Chapter Ten #2
“I’m sorry. That must have been difficult for you.”
“It was a nightmare. My wife…she was even more upset than I was. She took the children and moved in with her sister for a few months. We’re just now getting to where things are less tense between us.
She wants to believe I was never unfaithful—and I wasn’t.
But your sister didn’t make it easy. When she hears about these photos it’s going to upset her all over again. ”
“Then don’t tell her.”
“I promised I would tell her everything. I had to, in order to regain her trust.”
“The sheriff already explained to me about your alibi for the night Sharee was killed, so I’m not accusing you of anything. But do you know anyone who would have wanted Sharee dead? Anyone who threatened her?”
“No. I can’t help you. And please, don’t contact me again.”
He ended the call, leaving her holding a silent phone.
She sank into her desk chair, shaken by the conversation.
Though her parents had shared a general outline of the reasons Sharee had been exiled to Colorado, hearing the details from Cameron Douglas alarmed her.
Chloe accepted that Sharee had been self-centered and irresponsible.
She was immature and impatient to always have her own way.
But to think of her stalking a grown man and fixating on him to this degree—Chloe struggled to reconcile that kind of behavior with the girl she thought she had known for eighteen years.
brIAN SPENT THE remainder of Friday trying to focus on work.
None of the team asked why he had reported to work late, though he was sure they knew, since Connor knew about the meeting with his lawyer and the sheriff’s deputies, and the patrol captain had brought Daisy to the resort in Brian’s absence.
Brian spotted Leann and Krista waiting in a lift line and steered clear of them, too.
He resisted the urge to call Chloe, but that didn’t stop him from thinking about her.
He spent way too much time trying to compose a text to explain why he couldn’t see her for a while, but ended up never sending it.
Instead, he headed to the most remote areas of the resort and skied hard.
If he ended the day exhausted, maybe he’d be able to sleep.
At the end of a long day, he trudged toward his truck, head down, Daisy trailing along behind.
Then Daisy began to bark and raced ahead.
He looked up to find Chloe walking toward him.
His heart leaped, and he automatically smiled in response to her smile.
Then the happy expression faded. “Chloe, what are you doing here?” he asked. “Is something wrong?”
“I was worried something was wrong with you. I’ve been texting all day and you haven’t answered.”
“Sorry. I was really busy.” He had seen her texts, but hadn’t known how to reply. He had promised Ms. Barnes he wouldn’t see Chloe again, but brushing her off in a text was such a jerk move.
“I heard from Cameron Douglas,” she said.
“He answered your email?”
“He called me.” She glanced around the parking lot. A few other people were walking toward their cars. “Can we sit in your truck and talk, where we can’t be overheard?”
“Sure.” He unlocked the passenger-side door and held it open for her.
As she slid past him, the floral scent of her teased him.
He hurried around to the driver’s side and loaded Daisy into the back seat, then slid behind the steering wheel and started the engine.
“Might as well get the heater going,” he said.
He waited, watching as a couple walked past. When Chloe still didn’t speak, he finally looked at her. “What did Douglas say?” he asked.
“He told me he didn’t know about the photographs—if he had, he would have told the police.”
“So I guess this means Sharee didn’t blackmail him or anything.”
“At least she didn’t do that.” She angled her body toward him. “Hearing him describe how she disrupted his life sounded so awful. That was my baby sister. I always thought of her as so innocent. It was like listening to someone talk about a stranger.”
“I don’t think Sharee was deliberately wicked or anything,” he said. Her behavior had alarmed him—he still remembered opening that package and seeing that underwear. “I think she was young and maybe a little spoiled.”
“Oh, she was spoiled all right. But I never thought she would act this way. It makes me see how she could upset someone so much—some man—that they would believe the only way to eliminate the threat she represented was to eliminate her.” She hugged her arms across her stomach. “It’s so awful to think about.”
He wanted to reach for her. To comfort her. But someone was bound to see them, and that wouldn’t be good for him…or for her, according to his lawyer.
She looked over at him. “Is something wrong?” she asked.
He shifted away from her slightly. “Why would you think something is wrong?”
“You’re acting strange. Nervous, even.”
“I guess I’m shaken up. I got called back into the sheriff’s department this morning. They wanted to question me again.”
“About what?”
“They got the test results from the glove—it had my DNA on it. My lawyer pointed out I never denied it was my glove.”
“Did the glove have Sharee’s DNA?”
“They wouldn’t say, which my lawyer thinks means no. It felt like they were trying to trick me into confessing something, but there’s nothing to confess. I had nothing to do with Sharee’s death.”
“I wondered…do you think Sharee took your glove?”
“Why would she do that?”
“To mess with you? Or to get you in trouble somehow?”
That missing glove had gotten him into a lot of trouble. “And then what—when she was attacked she dropped it?”
“It could have happened that way.”
“Maybe that did happen. It still doesn’t help us figure out who killed her.”
“No.” She sagged back against the seat, facing forward again.
Brian closed his eyes. Fatigue dragged at him.
The next thing he knew, her arms were around him. She leaned across the center console and hugged him tightly. He swallowed past a knot in his throat. Until this moment, he had told himself he was doing okay, but he guessed that wasn’t true.
She released her hold and retreated once more to the passenger seat.
He could feel her gaze on him, but he avoided looking at her.
“Let’s get something to eat,” she said. “Or a drink. Maybe a drink would be better. You can tell me about it. Or not. Whatever makes you feel better. I told you I was self-centered. I forget I’m not the only one with problems.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“My lawyer says it’s a bad idea for us to be seen together.” He blew out a breath. “The cops have been following me. The detective asked about our ‘relationship.’ He suggested the two of us worked together to kill Sharee.”
He seemed to feel the sharp intake of her breath in his own chest. “Why would they think that?”
“Because they think I killed her and they’re trying to come up with a story that will convict me in court.” He couldn’t stand it anymore, and turned toward her. Her face was drained of color, her expression stricken. “I don’t want to drag you down with me.”
“This whole situation is a nightmare,” she said.
“It is. Getting to know you is the only positive thing to come out of it, but I think my lawyer is probably right. We need to avoid each other for a while or we could make things worse.”
She sat very still for a moment, saying nothing. Then she pushed open the truck door. “I’d better go.”
And then she was gone, the door closing behind her with a solid click!
The speed of her departure shook him. Brian gripped the steering wheel tightly, then rested his forehead against it.
He squeezed his eyes shut against tears that came anyway.
Then he felt a damp nose nudge his hand.
Daisy had climbed into the front seat and began licking the side of his face.
He pulled her close and buried his face in her soft fur.
“I don’t know what to do,” he whispered.
“Whatever I do is going to hurt someone.”