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Heath snatched the note from Sue and crumpled it in his hand. When he’d asked her to help him solve Derek’s murder, it had been a lark. A game. His skin crawled as he considered there might be something to their theory, that he’d put her in danger.
“Who would leave you this note?” she asked.
“That’s what I’d like to know. Does this seem like a threat to you?”
“Do you know who it’s from?”
“Whoever left it didn’t bother to sign it,” he said, adding a hint of sarcasm. “All caps. Anyone could have written this.”
“Who even knows you’re asking questions? Scratch that. Everyone on the suspect list we’ve put together.” She counted off on her fingers. “Rich. Jojo. Zelda. And I’m leaving your brother on the list just because.”
Heath laughed. “Fine by me.”
“Should we take this to the police?”
“Not unless we have more to show them. I’d rather not be locked in an interrogation room again.”
“Well, hold onto it. In case something else happens.” She paused, locked her sapphire gaze on him. “Your voice. Still hoarse?”
“Sleeping outside didn’t do me any favors.”
Her cheeks reddened. “That’s my fault for falling asleep in your lawn chair. You didn’t have to stay with me.”
He’d do it again, and not fall asleep next time. “Someone had to. I couldn’t leave you alone and defenseless where Bigfoot could find you and carry you off.”
Sue laughed so hard she wiped tears from her eyes. “Bigfoot?”
He shrugged, happy he’d managed to lighten the mood.
As she caught her breath, she said, “We don’t get many Bigfoot sightings in Illinois, but I appreciate the gesture.”
“The least I could do for someone I care about.” There. He’d said it. Worst case scenario, she’d brush him off. Best case, she’d kiss him again. In reality, he supposed she’d land somewhere in the middle.
“I like you, too,” she said. “I still think we should tell the police about the note.”
Hello, middle ground. “You can tell them. Say it was on your door.”
Her color deepened. Did she have something going with the police guy? Heath folded his arms, trying to protect himself from what came next. Would she try to let him down easy?
She lowered her gaze. “From what I’ve learned, Derek had a lot of enemies. I’m not sure we’re equipped to find a killer. Derek doesn’t sound like someone I would have liked, had I met him.” She cringed. “Was he naked when you found him?”
Heat rose up his neck. “Technically, I didn’t find him. The maintenance guy did. But yeah.”
“That tracks with what my friend said. He called it autoerotic asphyxiation.”
“Auto...” Heath concentrated a moment to remember where he’d heard that phrase before, and then it dawned on him. “That would explain the lights they shone on the floor beside him. And the glowing spots.” He shuddered. “Wait. What about the stuff on his bed?”
“Apparently, he had cocaine in his system, which increases the libido—or so they say.”
More of the puzzle came together. “They took a urine sample from me,” he said. “Asked me if we’d been partying. And they kept looking at my eyes. I suppose they were checking to see if I was stoned, too.”
“Were you?”
“No.” Hadn’t he already told her he didn’t do drugs? He fought the urge to strike back by asking her about coming home drunk last night. The police had cleared him. She knew that. Why did she still suspect him? “I think I’ll go make myself a cup of tea,” he croaked. “Feel free to give the note to your police friend.” He unlocked his door, but she took hold of his wrist.
“I know you said you don’t do drugs, and I believe you.”
He glared at her. “If that were true, you wouldn’t have asked me.”
“You hear about people slipping drugs into drinks or into food all the time. You might have taken something unintentionally.”
“Which would mean I’d have to have been with him before he died. I was on an airplane.”
She took a step back. He’d spoken more vehemently than he’d meant to, but she obviously still had doubts about his innocence.
“I was looking for a reason they might have held you. Continued to question you when you had an airtight alibi.”
“Because I lived there. That’s why they questioned me. Because I was the one who led them to the body.” Immediately, the image of Derek suspended from the chin-up bar flashed in his head. Heath rubbed his eyes to erase it. Derek. Naked. Had he slipped when he’d finished? Had his death been accidental?
“Heath?”
He pushed his door open, but then turned to face her. He had to know. “You asked me if I was stoned. Did you tell me your ex was an alcoholic?”
She tilted her head. “Yes.”
If he asked the next question, he ran the risk of ruining what fragile friendship they’d forged, but he had to know. “You were drunk when you came home yesterday.”
Understanding shone in her eyes. “I was. If you’re asking me...” She inhaled sharply. “Alcoholics lie. They deny. If I told you I didn’t have a problem, you’d have no reason to believe me.”
“Sound familiar?” he asked.
“I do believe you,” she said again. “I had a beer with the pizza we shared. One beer. Yes, I have a casual drink now and then. Yesterday was an exception.” She huffed, then shook her head.
As she reached for her own keys, he knew he couldn’t leave things this way. He reached for her arms. “I’m sorry. I had to ask. I guess I sort of understand why you did, too.”
She stared into his eyes. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
He let her go once more. “The fact remains, someone doesn’t want us to know something.”
“I’m in favor of letting it go,” she said. “I think the police got it right, based on what Rod told me. And I’m just being honest here, after what I’ve learned, I don’t think I have the stomach for what else we might uncover.”
“So when we go to the concert in the park Saturday, we can leave all this nonsense behind and enjoy ourselves. Right?” Man, he hoped she would still go to the concert with him. They’d mucked things up, but he wanted to fix this. In spite of everything, she got to him in a way other women hadn’t.
“Sounds like a plan.”
~ ~ ~
THINKING ABOUT DEREK’S death made Sue queasy. Why would someone tempt fate that way? What about the person he’d had sex with? Someone else who thought choking was a fun thing to do?
Coupled with the note on Heath’s door, she was all for moving on and leaving the case closed. She didn’t have any notions she would be able to outsmart or outmaneuver a killer, even if there was no killer. If Derek Snyder engaged in high-risk behavior and lost, she preferred to think he’d proven Darwin’s theory.
Then there was Heath. After she’d tried to jump him last night, he’d been the perfect gentleman. He’d told her Derek was the only one in the band who did drugs. Based on what she knew of Derek’s stellar personality, the possibility existed that he’d dosed one or all of them as a joke.
She headed for the kitchen and warmed a piece of apple crisp in the microwave.
Did Heath think she had a drinking problem? Should she cancel their date for Saturday? The things they’d said highlighted how little they knew about each other.
The microwave dinged and she retrieved her snack, poured a glass of water and sat at her kitchen table, waiting for her dessert to cool enough to eat.
She’d met Mike in her sophomore geometry class. His soul-deep brown eyes and shaggy brown hair had caught her attention, enough that she’d asked Mary Ellen for advice on how to ask him out. Mary Ellen, in turn, had told Jackson. As fate would have it, Mike lived next door to Jackson. Jackson invited him to go out with their group of friends. The rest, as they say, was history. After the divorce, she wasn’t interested in meeting anyone else. Elizabeth had been the one to suggest she give Rod a try.
She’d known she didn’t like Rod almost immediately.
She liked Heath.
She felt so inexperienced. Life had charged ahead while she’d been standing still. Even when she’d tried to catch up, when she’d taken the computer classes, she’d felt like a dinosaur. The students in her computer classes were mostly younger than she was—like Heath was younger.
She’d finished those computer classes, earned her degree in an effort to get out of her stagnant life. Make a better living. How hard had she looked for a new job? She’d sent out a couple of applications after she’d gotten her degree and then given up, content in the shelter of the life she had.
She blew on her apple crisp to cool it, wishing it held the secret to conquering the world.
Mike was gone. His life had ended. Hers hadn’t. She needed to step out of her safe little world. The cocoon she’d hidden inside when she’d married Mike hadn’t been so safe. Certainly, something better was waiting for her.
Tomorrow she’d go on the job hunt again, and she’d keep her date with Heath Saturday, if only to prove to him she wasn’t a drunk. If things didn’t work out between the two of them, she wouldn’t have lost anything.
What was the saying? Nothing ventured, nothing gained.