Chapter 14 #2
Grabbing the heavy fabric, she shoved the curtains aside to allow the sunlight to spill in. It also gave her a perfect view of the alley below. Her breath lodged in her throat. Was there someone leaning against the dumpster?
For a crazed moment, she thought it was her father. The sense of him was so painfully tangible, it felt inevitable that he would appear from the shadows. Then she leaned forward and tilted her head, getting a better look.
Her breath hissed between her clenched teeth. Of course it was Adam Pain-in-her-ass Tillman. God forbid she go a day without him ruining it.
With clenched fists, she marched down the stairs and yanked open the back door. “What are you doing here?”
Adam remained propped against the nasty dumpster, his arms folded over his chest. “My job.”
“Spying on me is your job?”
“This is a crime scene. I was waiting to see if the perp came back.” A taunting smile curved his lips. “You should be thanking me.”
“Don’t hold your breath.”
“Where’s the boyfriend?”
Jesse frowned at the abrupt question. “Why?”
“Just curious.” He cleared a lump of phlegm from his throat. “Seems odd that he would come to town and the next thing you know, Bea is being hit over the head.”
“What are you implying?”
“Stranger in town. Who knows what he might do?”
“Oh for God’s sakes,” she muttered. “We were having dinner at the Ice House when Bea was attacked. You can check.”
“I did.”
“And?”
“And you ate there, but no one noticed the exact time you left. And we only have your word that you didn’t return until after Bea was knocked unconscious.” He nodded toward the back door. “She did say she was following you into the building.”
Jesse was more resigned than annoyed. Of course the lazy jerk would try to pin the blame on her. It was a family tradition.
“Why would we hurt Bea?”
“Maybe you had something you didn’t want her to see.”
“Like what?”
He shrugged. “Could be drugs. Who knows what else? People from the big city are in to all sorts of weird stuff.”
She shook her head. She’d been right last night. Adam was searching for something he could use against her. It was obviously time she gave him a taste of his own medicine.
“I get it.” She stepped toward him, proving that she wasn’t going to be bullied. Not by Adam Tillman or anyone else. “You haven’t changed a bit, have you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Ten years ago you did everything possible, including bullying poor Clint into committing perjury, just to throw an innocent man in jail. At the time, I didn’t understand why. Now, I know.”
“Know what?”
“That you were trying to deflect attention from the fact that you were seen having a very public argument with my stepmother right before she mysteriously disappeared. If anyone should have been a suspect, it was you.”
Adam abruptly shoved away from the dumpster, his face flushed and his nostrils flared. “That’s a lie.”
She pretended not to hear his protest. “And now, when Bea almost catches whoever has been sneaking onto my property, she gets bashed on the head, and miraculously, you show up to once again point fingers. Only this time, it’s at me.”
“I’m doing my job,” he ground out.
She smiled. It was deliciously easy to provoke Adam’s temper. Like all bullies, he crumbled when someone stood up to him.
“You know what I think?”
“I don’t care.” He sounded like a sulky child.
“I think you were breaking into the bar and Bea caught you. How else could you have arrived so quickly?”
“I already told you. I answered the 911 call.”
“In less than five minutes?” She deliberately glanced at his protruding stomach. “You’re not that fast.”
“I was just around the corner.”
“Well, wasn’t that convenient?” She took another step closer, ignoring the fact that they were alone in the alley and that he was carrying a weapon.
She wanted to believe it was sheer courage that allowed her to stand up to the man who’d tried to destroy her dad’s life.
Honestly, it was more than likely a combination of anger, stress, and brain fog. “Too convenient.”
On cue, Adam slammed his hands onto his hips, just inches from his handgun.
“Why would I break in?”
“Someone’s been snooping around here. There’s not only the spray paint on my door, but there’s stuff missing from my dad’s safe.”
Adam managed to look genuinely surprised. “If that’s true, then why didn’t you report the theft?”
“To you? No thanks. You already used every excuse possible to creep around the bar.” She paused, struck by a sudden suspicion.
She’d leaped to the assumption that Adam was trying to frighten her out of town.
But what if he had another reason to be hanging around?
“And it wasn’t just last night you’ve been lurking in this alley. What are you looking for?”
“I’m looking for evidence.”
“Evidence you left behind last night when you attacked Bea? Or evidence of the crimes you committed a decade ago?” she demanded. “Did my dad find out what you did to Victoria and Tegan? Is that why you accused him of murder and then when he was released, you had to get rid of him another way?”
Adam’s flush deepened until it was a dangerous shade of burgundy. Like he was on the verge of an apoplectic fit.
“Your dad disappeared because he was a pervert and everyone in town knew it. Everyone but you.” Spittle formed in the corners of his mouth, his pudgy finger stabbing the air as if he wished it was a gun.
Jesse had never seen anyone so angry. “If you really want to know why Mac Hudson is missing, why don’t you ask the husband of whoever’s wife he was sleeping with? I hope he’s burning in hell.”
Jesse’s mouth dropped open as Adam stalked away, sheer disbelief blasting through her. Okay, Mac Hudson hadn’t been perfect, but he most certainly hadn’t been a pervert.
“How dare you!” she rasped as Adam stalked past her, heading for the opening of the alleyway. She went after him. “My father would never—”
Her words were cut off as a firm hand grabbed her arm. “Jesse. Let him go.”
Her first instinct was to jerk away so she could chase after the sheriff. There was no way she was going to let him slander her dad without a fight.
It was only because she recognized her voice that she forced herself to turn and face the woman who was standing behind her.
“Bea, I’m sorry.” Jesse grimaced as she caught sight of the older woman’s tousled hair and the lump on her forehead that had grown to the size of an egg. She was supposed to be resting, not breaking up a squabble between supposed adults. “Did we disturb you?”
Bea sighed, glancing at the door to her building, which she’d left open. “Honestly, it was the quiet that disturbed me. I hate when the diner is closed.”
“It’s just for a couple of days. You need to rest.”
Bea pursed her lips, as if debating whether to push her argument that her staff could do most of the work while she supervised from the kitchen. One glance into Jesse’s stern expression had her heaving a sigh of resignation.
“What was Adam doing here?” she asked instead.
Jesse forced herself to take a deep breath. The mere mention of Adam was enough to send her blood pressure soaring. She was going to give herself a stroke if she didn’t calm down.
“He claimed he was looking for evidence.”
“You don’t believe him?”
“Why would I? Didn’t you hear what he said about my dad? The bastard is a dirty, rotten liar.”
Bea bit her lower lip, staring at Jesse with a strange expression. “Why don’t you come in and we’ll have some iced tea?”
Jesse started to shake her head. She wasn’t in the mood for a nice chat over a glass of tea. She was in the mood to punch something.
Which was why she should go have a glass of tea instead of brooding on Adam Tillman and his seething hatred toward her father, a voice whispered in the back of her mind. Nothing good ever came from punching things. Especially if those things wore a badge and carried a gun.
“Okay.”