Chapter Thirty-Six
Detective Marks shooed them out of the building, where Charlie stood just outside the restaurant with the rest of the patrons who were evacuated when the cops arrived, arguing with a uniformed police officer blocking the door. Rajiv and Katarina stood behind him.
“I’m not leaving until I know she’s all right,” Charlie said to the officer.
“I can’t let you cross the line, sir,” said the officer, looked very beleaguered. “If you could please step back—”
“Not until I see her myself,” Charlie said, uncharacteristically stubborn. Juliette was almost proud of him.
“The police are handling it, Char,” said Katarina. “Let them handle it. She’s fine. We’re the ones standing around blocking traffic.”
“I just need to know she’s all right before I go,” Charlie said.
“Charlie,” Juliette called, giving a little wave. “It’s all right. We’re all right.”
“We?” Charlie said, looking startled as Veeta and Kate exited the restaurant behind her. The uniformed officer looked only too happy not to deal with the tall, angry Australian as he let them pass.
“Charlie!” Kate said with a nervous smile. “What a coincidence, seeing you here. Veeta and I were just … uh…”
“Catching a murderer,” Veeta supplied so helpfully.
Charlie blinked. “Hang on, weren’t you the one saying Bill Gates was throwing money out of his car window?”
Kate’s smile turned strained. “We don’t need to tell Jake about this, do we?”
“Jake is the least of your concerns,” Charlie said darkly, pivoting to Juliette.
But his expression softened, the worry on his face tugging at all the softest parts of her.
He took a half step toward her, his hand hovering in the air between them as if it wanted to touch her of its own volition.
But he let it hang there, unsure. “Are you all right? Were you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Juliette said, both touched and annoyed by his concern.
“I told you she would be,” Katarina said, pouting.
“Katarina, you’re here for some reason,” Kate said, deadpan.
“And so are you, Kate,” Katarina shot back. “For some reason.”
Kate’s expression soured. Katarina had clearly won that point.
Charlie ignored them, his attention focused on Juliette. “When you didn’t come out after the cops evacuated, I thought…” His hand brushed hers, leaving a trail of goose bumps where his fingers lingered. “I’m just glad you’re not hurt.”
“I got … sidetracked,” Juliette said, not wanting to get into the whole ordeal with Troy while Rajiv and Katarina listened in.
“Charlie, give me a ride home,” Katarina said with a small flounce. “I’m feeling shaken up after all this. I don’t trust a rideshare.”
Oh, were you held at knifepoint by a murderer? Juliette wanted to say, but she wouldn’t give the woman the satisfaction. Kate was only too happy to, though.
“Uh, we were just confronted by a murderer, and we’re fine,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I think you can get in an Uber.”
“Babe, I can take you home,” Rajiv said, giving a nervous laugh.
Katarina rolled her eyes. “No, you can’t, the top on your convertible won’t go up anymore and it ruins my hair. Charlie, you’ll give me a ride, won’t you? You wouldn’t want me going home alone scared like this.”
Charlie looked between Katarina and Juliette, waffling with indecision. “Someone should make sure Juliette gets home safe.”
“Kate can take her,” Katarina said, giving a little pout. “Char, I’m just really shaken up. I don’t want to be alone right now.”
You broke his heart, fucked his rival, and now you want his company because you think he’s moved on?
Juliette wanted to scream. But it wasn’t Katarina she was looking at.
It was Charlie, and the conflict was plain on his face.
Despite everything, he wasn’t telling Katarina no.
Of course he wasn’t; he wanted to take Katarina home.
It didn’t matter what had happened between him and Juliette, however close she thought they were getting; he was still hung up on his ex.
Still acquiescing to her demands. Because the Junipers of the world always won, didn’t they?
No matter how hard the Juliettes worked, no matter what they achieved, the Junipers would always win.
The Juliettes would never be good enough.
Fifteen years she’d fought to escape this feeling, and yet here it was again, ripping her apart.
She would never be good enough. She wasn’t grown, she wasn’t over it, she hadn’t evolved.
Down at the rotten core of her, she was still that same stupid kid.
Hoping she might be enough for once, fearing she never was.
The threat of tears came hot and fast, surprising her in their intensity.
She hadn’t cried in years, and she wasn’t about to in front of these assholes.
She turned her back on them angrily, swiping open her phone.
“Forget about it, I’ll take an Uber,” Juliette said, tightening every muscle in her face to keep her expression from betraying her.
“I could take you both,” Charlie said weakly.
“Babe, I told you, I can give you a ride,” Rajiv said. “I just have to manually crank the top. Come on, Kat, you’re not really doing this, are you?”
“I want Charlie to take me,” Katarina said, obstinate.
“Juliette—” Charlie started, but Juliette waved him off.
“I said don’t sweat it, Doc,” she said, putting as much flippant disregard into her tone as she could muster. “I always find my own way home.”
“We’ll give you a ride,” Veeta said, glaring at Charlie, but Juliette stepped off the curb.
“I’ve already got it,” she said, crossing the street to get away from them. If the events of the evening had taught her anything, it was that she was better off on her own. Always had been, always would be.
The ride home was interminable and exhausting, her apartment airless and empty when she got there.
The murder board mocked her from its prime position in the living room, the wine bottles and charcuterie boards long since gone.
It was just her and her dumb feelings and the lingering smell of Charlie’s warm scent that she was positive she was imagining but couldn’t stop herself from inhaling.
It had been a casual thing. It was obvious from the beginning that he was still majorly hung up on his ex.
And besides, he’d spent most of their previous interactions loudly declaring what a dedicated relationship he was in.
What had she really expected, that he’d give up years of dedication to another woman after one night with her?
Well, yeah, she had expected that, actually.
That’s what it had felt like at the time, but that was always Juliette’s problem, wasn’t it?
All physical, no emotional. And Charlie was all heart, something she’d never understand.
It was better that they both saw that now, before anybody had the audacity to get their feelings hurt.
Even if her chest felt tight and achy in the space where her heart was.
Juliette picked through the sad remains in her refrigerator.
Would they put Troy on kitchen duty in prison?
Maybe there was another innovative cooking rehab program for murderers.
Though she supposed they didn’t do rehabilitation for murderers.
They usually got twenty-five to life, no chance for parole.
Detective Marks said they had the guy dead to rights, and the evidence certainly pointed in that direction.
So much so that it almost felt too convenient.
The guy left a handprint in Brad’s blood on the kitchen door, for Pete’s sake.
It was like he wanted to be caught. Or like somebody wanted him to get caught.
Somebody who needed the perfect patsy to take the fall for them.
Brigitte was obviously hiding something in her past, that much was evident from Kennedy’s rotary club gossip.
And Troy had called her Bridget several times during their confrontation, a subtle slip she might have dismissed once.
But he’d said it more than once. What if Troy was just a pawn, and Bridget/Brigitte was the real mastermind?
Juliette collapsed on her sofa with a groan.
She’d been so sure that she would be better at this murder-solving business than Kate had been last year.
Really, how hard was it? You had a list of suspects, evidence to analyze, alibis to confirm or dismiss.
It was like a logic puzzle, one of those brainteaser murder-solving giftbooks Simon Says published in the early 2000s.
A clear, inevitable answer if you just followed the clues.
But the more she followed the clues, the less sure she felt about anything.
After so many failures that evening, she needed a win so badly she was willing to fight for it.
There was only one thing to do: She needed to talk to Bridget/Brigitte Ellingham.