Chapter 20
Sighing as she read Peter’s text, Krystal sent him back a thumbs-up. She hated working these ridiculous hours but had no choice now. They had to wrap up Reed’s murder case, especially since it now seemed it might be linked to Henry Moore’s. Asshole that he’d been, he still deserved justice.
She was surprised her boss hadn’t taken her off the Reed murder since there might be a connection to Henry, but apparently the sheriff didn’t think there was a conflict of interest now that her sister wasn’t a suspect anymore.
Well, she was pretty sure that dumbass Dewey still thought Berkley was guilty, but he was the worst in so many ways. She couldn’t wait until he did everyone a favor and retired.
She headed into the kitchen, found all three of her boys sitting at the island top, and paused for a moment. She loved seeing them like this. Relatively quiet, eating together, just happy and safe. Having them all under the same roof settled something in her.
“Hey boys.”
Jett looked up from his food and phone and grinned. “Hey Mom. We promise to clean up when we’re done.”
“I know. I just wanted to let you know I have to run out.”
“Is this about Aunt Berkley? Is she okay?” River piped in.
“It’s not about her, but yes, she’s okay.”
“She should just stay with us,” River grumbled.
Krystal had already had that argument with her sister, and lost. “I promise she’s safe where she is. I literally just got off the phone with her.”
“Is she still mad at us?” Miles asked, pushing his now empty plate away, his quesadilla demolished.
“She was never mad at you guys.” A conversation she’d had with them multiple times since her birthday. “And for the record, you’re never this upset when I’m mad at you.” She kissed the top of Miles’s head and got a groan, but he didn’t pull away at least.
“You just said she wasn’t mad.”
“Fine, she was disappointed.”
River and Jett groaned.
“In case I’m not back in time, please make sure you’re in bed by nine and brush your teeth.” Nine really meant nine thirty and sometimes ten, but as long as they got eight hours of sleep, she figured she was doing all right.
They all agreed with grunts and she knew her window of communication with them was over for now. They were much chattier when it was actually bedtime. Or when she was driving them places.
When she couldn’t find Mike in his office she started calling him, but found him in the garage as she headed out. “Oh, hey,” she said on a laugh as she slid her phone into her purse. “Peter just texted. We’re following up on something, but I shouldn’t be home too late. Hoping to be back by ten.”
Mike’s body language was off as he held up what turned out to be the prom photo she’d stolen from Myron’s office. “What the hell is this?”
“Ah, not sure about your tone, but it’s a prom picture.” What was his deal? He’d never been jealous and definitely not about her high school boyfriend.
“I see that. Why was it in your SUV?”
“Because I stole it from Myron a couple nights ago.”
“You were at his place?”
“At his bar, yeah, for the Reed murder. He’s not so much a suspect as a source at this point. Why were you in my work vehicle?”
“I wanted to do something nice for you and clean it out.”
That was when she saw the bag of trash he’d clearly just filled up and the mini vacuum.
“Oh, thank you. That’s really sweet.” And unexpected, if she was being honest. Not for the “old Mike” as she’d started thinking of him, but the last six months had been…
kinda shitty. She’d been ignoring it mostly but knew they needed to talk about whatever was going on in their marriage.
“You didn’t think to tell me that you saw your ex-boyfriend and…what, had dinner with him? Or something else?”
“Oh my god, you can’t be serious.” Something inside her snapped because this was bullshit.
“First of all, if you’re implying I’d ever cheat, you’re out of your mind.
Second, when’s the last time you actually asked me about my day?
” Oh crap, she was shouting now. The boys were inside and wouldn’t be able to hear them in the garage so she didn’t hold back.
She couldn’t. She swore it was like something had broken in the last few months and she couldn’t keep her emotions buried any longer.
He started to respond, but she cut him off.
“You don’t have to answer because I already know.
Six months ago you stopped giving a shit about anything other than your new job.
And I understand wanting to succeed at something, but not at the cost of our relationship.
The only thing you ever ask for is ‘Have you seen my pants’ or ‘Where is Jett’s permission slip’ or a dozen other similar questions.
But as far as asking about my day or my life or me in general, you stopped.
And to be fair, after four months of asking you about your job and what’s going on in your life and getting absolutely nothing, I stopped too.
Because it hurt too much to keep begging for something from you and get nothing in return.
Do you even remember the last time we had sex? It was still bathing suit season!”
Adrenaline pounding, she vomited all the things she’d been holding in for months.
He just stood there staring at her, and oh my god, she loved him so damn much but she just couldn’t look at his handsome face one more moment. Because six months was a long damn time for no sex, especially for the two of them. Add on the other stuff… She wanted to puke.
Because deep down she’d been worried he was cheating on her, and now as he just stared at her in shock, she wasn’t going to risk him blurting out some version of that.
Nope.
If he was cheating, he could tell her later. Because she had a murder to solve. She slapped her palm against the garage door button, then got into her vehicle and left. She was very intentional not to peel out of there when all she wanted to do was burn rubber.