Chapter 24
“Thank you for another incredible dinner.” Berkley leaned back in her seat at Nick’s kitchen table.
Sunshine was sitting in between them, eyeing both of them carefully as if she was watching a tennis match—and hoping for them to drop something edible. Berkley might have snuck her a few green beans, which she’d devoured with relish.
“I wish I could take any of the credit.”
“Well you heated it up in the oven so that counts for something.” The enchiladas topped with extra layers of cheese and sour cream had been the perfect end to the day. She wasn’t above using comfort food to make herself feel better.
“True. I’ll take the credit, then,” he said with a laugh. “Should I leave some out for your friend?”
“Even though I want to say no and hoard it all to myself, yes,” she said on a laugh.
“And thank you again for letting her come over.” Kendall was finally getting off a long run of back-to-back shifts so she, Berkley and Silvia—who would be joining them via video—would get to talk about everything going on.
“Of course,” he rumbled in that deep voice she was becoming obsessed with.
Or maybe she just was obsessed. Not becoming. Hmmm.
He continued, interrupting her wayward thoughts. “I’m sure you’ve already talked to him, but I spoke to Micah earlier today. He said he’s been monitoring your security cameras and system and your house has been quiet.”
She was surprised he’d been in contact with Micah, but quietly pleased that he’d been looking into things.
Since barreling his way into the interrogation room with Sinead, she’d seen a different side of Nick.
She’d never had anyone other than her siblings be so protective of her.
Though this was very different. “Yeah, he told me that, but I think he’s keeping something back from me…
You said you knew James Reed, right?” She tried to keep the question casual-sounding.
“Yeah. Sort of. He hired my company to do a gut and reno job that could have turned into something big. Why?”
“Just…the M.O. of his murder and Henry’s were the same apparently.
But it doesn’t seem as if he and Henry knew each other.
Or if there is a connection, the cops don’t have one yet.
Well, that they’ve told me,” she said dryly.
She wasn’t sure her sister would tell her anyway.
Krystal just wanted her locked down and safe.
“Reed had a gambling problem though, right?” he asked as he made a plate for Kendall.
“Yeah.” She bit her bottom lip as she debated telling him more.
Because sitting on it was making her crazy.
So far he’d proven that he would go out of his way to protect her.
Hell, he was keeping her safe in his well-secured home.
Something that was incredibly hot. A man who wanted to keep her safe and cook for her?
Yes, please. Apparently that was her weak spot.
“I need to tell you something,” she blurted.
He paused what he was doing, those gunmetal gray eyes finding hers as he leaned against the countertop. “I’m listening.”
Being under that kind of intense focus was unnerving, especially since it was coming from Nick, a man she’d imagined naked more times than she wanted to admit. But she managed to make her voice work. “You know how I woke up at Henry’s in my pajamas after being drugged?” Of course he knew.
“Yeah.” He sort of drew the word out as he nodded.
“Something similar happened to me at James Reed’s house,” she whispered.
“I woke up fully dressed in a stranger’s kitchen.
Someone had hit me in the back of the head—it’s actually still a little sore.
Anyway, I called…someone. They picked me up and helped me retrace my steps from the night before.
” She recapped most of what had happened, leaving out the mention of Micah because she wasn’t sure it was necessary.
It probably wasn’t even necessary to tell him any of this, but in her gut she knew she could trust him.
Sure, it was terrifying to open herself up like this, but he’d been proving who he was over and over the last few days. She was going with her instinct.
He stared at her for a long moment after she finished, let out a slow breath as he pushed up from the countertop. “Jesus, Berkley.”
She tried not to focus on the way his forearms flexed when he moved. “I know, it’s a lot.”
“No, not that. Someone is clearly targeting you. We already knew that, but this adds a new element. When their first attempt didn’t work, they tried again, this time with drugs. And they took you straight from your house. That’s an escalation… We need to share this with Sinead’s investigator.”
She knew the woman named Luna had found out that her email had been spoofed, but Berkley doubted she was looking into things any further now that Berkley wasn’t a suspect.
“I can’t tell the cops about my connection to Reed.
I don’t have an alibi for when he was murdered.
I might…have even been at the house, unconscious at the time.
I could have actually been at his place at the time of the murder.
I only found out later from Krystal that there was so much forensics at the house it was as if someone dumped random DNA everywhere.
She normally doesn’t talk about her cases, but I overheard her on the phone to her partner.
They can’t figure out why there was so much DNA there. ”
Nick frowned. “We can find out if it’s the same deal at Henry’s murder scene. Or Sinead can.”
“Exactly how tight is she with the sheriff?”
“Not her, but her father. And if she plays Levitz right, she can probably convince him to share information if he thinks her investigator will share what she’s found.
I only say this because she’s shared Luna’s information before with the department and it’s been useful, so she has a solid track record. ”
“But we leave me out of everything?”
“Definitely.” He gave her a long look. “You must have been so scared when you woke up.”
“I was.” Still was, if she was being honest. Right about now she wanted to step into his arms and let him comfort her in more ways than one.
He looked a little murdery, though she knew that wasn’t directed at her as he said, “This changes things on another level. The connection…it feels personal. Someone dumped you at these two places, then when you didn’t get arrested for murder, they try to set you up for running drugs.”
“I know.” The knowledge sat heavy in her gut too. She wrapped her arms around herself, wished it was him holding her. Even as she told herself it was ridiculous to crave his touch, she knew it wasn’t. This man had gotten under her skin.
“You sure you can’t tell Krystal?” He took another step toward her, his expression softening.
“No.” She shook her head sharply. “No way. Not unless it’s absolutely necessary.
She needs plausible deniability. And it’ll look really bad if I come out now and say something.
I don’t want to put her in a position where she has to lie for me.
I hurt my sister enough when I was younger.
I’m not doing it now.” She just couldn’t.
Krystal had been only twenty when their mom had been murdered and she’d stepped up, taken over everything while their father ran off and drank himself to death.
He nodded, looked as if he was going to say more, but his doorbell rang, a gentle chime echoing through his big house.
He glanced at his phone, likely looking at the camera system app.
“Your friend is a little early.” He almost sounded disappointed and she wondered if he’d been thinking along the same lines as her.
“That’s a first,” she murmured with a light laugh. “I’ll go let her in.”
“And I’ll make myself scarce. I know I said it, but treat my place like yours.”
“Thank you.” Those two words felt so inadequate but it was all she had.
As she went to answer the door, she hated that she wished Kendall was already gone because she wanted more alone time with Nick. She didn’t think it was her imagination that something had sparked to life between them.
The timing might be stupid, but she found it hard to care when she was sharing a roof with the man doing everything he could to keep her safe.
***
Lounging on the bed in the guest room Nick had given Berkley, she and Kendall were talking to Silvia via Berkley’s tablet. Sunshine had wandered off, likely to cuddle with her owner. Something Berkley wished she was doing herself.
Shaking off that thought, she smiled at Silvia through the screen. Even though she wished Silvia was with them in person, she was still glad the three of them could finally get together and talk.
“How’s your current investigation going?” Silvia usually looked into cheating spouses and even had a funny Insta page for all her exploits (with faces blurred out and real names changed).
“Good enough.” But there was something Silvia was holding back. Normally she loved to talk about work shenanigans. “I want to hear more on what Kendall was going to say about work though. What’s this big gossip?”
Kendall shot Berkley a glance she couldn’t read.
“What? Is it about Henry? Whatever it is, you can say it.” The man had been murdered, of course he was a topic at the hospital. It only made sense. And Berkley wanted to know everything she could about what people were saying.
Kendall nodded as she let out a breath. “I wasn’t sure if I should but…there’s a lot going on, so buckle in. First, there’s a group of nurses who think you killed Henry. Are convinced you somehow masterminded it.” She rolled her eyes.
Berkley tried to shove down the instantaneous burst of nausea.
People actually thought she’d killed him?
She’d been staying off social media and throwing herself into work because it focused her.
But of course people would be talking shit.
Sanctuary Falls had a small-town feel but it was more medium-sized.
And yeah, she could see that rumor taking off, especially if they’d been under Henry’s spell and believed his lies about her.
Great, more shit for her to worry about.
“What a crock of shit,” Silvia muttered.
“I know. And I’ve been calling it out. But that’s not the real tea. Henry was screwing this nurse—Ada—and I know this sounds crazy,” she said, lowering her voice. “But I swear I saw her stealing drugs. As in a giant bag of them. Pills mostly, but also supplies.”
“Wait, what?”
“Yep. And I’ve heard from two techs that they caught her in places she shouldn’t have been.”
“Have you reported her?” Silvia asked.
“I want to, but she and I got into it a few weeks ago and I feel like it’ll come off as me trying to get back at her. And it’s just my word against hers.”
“Do you think Henry knew she was stealing?” Berkley asked, wondering about this new angle, especially since the woman had taken pills.
She made a mental note to tell Levitz or at least her sister the woman’s name so they could follow up with her.
If she was the one who’d planted those drugs in Berkley’s car, it stood to reason she’d done even worse.
“Maybe, but I doubt they talked much, if you know what I mean,” Kendall muttered.
Berkley nodded but filed the information away. “Someone needs to tell the detective on his case about this. Or at least tell him who Henry was dating.”
“Oh, that hot detective has been to the hospital a few times. He’s interviewed a bunch of people who worked with Henry, including Ada. Henry was sleeping with a doctor though too, another surgeon. I assume the detectives know about his extracurricular activities.”
“Which doctor?”
“Sophia York.”
“Oooh, I remember her,” Berkley said, her stomach tightening. “She was awful to me any time I stopped by the hospital.”
Kendall nodded. “I’m not surprised. She and her husband are going through a nasty divorce right now. I have no idea if it’s because of her and Henry or if she started screwing him after they broke up.”
“I swear the hospital is wilder than a soap opera,” Berkley muttered.
“You’re telling me.”
“You guys…” There was something in Silvia’s tone that had both of them straightening.
“What is it?” Berkley asked.
“I’m not supposed to talk about this, but the investigation I’m working on has nothing to do with cheating spouses.
An insurance company hired me to look into a pending case against the hospital.
” At Kendall’s surprised gasp, Silvia held up a hand.
“I couldn’t talk to you about it before and I probably shouldn’t be talking about it at all now.
But in the course of my investigation, I stumbled across something else. ”
“Ooh, what?” Kendall sat up straighter.
“I can’t say. Not yet. But if you find out about more drugs going missing or get actual proof, will you let me know? I’m talking names of anyone involved.”
“Definitely.” Kendall grinned. “We need to start our own podcast.”
“Not this again,” Berkley groaned as she fell back on her pillow with a laugh. Even with the heaviness of everything going on, being with her friends eased that tension.
Though there was another kind of tension coiled inside her, one she was pretty sure only the man down the hallway could take care of.