunners. Both were paid for with cash. He bought the boat in February and the WaveRunners in March. Same thing with all the other equipment. They were cash purchases.”

Stevie’s head started to hurt. “How? How did he get involved in this? What exactly was he doing?”

“There’s more.”

“What?”

“A lot of purchases were made on the credit cards at the casinos at the coast. Looks like he started staying there several weekends a month.”

“That’s where he was going? When he said he needed some time off? Was he gambling?”

“I made some inquiries. The casino hotel front desk people knew him really well. Said he was always upbeat and friendly. They considered him a good customer. Claimed he liked craps.”

“I’ve never heard him talk about the casinos. I’ll have to ask Mom if he mentioned it to her.”

“There aren’t any cash advances or ATM withdrawals at the casinos. He must have been gambling with more cash, but he needed to use the credit cards for the room. When I saw the charges I’d hoped that he was simply spending some time on the coast, maybe seeing some live music at the hotel, but since you found all that cash in addition to the conversations I had with the employees, he was definitely gambling. A lot.”

“How did he hide this from everyone?”

“I’ve asked myself that over and over. I saw him almost every day. I had no idea any of this was going on.”

“Ladies and gentlemen! Please stand for our national anthem!”

Stevie glanced back to the ring, where the announcer was handing his microphone to a small girl. She squinted. “Is that Brianna?”