Free Scraps of Evidence: Quilts of Love Series by Barbara Cameron Page B

work, who also seemed attracted to her.
    Dangerous combination.
    “You looked sad.”
    She shrugged. “I know buildings don’t have emotions, but the lighthouse always looks like a little lonely to me.”
    “It had to be a lonely life for the man who tended it,” he said thoughtfully. “Some of them didn’t have families and even if they did, they could be the only ones for miles and miles.”
    The horse pranced in place, eager to make the turn at the light. Tess remembered how the carriage horses stepped lively through the intersection from her days at her part-time job.
    And then another memory struck her as she gazed at the two big marble lions guarding its base. Suddenly Tess could hear Sam crying. She tensed as the memory washed over her like a relentless tide, as real and vivid as the night she’d wept on Tess’s shoulder. Sam’s boyfriend had driven over the bridge in his beloved sports car and pretended to hear the lions baying at her. Local legend had it that they roared whenever a chaste young woman crossed the bridge, and he jeered at her because she wanted to save herself for marriage.
    “What is it? What are you remembering?”
    She turned to him. “Sam came to me crying about her boyfriend the day before she was killed,” she said. “He didn’t want to take no for an answer.”
    “He was discounted as a suspect fairly early on, wasn’t he?”
    Tess frowned. “Some of us thought too early. His parents are wealthy and prominent in the community.”
    “So maybe we need to take another look at him?”
    “I’d like to,” she said, watching him for his reaction. “I remember no one took me seriously when I tried to tell them what she said.”
    “You’re not a teenage girl without influence this time. You’re a woman with the ability to speak for your friend.”
    She nodded and smiled slightly. “So hear me roar? Let’s go talk to Wendell Hendricks, Jr., tomorrow.”

    Logan dug through the files and did some research before Tess got to the office the next day.
    He wanted to know more about Sam’s boyfriend. While it might seem like an advantage to grow up in the area and know many people, it could be a positive to not know them and look on things in an entirely new way.
    Wendell Hendricks, Jr., had followed in his father’s footsteps and now worked as an attorney in his firm. His wife of five years, Muffi Langston Hendricks, was also an associate at the firm. The local newspaper featured photographs of them attending numerous events in local society.
    Tess rushed in. “Sorry. Court case ran late.”
    “No problem. I’ve been doing some light reading on Hendricks.”
    He watched the way she moved to sit behind her computer and wondered if there’d be any awkwardness after last night . . . would she think he’d overstepped when he touched her hair? She logged onto her computer and seemed all business. He looked down at the file and when he glanced up a few minutes later, he caught her looking at him.
    “About—”
    She shook her head. “Not here.”
    They were alone in the office but he nodded.
    “Just give me a minute so I can check for messages, then we’ll go. I told Hendricks we’d be there about noon.”
    A few minutes later, she stood and grabbed her notepad. “Ready?”
    “Sure.”
    He waited until they were in the car and out of the parking lot before he turned to her. “Afraid the office is bugged?”
    “If I say yes, will you think I’m paranoid?”
    “Yes, but it could be true. I’ve heard of stations that did it. Best to err on the side of caution if you’re not comfortable with being overheard. I just wanted to say that I had a great time last night.”
    She glanced at him briefly and smiled. “I did, too.”
    “So we’re okay?”
    “Why wouldn’t we be?”
    He wasn’t a dummy. “No reason.”
    “You’re a strange man, Logan.”
    They drove to the law firm and parked. Logan glanced up at the elaborately redone Victorian building and whistled. “Wow.