"Turkey." Barret knew Becky had one other employee who helped during the day while Becky baked. He forgot her name, but to hear she was successful enough to hire another was great news. "That's fantastic. I'm so glad things are working out for you. I know this was your dream."
"Me too." Becky smiled. "I'm also meeting with Seasons Inn on Wednesday to see if they will sell some of my fresh baked bread in their store."
"At least one of us is making money," Barret teased.
"Not happy with your job?" Becky set a cup of coffee in front of him before going back to finish the sandwich and grab his fritter.
"Happy enough. Just tired. This murder investigation has meant a lot of long hours, not to mention the emotional toll. Hell, Beck, the stuff that poor girl went through."
"Don't tell me. I don't want to know. I'm headed to her funeral tonight and—"
"Ah shit. The funeral. I forgot that it's tonight. What time?"
"Seven to nine," Becky informed him.
Why hadn't Vance or Steller reminded him? They had both planned on going. Damn it. He still needed to get home and change clothes before coming back for the funeral. He glanced at his watch, seeing it was nearly six-thirty. "Can you make that to-go? I'll eat in the car as I hurry home to change. It completely slipped my mind with everything else going on. I'll have to postpone talking to Verna until tomorrow." He stood, mad at himself for forgetting.
"Sure. And don't worry, those things never start on time. It'll be okay if you're a little late." Becky set the sandwich in one of her to-go boxes and pushed a lid down on the top of his coffee cup before handing him a bag. "A dozen of Mike's favorite donuts and two apple fritters for you." She went up on her toes and kissed his cheek. "Get some rest after. You really do look like crap."
"Love you too, Beck." He gave her a quick half hug, then rushed back out the door and to his car. Luckily, he only lived a few minutes away. He hurried home and parked in his driveway before rushing inside. His home was a small three-bedroom home, surrounded by trees. He'd fell in love with the place as soon as he saw it. He had plans to upgrade some of the older features, but he never found the time.
He quickly set the bag of donuts on his counter and rushed to his room to change. He didn't have time to shower. He pulled out his seldom worn suit and a nice light blue dress shirt and got to changing his clothes. He paused to look in the mirror and brushed his hair back into place, then was out the door again.
He was late as expected and had to park quite far away from the funeral home. It seemed as if everyone in town was here tonight. He was glad for the family. They'd had such amazing support as they went through such a painful time. Another reason that Barret loved the smaller community. He speed walked up the sidewalk and hurried inside. The small chapel was standing room only when he entered and he moved silently to a spot against the back wall. The service hadn't started yet, which gave him a chance to look around the crowd to see if his suspects were in attendance.
He saw his sister sitting with her best friend, Francine. The two had been as thick as thieves since they were in elementary school. Barret learned quickly to avoid the two when they were together because he never knew what they would get up to, and back in the day, it usually wasn't good. As he continued to look around, he saw Jacey and his family in one row. They stood out in the crowd, each having bright red hair. He looked for Adam but didn't see him. Maybe he'd decided not to come.
Trina's parents sat in the front row. They were staring at the casket, not crying or weeping, but just staring. Barret didn't want to know their thoughts. He didn't ever want to know their pain. They hadn't asked for the autopsy results, and Barret would never share them with the family. They didn't need to know what Trina had gone through. The recording that Adam had made the other day would be destroyed as soon as the case was closed, making sure that unless the family requested the autopsy results, they would never hear the horrid details of her death.
Someone bumped his arm gently and Barret looked over to see Adam standing beside him. They exchanged smiles, but neither said a word as someone stepped up to start the funeral service.
Barret listened, but more importantly, he looked. He went row by row, looking at the face of everyone there. He knew most of them, and like at the candlelight vigil, he wasn't seeing either of the men they were searching for. He hadn't expected them. Especially not now that they were showing the men's faces around town.
He stole another glance over at Adam, and saw he was standing just a bit away from the wall, not leaning against it. He was wearing a dark blue suit, so his arms were covered, but his hands had black gloves over them. Barret couldn't imagine how hard it would be to have to keep from leaning against things, brushing your bare arm, or even leaning your head against something. How long had it taken to train his mind to focus on such things? Adam looked good. The peach dress shirt brought out the olive in his skin tone and the dark tie was knotted perfectly at the base of his neck. Barret had to resist the urge to reach over and slowly unknot it. God, he needed to figure out what it was about this man that made him want things he'd been fine to do without for years.
After the funeral ended, Barret spoke to the parents, letting them know he'd continue to do everything he could to bring them closure. He saw Captain Russel in line behind him, and gave him a nod, sure that the captain would give them the same assurance. There wasn't a person at the police department that wasn't working on the case. They all wanted justice for Trina.
Barret lingered by the exit, again watching people come and go. He smiled when Adam walked up to him. "You dress up nicely."
Adam adjusted his tie and grinned. "I was about to say the same to you, Officer Whitestone."
"I almost didn't make it. I was so caught up in work I almost forgot about the funeral tonight," Barret admitted.
"I was ready to go on time but walked out to find my car battery dead. I ended up walking here. That's why I was late."
"You should have called. I would have picked you up."
"I figured everyone was already here or on their way. I needed the exercise anyway." Adam shrugged. "Too many candy bars and not enough time to work out."
"Well, I'll be happy to drop you off at home now, if you'd like. I can even stop by tomorrow and take you to get a new battery, if you want."
"I'd appreciate the ride home, but I've already asked Jacey to come in early before the store opens so we can go get a battery. I'll put it in after work. How are things going? Any new leads?"
"A couple, but let's not talk about it here." He waved Adam to follow him outside. "You done here?"
"Yeah, I spoke to Angela and Steven. I'd worried they'd ask what happened when I read Trina's body, but they didn't. That was good because I couldn't tell them. It would destroy them to know everything." Adam fell in step beside Barret.
"Yeah, I was glad they didn't ask me. I'm parked about two blocks away. Sorry to make you walk more."
