Dangerous Passage (Southern Crimes Book #1): A Novel by Harris Lisa

Author:Harris, Lisa [Harris, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Single mothers—Fiction, FIC042060, FIC042040, Murder—Investigation—Fiction, FIC027110, Women detectives—Fiction
ISBN: 9781441242839
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2013-09-01T00:00:00+00:00

Avery struggled to catch her breath as Tess and her father walked away.

“She’s safe for now, Avery, and you’ll have plenty of time later to figure out how to keep her safe.” Jackson followed her across the room. “For now, the clock is ticking and your priority needs to be to find this guy.”

“This shouldn’t have happened. Not in front of my daughter and friends and family.”

But there weren’t rules in this kind of game. And Jackson was right, the clock was ticking. There wasn’t time to sit and wish it would simply all disappear.

A minute later she had her team assembled. “Carlos and Mitch, check the parking lot. He’s got a head start, but maybe we’ll get lucky. Look for a male, Caucasian, midtwenties, dark hair, no facial hair, wearing a shirt with a florist logo. I’m not ready to assume this wasn’t our killer.”

Mitch and Carlos double-timed toward the door. Avery turned to Tory.

“Tory, get ahold of the owner of Kate’s Flower Shop and find out who ordered a single magnolia.”

“What do you want me to do?” Jackson asked.

She grabbed a napkin from the nearest table, picked up the glittery bag along with the flower and card, and handed it to Jackson. The moment she let the situation become too personal, she’d lose her focus. “This isn’t exactly an official crime scene, but if you could take it to forensics and see what you can find on it? Fingerprints, DNA trace evidence, anything.”

“Consider it done.”

She hesitated before following Mitch and Carlos to the parking lot. “Jackson . . . I’m sorry. This isn’t exactly the evening I imagined.”

“As long as you promise me a fourth date, I won’t hold it against you.”

Avery smiled, despite the seriousness of the moment. “I think I can arrange that.”

Five minutes later, Jackson had already headed to the lab while Avery stood in the parking lot beside Mitch. Half a dozen streetlights lit the lot except one in the northwest corner that had burned out, leaving shadows along the back fence. A couple was leaving in their sports car, but no delivery van or signs of the man Tess described. Whoever had delivered the flower was long gone.

“Did you know that the magnolia flower isn’t pollinated primarily by bees or butterflies, but instead beetles?”

“Beetles?” Avery looked up at Mitch. “You never cease to amaze me.”

“My mother’s always been into botany. Used to bore me to death as a child, but you never know when you might need a bit of trivia to lighten the mood.”

She laughed, which is what she knew he was after. Something to break the tension in the air, hanging heavier than the humidity. Something to distract her from the reality that there was a killer out there who knew her family.

“It worked.”

“You’ll have to thank your mother for me.” Her phone rang and she answered, praying for anything that would bring them one step closer to their killer. “What have you got, Tory?”

“The shop was closed, but I was able to track down the owner and get ahold of her.

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