Page 62 of Night Hawk
“We’ve connected him to our main suspect, a guy named Rich Hibbard,” Toni said.
“You gotta be kidding me.” Ziegler swung his head in wide arcs.
“Do you remember twine factoring in Lisa’s investigation or Ursula taking off?” Toni asked.
“Twine?” Ziegler tapped his chin with a crooked index finger. “Not that I recall.”
Blake looked at his old mentor. “I’m assuming you have a copy of Lisa’s case files.”
“You know I do.” Ziegler grimaced. “Figured once I retired I could solve my open cases, but I haven’t made any progress.”
“Mind if we take them with us for a bit?” Blake asked.
“‘Course I mind, but I’ll let you have them anyway.”
“We’ll return them in the same condition we got them in,” Toni said, her tone filled with respect.
“I believe you will, young lady.” Ziegler rocked his chair a few times to propel him to his feet. He stared at Blake. “C’mon, boy, you can help.”
Rolling his eyes, Blake pushed away from the wall and followed the older man out of the room.
“He’s a character,” Toni said.
“Seemed like he was on the ball for Lisa’s investigation.”
“Yeah.”
Clay felt bad about his next question, but he had to voice it. “What did you think about his comment about your grandparents maybe withholding information from him?”
“I didn’t like it, of course. But it will give me something to look for when I talk to them.” She crossed her arms. “It’s time to go see them.”
“Yeah.” He wished he didn’t have to agree. “We can drop Blake and the files back at my parents’ place. Then we’ll go meet your grandparents.”
Toni straightened her blouse and tugged on the collar as she slid out of the SUV into a break in the misty rain and the warmth of the sun. When they’d dropped Blake off at the beach house, she’d freshened up, changed clothes, and studied herself in the mirror for far too long. Wondering all the time what her grandparents would think of her. Would they be happy to see her? Sad because she reminded them of Lisa? Or even worse—would they refuse to see her because of the estrangement with her parents?
“Hey,” Clay said as he came up beside her. “It’ll be okay. They’ll love you and be glad to meet you.”
She took her focus from the worn but neat bungalow abutting the beach. “You can’t know that.”
“I can. After all, I’m glad I met you, and you’re very easy to fall in love with.”
How could she possibly respond? She couldn’t. She straightened her blouse again and marched up the walkway. Her heels clicked in sharp staccatos on the concrete, mixing with the gulls’ cries from the beach.
She knocked on the door painted a crisp white and stood back. She fidgeted with her hands, not knowing where to put them, and Clay took one in his. Her skin was clammy, but he didn’t say a word, just held tight, and his firm resoluteness bled into her skin and warmed her heart.
The door opened, and she jerked free.
A tall man appeared. He had a long face and bushy gray brows beneath a partially bald scalp with bright white hair sticking out.
“Help you?” His voice was warm and crisp at the same time.
She was suddenly transported back to her childhood when she’d imagined all of her grandparents were alive. He sounded exactly like the daydreams of the grandpa she never knew. But he looked different. Much different than she’d imagined.
“Walt, who’s at the door?” The woman, Toni’s grandmother, she assumed, joined them. Toni drank in the sight of her. She had iron-gray hair cut in a cap around her face holding as many wrinkles as a cotton shirt left to dry in a ball. Her eyes were big and blue just like Toni’s mother’s.
Toni gasped.
“Say, what’s this all about?” her grandmother asked. “Who are…oh.” She paled and took a step back. “Your badge. On your belt. You’re the law. Is this about…have you finally…” She grabbed onto her husband’s arm.
