Justice Delayed (Memphis Cold Case #1)(51)

“Find anything?”

Her brother shook his head. “I got to thinking about the fireplace.”

Andi followed his gaze to the living room, where charred logs reminded her someone had lived . . . and died in this house. “What about it?”

“I remembered while I was upstairs that someone had started a fire recently. Coals were still hot the night she was found—that was the reason I didn’t check it out then.”

She nodded and turned back to her task. She finished the drawer without finding anything—although she wasn’t sure exactly what she was looking for. She figured she’d know it when she found it.

Andi took a step back when she opened a pantry door. She’d never seen anything so neat and orderly in her life. Lacey was definitely OCD. Not one can or box was out of place. And in order from large to small. And every can faced out with the name brand showing. A woman this compulsive would not kill herself and not leave a note behind.

“Look what we have here,” Brad said from the living room.

She hurried to the fireplace, and Will joined them. “What is it?” she asked.

Brad held up a three-inch fragment of paper. “Nice stationery. This piece was against the brick at the back of the fireplace. Can you make out the letters on it?”

Andi looked closer at the paper. It was a corner piece, and there was a down stroke of the pen. “Could be half of a capital A . . . and it’s blue, like Jimmy said his letter was.”

“I think you’re right,” Will said. His cell phone rang, and he stepped away to answer it while Brad took a paper sack from his satchel and bagged it.

“Find anything in the kitchen?” Brad asked.

“Not yet. Lacey was a neat freak. I still have the cabinets to go through.”

Will returned. “That was Lieutenant Raines. He’s on his way.”

“Why?” Brad asked.

Will hesitated. “He agrees with me that this case is possibly connected to your sister’s death.”

Uh-oh. When Brad clamped his jaw like he just did, someone was in for an argument, and this time it was Will.

“So do I,” she said before her brother could jump down his friend’s throat.

“Him, I understand. Jimmy is his cousin,” Brad said, jerking his head toward Will. “But you? How can you be taken in by someone who confessed?”

“If you’d just go see Jimmy and then look at the facts, you—”

“No! Lacey Wilson’s case has nothing to do with our sister’s death.” He sliced the air with his hand. “I looked at the reports from eighteen years ago again today, and I didn’t see anything in them that contradicted the evidence. But you—you let your emotions get in the way. You always fight for the underdog, and right now, Jimmy Shelton is the underdog.” He turned to Will. “And I blame you for it.”

She clamped her jaw to keep from saying something she’d regret. When Brad believed he was right, she didn’t think even God could change his mind. She wheeled toward the kitchen. Pain stabbed her in the back.

“Ahh!” She grabbed for the counter.

Both men jumped to help her into a chair by the desk.

“What’s wrong?” Will said.

She pressed her lips together to keep from crying as sweat popped out on her face. “It’s my back,” she said through clenched teeth.

Andi fumbled in her pocket for the small pillbox she’d stashed there, then stilled her hand. If Will saw them, he’d bug her. “Give me a minute. I’ll be okay. Can one of you get me a glass of water?”

Will obliged. “You really need to get that fixed,” he said.

“Get what fixed?” Brad asked.

“My back.” Reluctantly, she explained how she’d hurt it and waited for the sermon.

“You should have called me instead of climbing the fence. I would have taken care of it. Besides, what you did was trespassing.”

Leave it to Brad to stick to the letter of the law.

“Well, I’m fine now.” And she was, or would be as soon as she could take the pills. When she had time, she’d have the operation, but right now she had to rely on the pills. “Go back to what you were doing—but not the arguing. Let’s save that for later.”

The corner of Brad’s mouth twitched. She didn’t think he was going for it, and then he shook his head. “I’m not wrong about Jimmy.”

He was never wrong. She didn’t know how Will put up with him. She let his remark pass. There’d be time later to argue. Right now all she wanted was for them to leave the kitchen so she could take the Lortab before the pain hit again.

Why not take them now?

How did Treece get in her head? Because that’s what her friend would say if she were here. Andi shoved the thought away. She needed the medication, and she didn’t want to defend herself or explain her actions, something she shouldn’t have to do anyway. Besides, she’d been taking the Lortab for three months now, and she wasn’t addicted. If a doctor thought she needed them, that should be enough.

As soon as they went back to their tasks, she took out the pillbox and took out two, quickly downing them. Gingerly she put one foot on the floor and breathed a sigh of relief. Very little pain.

Since she was already seated at the desk and going through it wouldn’t require her to stand, Andi started with the drawers. When did one tablet become two? The question came out of nowhere, and she paused in her search. When had she increased them? She’d only taken one Lortab earlier this morning. Hadn’t she? Or was it two? Not that it really mattered—the prescription said one to two as needed for pain, so there shouldn’t be any problem.