By the time they had tracked down Jared Simpson at the local strip club, it was eleven thirty at night.
Holden was running on fumes as he sat across the table from Jared in the interrogation room. He’d already been Mirandized before he was persuaded to come in. According to Ashley, Jared had followed her to the station without a single complaint.
“Do you want a lawyer present?” Holden asked.
Narrowing his eyes, Jared asked, “What is this about?”
“The murder of Emma Burk.”
Jared swore, his eyes widening in what appeared to be genuine shock. “It wasn’t me. I’m innocent. I don’t need a lawyer for this.”
It wasn’t only the guilty who asked for a lawyer. The innocent did, too. But if Jared didn’t have one, then it would make this process easier. “When did you last see her?”
“Yesterday evening.”
“What time?”
“It wasn’t too late.” Jared scratched at his unkempt beard. “Maybe ten. Ten thirty.”
“Why did she come see you?”
Sighing, Jared rolled his eyes. “She’s been trying to get me to support her in a custody case to get Amelia back. Emma wanted to drag our girl to the Shining Light. Wanted me to join them, too,” he scoffed. “No way was that ever happening. Emma was a little off her rocker if you ask me. Gary and Lorraine are good people. Solid. Much better parents than either of us.”
“How long did she stay at your place?”
“She was only there a hot minute. My girlfriend, Ruby, was not happy to see her. She gets jealous, since Emma and I have a kid together.”
“Ruby was there the entire time?”
“Yep.”
“Her last name?”
“Belle. Ruby Belle.”
“I need to know where to find her.” Holden passed him a notepad and pen. “Put down her contact information.”
“She was with me at the club,” Jared said as he scribbled the information on the paper. “Ruby’s a stripper.”
“And she wasn’t working Thursday night?” Thursday through Saturday were the busiest nights.
“The Iron Warriors shut down the club, hiring most of the strippers for a private party at their clubhouse.”
“Why didn’t Ruby go? I’ve heard they’re good tippers.”
“Yeah,” Jared said on a chuckle, “because they want the girls to do more than strip. Only the single gals go to a party like that. Ruby was holed up with me Thursday.”
“Did you and Emma fight while she was there?”
“She tried to rope me in to her mess, and I told her flat out that I wasn’t getting involved. I wasn’t going to open the door to the Shining Light suing me for child support if she won. Her parents don’t hassle me for any money,” he said, sounding like the deadbeat dad that he was. “Then she threatened me.”
“Physically?”
Jared shook his head. “No. She told me that the one-year anniversary of her rebirth over at the cult was coming up. In the days leading up to it, she’s supposed to share all the dirt on her former life. The way I hear it, Empyrean uses it to blackmail people who aren’t members. Plenty of shady people in her past for her to spill her guts about, but I warned her not to say anything about me. Or the Iron Warriors.”
“Warned her how? By threatening to kill her?”
“No, sirree.” Jared shook his head emphatically. “I simply told her that I was going to let Todd know.”
Everything circled back to him. “What dirt did she have on him and the MC?”
Jared’s mouth set in a hard line. “Let’s just say she knew about all the felonious activity going on.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“I do not. And if you push this, then I’ll need a lawyer before I say anything else.”
Because he would run the risk of incriminating himself. It must be drug-related. Jared already had a criminal record for dealing. His former relationship with Emma revolved around heroin and meth.
“How did Emma get caught up in the dealings of the Iron Warriors?”
“Todd.”
The guy with an alibi. Though Holden wondered how solid it was. Sure, his Iron Warrior brothers would bleed and die and lie for each other, but maybe Nikki was the weak link to test.
“Did you give Emma a ride anywhere that night?”
“I would’ve offered her one because it was cold and supposed to rain, but I didn’t want to upset Ruby. So I didn’t. I told Emma to try to get back to the B and B before the storm hit. Maybe call someone for a ride. Or she’d catch pneumonia in that thin jacket she had on.”
“Did she use your phone to call anyone?”
“Nah. No way Ruby would’ve been okay that. My girl wanted Emma to figure it out for herself, without my help.”
“What about Todd? Did you call him that night and tell him?” Holden asked. “Don’t bother lying. I can always get phone records.”
Jared lowered his head and chewed on the inside of his lip. “I gave him a heads-up.”
“His response?”
“He didn’t sound worried. Said he’d take care of it, like it was no big deal.”
“Take care of it how?”
Jared shrugged. “I was smart enough not to ask.”
Something he still hadn’t been able to account for came back to Holden. “When Emma came to see you that night, was she wearing her Shining Light necklace?”
“Yeah, always.”
“Are you sure?”
“She took to fiddling with it whenever she got anxious. I remember her playing with it after I told her I wouldn’t help her take the kid away from her parents.”
The door opened. Ashley stuck her head in and gave a curt nod, signaling him that Grace was at the station looking at Jared’s motorcycle.
“So, am I free to go?” Jared asked.
Not until Ruby had corroborated his version of events. He didn’t want to give those two a chance to get their stories straight. “Not just yet. Do we have your permission to collect forensics from your motorcycle? It’ll eliminate you as a suspect and once we’re done you can leave with your bike.”
There were a couple of scratches and dings on his bike. Nothing that looked like damage from an accident, but since they had the bike here, they might as well.
Jared nodded. “Sure.”
With that easy consent, the guy was probably telling truth and wasn’t the perpetrator. “One more question for you. When you and Emma were together, did she ever say anything about having an abusive childhood?”
“I don’t know. I guess she got spankings growing up, but I couldn’t tell you if it crossed the line to abuse. She always talked about her parents like they walked on water. Until the Shining Light. She made it sound like her parents might be hard to beat.”
Good to know.
The medical records they’d requested on Emma would go back as far as they were available. He would be able to see if those spankings had been something more and whether she had been treated for frequent accidents as a child.
Holden stepped into the hall, closing the door behind him.
“Do you want me or Livingston to go question Ruby?” Ashley asked as they walked.
Livingston had been a deputy longer, but Ashley had been on this case with him from the beginning and had been in the observation room listening to the interview. There was also the fact that she would not allow herself to be distracted by the performances of the girls while at the strip club. Holden wasn’t so sure he could say the same about Livingston.
“If you don’t mind,” Holden said, “I’d like you to go.”
Ashley made a gesture of excitement as she whispered, “Yes.”
They both grabbed their jackets and hats and headed out of the building. At the sidewalk, Ashley took off for her vehicle.
Holden strode over to Grace, who was waiting patiently. He hoped she hadn’t been out in the cold too long. The winter weather seemed to be tough for her to handle, after being in sunny and snowless LA. “Thanks for coming over.”
“Timing was perfect,” she said with a shiver, rubbing her arms. “I already locked up and after this I’ll head home.”
He hated her working the late shift, locking up at night alone. But Grace didn’t take well to being told what to do. That much he’d learned about her. “Might be best to let Xavier close.”
“He does. Sometimes. And whenever I need a little leeway in my schedule because of classes, he’s always flexible. We’re both team players.” Her voice rang with pride.
“What do you think?” He gestured to Jared’s motorcycle, which they’d gotten towed to the department. “Could this be it?”
“Definitely not. This bike has a batwing fairing and five-inch windshield,” she said, sounding like an expert. “The one from last night didn’t have any of this.”
It was hard to doubt her certainty. Still, since he’d gotten consent from Jared, he’d run the forensics anyhow, but wouldn’t put a rush on it.
“I’m impressed,” he said. “Earlier you didn’t know zilch about motorcycles. You couldn’t tell a fairing from the fuel tank. Care to explain how you’ve become such an expert in such a short period of time?”
“I did some research.” More pride. This time gleaming in her honey-brown eyes.
Holden did his best to restrain the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. She was so cute, it took some effort, but he suspected that the admiration welling in his chest for her was about to flip to irritation.
“Go on,” he said, knowing in his gut there was more to this story. Based on her reluctance to readily share the details, he wasn’t going to like what she was about to tell him.
“I went to Custom Gears.”
Those five words hit him like a sucker punch. “What?”
“Kyle and this other guy taught me so much. And before he kicked me out, Kyle admitted that Todd’s motorcycle could be the type we’re looking for.”
“Back up.” He drew in a sharp breath. “Why did he kick you out?”
She frowned. “For my protection. Casey, the other mechanic there, called the Iron Warriors and most likely relayed that I had mentioned Todd’s name in connection to my thorough research.”
“Grace,” he said on a huff. “I’m trying to keep you out of the line of fire.” Although he hadn’t succeeded when he took her to the clubhouse. That had gone terribly. The entire MC had seen her, and now Casey had reported that she’d been asking about Todd. “I don’t need you rushing headlong into it.”
One more thing to add to his list of growing concerns. Grace didn’t need trouble with the MC. Neither did the sheriff’s department.
But the hornet’s nest had been stirred. And there would be repercussions.
Straightening, she hiked her chin up like she was getting ready to argue with him. “You’re welcome. For eliminating this motorcycle and for getting pertinent information for the case.”
“You’re right.” He put his hand on her arm and gave it a rub. “Thank you. But I don’t want you to help at the expense of your safety.”
She threw up her hands. “Too late.”
Yes, it was. There was no closing Pandora’s box now. They just had to wait to see what evil they’d unleashed.
She gave a sad chuckle. “My mom says I’m a lodestone for trouble.”
No parent should ever say such a thing about their child. Even if it was true.
His mother believed that whatever you spoke over a child made it so, called it into being. For that reason, she only said good things about him and his brothers.
When they were running amok, getting on her nerves, she didn’t shout that they were loud, out of control, wild boys who didn’t listen. She called them her blessings. Asked them to act like the young self-possessed men that that they were. Even though it took every ounce of her strength to do so.
It worked, too. Every time.
“That’s not true. You’re not a lodestone for trouble.” She was his beacon of hope. A light in the darkness. “You’re a good person, trying to do the right thing.” He moved his hand to her lower back and ushered her toward her car, wanting to get her out of the cold. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.” Fate must have been eavesdropping, because she stepped on an icy patch and slipped. “Whoa.” He wrapped an arm around her waist, catching her before she fell.
Holden kept his arm there, close and tight around her, until they reached her car.
After she unlocked her door, he opened it for her.
She stood in between the door and the frame, looking up at him. “I already told you, I’m not your responsibility. I’ll make it clear to Daniel.”
Her long, dark brown hair that didn’t know if it wanted to be curly or wavy hung loose. The way he liked it best. Free and wild. Something in her called to him, and the next thing he knew, he was pushing strands from her face back behind her ear. Letting his hand linger, he caressed her cheek.
That instant contact of skin on skin flooded his brain with the memory of kissing her. Something he longed to do again.
This time the way he truly wanted. Leaving no doubt that it was far more than friendly. “And I told you, I don’t mind being on the hook. Not where you’re concerned.”
In fact, he liked having an official reason to look out for her. To camouflage his personal one.
He stroked her skin with the tips of his fingers. Brushed her bottom lip with his thumb. Her mouth had been soft and warm and oh-so-sweet when it had been pressed to his.
Her eyes flashed with heat that sent his thoughts into a tailspin. Rising on the balls of her feet, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. Then she pulled back a little, staying up on her toes, bringing their mouths within a hairsbreadth.
As if testing something.
His resolve? His facade of just friendship?
Sweet Lord, he was going to fail. What he wouldn’t give to wrap his arms around her, pull her close and kiss her hard and slow and hungry, the way she deserved.
“Good night,” she whispered, searching his eyes.
Her breath was warm on his face, covering him in the scent of peppermint. The moment stretched between them like a physical thing.
He licked his bottom lip, his gaze dropping to her mouth, his resolve on the verge of snapping.
Needing to shatter the moment before he did something he would regret, he stepped back. It took every drop of his willpower. “Drive home safely.”
Lowering her head, she got in her car.
He closed the door, gave her roof two knuckle raps and moved away. Watching her drive off, he wondered if he would ever get out from under the relentless pall of shame that hung over him.
For a minute earlier, when Grace was bolstering his spirits and he was staring in her bright eyes, he believed that anything was possible.
That there were still good things in store for him.
Like happiness.
TURNING DOWN OLD MILL ROAD and hitting the gravel that kicked up around the sides of her Chevy, Grace slowed down.
What had she been thinking to lean in so close to Holden’s face? That he was going to give her another kiss?
Her heart had stuttered to a near halt as she waited to see what he was going to do. Every cell in her body wanting him to kiss her.
It was so silly.
He only wanted to be friends. And even though she was attracted to him, she needed to spend her free time focusing on school, getting her master’s degree. Not fantasizing about Holden. She’d allowed herself to get sidetracked with the wrong guy once before. She didn’t want Kevin 2.0, repeating the same mistake.
But Holden wasn’t a bad guy. He didn’t gamble or smoke or drink too much, from what she’d seen at Delgado’s. And he wasn’t violent. It would seem his only vice was misplacing his trust in people who didn’t deserve it. This town was putting him through the wringer for it. He was going through a hard time and didn’t need her complicating his life.
But when they had been on the side of the road together, all she had wanted was to clear away his pain and fill up the empty spaces with—
High beams flashed on from a vehicle behind her.
What the heck?
Glancing up at her rearview mirror, she had to squint against the harsh glare. The truck sped up, surging toward her, getting right up on her bumper.
Her pulse kicked up a notch as she dared to press down on the gas pedal. The turnoff to the cottage wasn’t far. She just had to get away from this idiot.
Putting distance between them, she took a deep breath. But the truck zipped up behind her again, spraying gravel as it rushed at her. This time the truck bumped the rear of her SUV, giving her car a jolt. The impact caused her seat belt to tighten, cutting into her chest.
She gripped the wheel and floored the accelerator as fear swept through her. Her SUV swerved on the gravel, her tires failing to find traction.
Was that Rodney behind her? Trying to scare her again?
Due to the high beams, she couldn’t see the truck clearly.
The driveway of her cottage came up. She made the sharp turn. Loose gravel shifted, slipping out from underneath her tires, causing her to fishtail as she hit the driveway.
The truck kept going, zooming past her.
Pulse hammering in her ears, she managed to straighten out the car and regain control in the driveway. She slammed on the brakes. Taking deep breaths, she tried to steady her nerves.
Thank goodness she was in her Chevy. Out on that gravel road, the Mazda wouldn’t have fared too well. She probably would’ve gone into a spin, might’ve hit a tree or something. The SUV was older than she was, but it was sturdy and handled well under pressure.
She pulled up in front of the cottage and parked.
Inside the house, she immediately flipped on the lights. Her living room was empty as well as the dining room and kitchen since she had a clear view with the open floor plan. She wasn’t surprised.
Rodney couldn’t be in two places at once.
She locked the door, putting on the chain, and hung up her coat. This night called for a soak in a warm bubble bath and a large glass of wine. Tomorrow she’d call Holden and tell him about the incident on the road. She went into her bedroom and dropped her purse on the dresser. She tugged off her boots and traipsed into the bathroom. Turning on the light, she noticed something was different. She glanced at her counter.
None of her toiletries had been moved. Her toothbrush was just as she’d left it. But the toilet seat lid was down.
Had she closed it?
This morning her brain had been foggy from the lack of sleep, and honestly, she couldn’t remember, but it wasn’t like her to close it.
She opened the lid. With a shriek, she stumbled back in horror, her heart leaping into her throat.
A red snake with white and black stripes hissed up at her from the toilet bowl. Its black, forked tongue flicked in and out of its mouth.
Screaming, she slammed the lid shut. She did not want that venomous thing crawling around her house. Her worst nightmare brought to life. She absolutely hated them.
Goose bumps broke out on her arms. Nausea roiled through her right along with the kind of fear she’d never experienced before. She staggered into her bedroom, flipped on the light and leaned against the wall.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she took a shuddering breath, trying to think how best to handle this. Not the issue of Rodney. But the more pressing concern of not being able to use her toilet.
She opened her eyes, trembling all over. Her gaze flew around the room, landing in front of her. She froze as something slithered under the covers of her bed.
Another snake. Oh, God. It had to be. She didn’t have to see it, but she tugged at the blanket anyway.
Her stomach dropped as bile burned up the back of her throat. The snake uncoiled its red body and slithered in bold relief against the white sheets.
Grace screamed, even though she knew what she’d find. Seeing it still shook her down to her bones. For a split second, she felt something soft and smooth wriggle through her fingers, over her skin. But it was just her imagination.
Shaking her hands, she grabbed her purse and ran. Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest, thundering in her ears. She didn’t stop to get her boots. Or her coat. Just ran.
And she kept running until she was out of that house.