Chapter 15
Fifteen
Erin enjoyed her walk with Chester and Kaely. Fredericksburg was a lovely town. The houses in Kaely’s area were so nice, and the park was beautiful. Chester made friends with a small white poodle named Frenchie and a large black lab whose name was Harvey.
When they arrived back at Kaely’s house, Erin changed clothes and prepared for lunch with Kaely’s friend, Shannon.
Although she wasn’t comfortable with people fawning over her because of her book, she sought reassurance in the knowledge that Kaely wasn’t the kind of person who would allow someone like that to get next to Erin.
She was still a little nervous about her meeting with an investigator about the murder mirroring her book.
The same thoughts kept rolling over and over in her mind.
Did they suspect she was involved? Was she really in danger?
Kaely had obviously felt they were safe taking a walk this morning, but Erin had noticed that she kept looking around them.
Checking out the area. And she’d brought her gun along, although she’d obviously tried to hide it.
If she wasn’t worried, why was she armed?
Erin tried to stay positive. Being deputized and going inside a command center for a joint task force was actually pretty exciting.
Fodder for future books. She realized she’d just had a thought about more books.
Was she actually considering a future as a writer?
Dark Matters was written just as a way to channel her love of law enforcement into something besides the job she’d left behind.
The new book was written because she needed the money, and the publisher paid her a very nice advance.
Truth be told, she really did enjoy writing it.
Sometimes she wondered if she knew her own mind.
One minute she couldn’t see herself as an author, and other times she couldn’t see herself doing anything else.
Her dream of joining the BAU was still there, but working with Kaely and meeting Noah gave her an inside look at the life of a behavioral analyst without the responsibility of the job.
She actually enjoyed the feeling of freedom she had now.
When she was a cop, she was under someone else’s command.
Her life wasn’t her own. Now, she had time to take walks with Chester and Adrian and spend time in her cabin just enjoying life.
How could she go back to work and leave Chester behind?
She loved sharing her life with him. She wasn’t sure she’d trade that for anything.
She stared at her image in the bathroom mirror. She really wasn’t sure what she wanted. Hopefully, at some point, her life would make sense. For now, she was just putting one foot in front of the other. Day by day. That’s all she could handle.
She ran a brush through her hair, took a deep breath, and headed toward the living room. Was Shannon here yet? Erin had already decided to be as nice as possible to the woman. She was Kaely’s friend, and the last thing she wanted to do was to offend either one of them.
She came around the corner, her smile already firmly in place. Hopefully, she looked natural. Her fake smile tended to look as if she had an upset stomach.
“Hello there,” Kaely said. She was in the kitchen.
A woman sat at the table. She had dark hair pulled into a sloppy bun with curly tendrils framing her face.
She wore glasses—the kind of cool glasses Erin would choose if she ever needed them.
Big and light pink. They seemed to be just for looks since the lenses appeared to be plain glass.
Most people wouldn’t notice, but Erin did.
She’d just read an article that said some people who didn’t need glasses were buying them as a fashion accessory.
Erin thought it was silly, but truthfully, they looked great on Shannon.
“Erin, this is Shannon Burke.”
“Nice to meet you,” Erin said.
“I hope you don’t feel pressured into this,” Shannon said. “I told Kaely I didn’t want to bother you.”
“It’s no bother.” Erin hoped her tone sounded sincere. She really didn’t mean what she’d just said.
“Sit down,” Kaely said with a smile.
Erin pulled out a chair across from Shannon. Kaely had placed a beautiful spinach and cheese quiche on the table, along with a fruit salad, potato wedges, and blueberry muffins.
“Kaely, this looks delicious,” Erin said. “Why didn’t you let me help you? You obviously put a lot of work into this.”
Kaely shook her head. “I’d already prepared the quiche, just had to pop it in the oven.
The potatoes were frozen. Again, a few minutes in the oven.
The fruit salad was easy, and although I’d like to take credit for the muffins, they came from a local bakery.
Not much you could have done to help, but thank you anyway. ”
“It looks and smells amazing,” Shannon said.
“I have coffee, tea, and caramel cappuccino,” Kaely said to Erin. “Shannon asked for cappuccino.”
“I highly recommend it,” Shannon said.
“I’d love a cappuccino.”
Kaely popped a pod into the single-cup brew machine that sat next to her regular coffeemaker.
While it made the cappuccino, Erin studied Shannon.
Besides being attractive, she wore her clothing well.
Not designer pieces, but stylish and perfect for her body type.
She was tall and willowy, relaxed, and she exuded confidence.
She wasn’t what Erin had expected. Although she worked hard to keep some distance between her and her readers, at the few public events she’d agreed to do under duress, those who approached her about their writing dreams had seemed rather frantic .
. . and a little frightened of her. Erin wanted to be more social and hospitable toward people, but the trauma from her last days on the job had created strong emotional walls.
Although they were there to protect her, she’d been using them to keep almost everyone out.
The problem was, she had no idea how to change.
How to become the kind of person she would like to be.
Fear had made her a prisoner and caused her to become someone she didn’t really like.
“I loved Dark Matters,” Shannon said, breaking the awkward silence.
Erin smiled at her, hoping it was her sincere smile. Not the stomachache one. “Thank you. Kaely tells me you’re a writer too.”
Shannon’s cheeks reddened. “I really don’t want to bother you with questions or ask you for advice. Kaely is a lovely person, but if she made you think I planned to pressure you for some kind of favor . . .”
“No, she didn’t do that.”
“I only told Erin that she might be able to steer you in the right direction,” Kaely said as she put a cup of cappuccino in front of Erin.
“I’ve read some of her work, and it’s very good.
” She sat down at the table. “For now, let’s have lunch, and you two can get to know each other.
We’ll talk about writing when we’re done. Sound okay?”
Shannon mumbled her assent. Erin could see that she was still uncomfortable about the situation, and Erin felt compassion for her.
“Tell me about yourself,” Erin said. “How did you and Kaely meet?”
They spent the next hour eating the delicious lunch Kaely had prepared while chitchatting about Fredericksburg and how Shannon and Kaely met at a local coffee shop.
Kaely had been carrying a copy of Dark Matters and Shannon had remarked to her how much she liked Erin’s book.
One thing led to another, and the two became friends.
Erin was glad to see Shannon start to relax.
She was a little jealous of the easy relationship the two women had.
Kaely had just brewed two more cups of cappuccino when Erin’s phone rang. Brandon.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I need to take this.” She glanced at her watch. “What time do we need to leave?” she asked Kaely.
“Not for another couple of hours,” she replied. “You have plenty of time. You can go into the living room if this is a private conversation.”
Erin wasn’t sure how much that would help since the open floor plan didn’t provide much privacy, but it probably wasn’t important.
She was fairly certain Brandon was just going to ask her if her manuscript would be turned in by the deadline.
He was concerned about her career, and rightly so, but she still wished he’d stop calling about it.
The book was finished, but she needed more time for the edits. She intended to make the deadline.
Erin sat down in a chair next to the fireplace.
It was the farthest point away from the kitchen she could find.
She said “Hello” and waited for Brandon to greet her.
He usually tried to sound upbeat unless he was asking questions about her deadline.
When she heard his voice, she immediately knew something was wrong. He got right to the point.
“Erin, do you know someone named Christine Dell?”
“Yeah, I do. She’s the manager of the lake that I used as a setting in Dark Matters.
I needed a place to put a body, and I wanted to know if someone could access that lake after hours.
She answered my questions and even gave me some helpful suggestions.
I mentioned her briefly in my acknowledgments. Why?”
“She’s the one I mentioned to you during our last call—the one who says you stole her story.
She’s planning to sue you, Erin. She says she has proof that the story is hers, and she also has information about the book you’re working on now.
She claims you stole that idea from her as well.
” Brandon paused for a moment while Erin tried to digest what she’d just heard.
Finally, she said, “That’s ridiculous, Brandon. I might have spent ten minutes on the phone with her, and she emailed me a couple of times. That’s it. How could she have proof that I stole the book from her. It’s impossible.”
“I’m not sure yet,” Brandon said, “but the publisher is worried, and so is their attorney. Claims like this can catch fire, even if the allegations aren’t true.
There are individuals out there who harbor resentment toward anyone they believe is successful, especially if they’re not.
They like to spread stories like this. It’s exciting to them.
Publishers have been paying people like Dell off for years.
They will probably try to do that in this case. ”
“I’m telling you, Brandon, it’s a lie. I don’t want them to give her one red cent. I mean it.”
He sighed. “Look, don’t worry yet. I’ll dig a little deeper. Whatever you do, don’t talk to anyone about this. Especially online or in the media. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, I . . . I guess so.”
“Listen, Erin,” Brandon said. “This isn’t going away anytime soon. If we can’t prove she’s lying and she does go to the media, it could ruin everything you’ve worked so hard for.”