Page 13 of Hell Hath No Fury

“Before I disturb her, let me call the funeral home.” He tapped his phone’s screen and listened. “This is Detective Honeywell with the Erie City Police,” he said in a tone that let Emma know he was speaking to a machine. “I understand you’re handling the arrangements for Ezekiel Allen Dyson. I’m trying to locate two people who may be attending the service, Eric Baker and Nell Anderson. I’d appreciate a call if you have any information regarding either of these individuals.” Matthias left his number and hung up.

“You made it sound like they’re in trouble with the police.”

“I want them to think it’s urgent. Otherwise, they might not call back until tomorrow or later.”

“Makes sense.” Emma tilted her head. “Cassie?”

He gave one nod and again thumbed his phone. A few moments later, he said, “Hey, partner. How are you and Shawn doing?”

Shawn, her husband, had also been seriously injured a little over a week ago in a shooting at his veterinary clinic.

“Good,” Matthias said. “Glad to hear it. Hey, do you happen to know any law enforcement officers in or around Cleveland?”

Emma could hear Cassie’s muffled reply but couldn’t make out her words.

Matthias gave his partner a quick rundown of what was going on before asking her to call in a favor. She must’ve agreed, because he thanked her and ended the call. “Cassie knows a cop in Akron. She’s going to call him and will let me know if she learns anything.”

Emma sighed. “I guess that’s the best I can hope for.”

He stood and closed the distance between them. “Let’s settle in here for now and wait to hear from Cassie or the funeral home. You can show me around your farm.” He shot a glance skyward, where the patches of blue had been swallowed by gathering clouds. “Before the rain starts again. Then we’ll get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, I promise, we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

* * *

Heavy downpours pelted the tent fabric most of the night. Thunder and lightning repeatedly jarred them out of their sleep, but Sunday morning provided clear, rain-washed air and a vivid blue sky overhead.

There had been no replies to either of Matthias’s phone calls.

In dire need of caffeine, he gave in to Emma’s request to go back to Eric’s house. Emma insisted on searching the place from the basement to the second floor again, but everything, including Eric’s phone, was exactly as they’d left it yesterday. Her note hadn’t been touched.

Matthias led the way to the kitchen where he took advantage of the fancy coffee machine and handed her the first cup. Then he toasted a couple of bagels he found stashed in the fridge, smeared them with cream cheese, and joined her at the massive island. She stared at her breakfast without taking a bite.

“Now what?” she finally asked. “You said we’d get to the bottom of it today. How do we do that? Call Cassie again?”

“If she hasn’t called us, she doesn’t have anything to report.”

“Then what’s next?”

“I’ll make some more phone calls.” He didn’t want to tell her they would be to the hospitals and morgue.

Thankfully, she didn’t ask. “I want to go back to the construction site,” she said.

“Why? It’s Sunday. There isn’t going to be anyone around.”

“I know. That’s why I want to go today. I need to take another look at what Sonny’s doing there before I give him a hard ‘no’ on the sale.”

Matthias couldn’t resist grinning. “I think ripping up the sales agreement leaves little doubt that you aren’t going through with it.”

She broke off a piece of the bagel and stared at it, her expression clearly uncomfortable. “If it was up to me, yeah. Definite hard no. But I’ve been thinking. Nell does want to sell. Eric had mentioned she’s trying to make a clean break from the past.”

Matthias hated what he had to say next. “Have you considered that she’s using again and wants the money to feed her habit?”

She popped the chunk of cream cheese-coated bagel into her mouth instead of replying, but from her expression, he could tell she had indeed considered it.

“Then why do you want to go back out to the construction site?”

She chewed and swallowed. “Sonny said they met at his office. Nell never saw how he’s going to tear up our farm. Our home. I’m going to take some pictures to show her.”

Matthias wanted to point out that tearing up property was exactly what developers did, but now wasn’t the time.