David Finemore meeting Alberto Moreno.

He recognized his brother’s handwriting scrawled across the image. He’d also written the date the photo was taken.

“This was taken over a year ago.”

Hadn’t Ridley said she’d only just met the guy? He scrolled through the rest of the photos quickly. Most were just of David but Moreno appeared in a few other shots. Some of them were dated even further back than the first one. His brow furrowed as he came to the last picture. Whoever had been following the guy had been thorough.

He flipped through the rest of his mail. There wasn’t anything else that couldn’t wait. He hurriedly signed his approval on a few bills and then put them back in his inbox for Mac to pick up. He might as well finish up early so they could go out to dinner. He could show Ridley what Elliott had found and see how she felt about an encore of the previous night’s festivities. The sooner he got his fascination with Ridley out of his system, the sooner he could get back to normal.

This was a business decision, even if it felt better than anything he had done for a while.

*   *   *   *   *

RIDLEY PULLED AN Adirondack chair into a shady part of the lawn. She glanced back at the house before settling down with a paperback book she’d found in the family room. Miss Bessie had arrived at precisely 9:29 am and had seemed more than a little surprised to see her.

When he’d introduced her to his parents he hadn’t mentioned where she was staying so, of course, his mother’s friend wouldn’t expect a woman to open the door.

Talk about awkward.

After her initial fumbling introduction, she’d spent the next few hours puttering around in her room. Things seemed to be going well other than a few loud crashes and what sounded like a full-scale tantrum. She’d finally come down to investigate only to find the boys eating sandwiches at the kitchen table, ominously quiet.

She’d made herself a quick turkey and cheese sandwich before deciding to eat outside. Right before she’d left, she’d heard Miss Bessie telling Jase to take his thumb out of his mouth.

She hadn’t sucked her thumb but she’d been a quiet, introverted child much like Jase. It hadn’t been easy growing up around adults who constantly told her to “speak up” or “just smile, honey!” Hopefully, the trio would get along once they got to know each other. She hoped so, anyway. Otherwise Jackson would be searching for yet another nanny.

After reading several pages, she put the book aside. Perhaps, a murder mystery hadn’t been the best choice. Not when she was smack in the middle of her own unsolved murder case. How could she relax as if she was on vacation when someone she thought of as a friend was probably dead because of her? She thought of the jeweled necklace she’d given Jackson to put in his safe.

It was a good thing she’d been on her way to the bank that day. Otherwise, if she’d put the necklace in her jewelry box with the rest of her jewelry, it would have been stolen when her apartment was broken into. She’d have to ask Agent Graham to contact David’s next of kin so she could return it. Clearly, it had been important to him.

“Oh, hi! Sorry, I didn’t think anyone would be back here.”

Ridley looked up to see a young woman with smooth brown skin and short curls, followed by two young boys.

“Hi. Were you looking for Jackson?”

“No, we were just taking a shortcut over to the next street. Sorry to disturb you.”

“Can we play with Chris, mom? Please?” One of the boys jumped up and down next to his mother excitedly.

“The boys are just finishing lunch. Maybe they’d like to play outside. I’ll go check.” Ridley held up a finger and sat up. Before she could get out of the chair, the back door of the house burst open and she heard a high-pitched shriek.

“Get it away, get it away, get it away! Eeeeeeeeek!!”

Miss Bessie came barreling down the back steps, shaking frenetically and throwing her head back and forth. “Oh sweet lord Jesus, it’s a spider. Get it off!”

A giggle came from behind Ridley and she turned to see the two boys being shushed by their mother. Ridley tried valiantly to stifle her own smile as she hurried toward the older woman. She was trembling so furiously Ridley worried she’d hurt herself.

“Wait, I’ll get it off. Just… wait.” She put her arms on the woman’s trembling shoulders until she stopped throwing her head around. A quick visual inspection proved that there was nothing on her. “See, it’s already gone. You’re fine.”

“He picked it up.” The older woman shuddered, revulsion all over her face. “He brought it to me on his hand. I thought he was showing me a toy.”

The back door opened again and Chris and Jase came outside. Jase took his thumb out of his mouth to say “Spider! I had a spider!”

Miss Bessie shuddered again. “I can’t stand spiders. I can’t believe that sweet little baby was touching that nasty thing.”

Ridley walked over to Jase slowly. “Where’s the spider now, Jase? Is he gone?”

Jase nodded, solemnly. “I lost my spider.”

“It’s okay. Maybe the spider went home.”

“Oh, look! There’s the spider!” Chris pointed at Miss Bessie’s shoulder. She immediately started dancing around again. Chris erupted into giggles. “I’m just joking. It’s gone.”

“Chris! That’s not nice.” Ridley shook her head and turned back to the older woman.