“And perhaps you didn’t know that the Harper brothers were there and they just happened to step out of the Lodge in time to see Daniel getting into a car with you,” he continued.
“I don’t have a car.”
“Fine. A truck.” Gary sent him an impatient glare. “Then they hear Daniel’s dead and they call you to come to their apartment for a meeting.”
Ellie’s grip on his arm tightened, but Nate was unconcerned about the sheriff’s attempt to paint him as a killer. It didn’t matter that innocent people were arrested every day. Or that some were convicted. He had absolute confidence his lawyer could make sure he was protected from any bogus charges.
And he was hoping during the sheriff’s wild accusations, he might reveal something that could help Nate figure out what the hell was going on.
“Why would they want to meet with me?”
Gary was prepared with his answer. “To demand you pay for keeping their lips shut about seeing you that night.”
“They don’t have the brains to figure out a blackmail scheme,” Nate pointed out.
The sheriff slammed his hand on the desk. “You arrange a meeting promising to pay them and instead shoot one of them in the head.”
Nate watched as Gary sat back in his chair, a smug expression on his face. The man obviously assumed that he’d just delivered the coup de grâce.
Nate tilted his head to the side, pretending to consider the accusation.
“Just one of them?” he at last demanded. “What good would that do me?”
Gary faltered. He hadn’t considered the gaping hole in his theory.
“You were probably expecting both,” he abruptly blustered. “Or you knew that killing one would keep the other one silent.”
“I would never risk leaving a witness,” Nate said with perfect honesty. Beside him Ellie muttered beneath her breath. Something about thick-skulled idiots. Nate pretended he didn’t hear her, his gaze locked on Gary’s square face. “And I certainly wouldn’t do the deed in my own building. If I killed someone I would make certain the body was never, ever found.”
The sheriff scowled in frustration. “If it wasn’t you, then how did he get the key?”
Ellie dug her nails into his flesh hard enough to make him flinch. She wasn’t fooling. She wanted him to shut up. He snapped his lips together.
“My client recently purchased the building and hasn’t had the time to change the locks,” she informed the sheriff.
Gary looked unimpressed. “So?”
“So we have no way of knowing how many keys the previous owner might have handed out to various employees or family members,” Ellie said. “Plus, the real estate agent would have given them to prospective buyers as well as workers and cleaners.” She gave a sweep of her hand, as if indicating a vast crowd of people. “Any one of them could have made duplicates. For all we know there are dozens of keys floating around town.”
Gary’s hooked nose flared. Ellie had scored a direct hit. Still, the lawman refused to concede defeat. He turned his attention back to Nate.
“Then there’s the fact that you show up at Barb’s house when she’s dying,” he growled, grasping at straws.
Ellie gave a click of her tongue. “I was there. She was already gone when Nate arrived.”
Gary’s gaze never shifted from Nate’s face. “And, of course, you were seen enjoying a private conversation with Mandy only a few hours before she disappeared.”
Nate sucked in a startled breath, for the first time seeing things from the sheriff’s point of view. He’d assumed that Gary Clark was simply tossing out accusations in the hope he could find something to pin on Nate. The lawman had been daunted from day one at having an ex-FBI agent in Curry. It would no doubt give him great pleasure to shove Nate in a cell and throw away the key.
Now he had to admit that he would be on the top of anyone’s suspect list.
Hell, he’d investigate himself.
Annoyed at being so slow to realize his danger, Nate did what he always did when he’d been stupid. He went on the offense.
“What do you know about the Hopewell Clinic?”
Gary’s smug expression faded, replaced with genuine confusion.
“What are you talking about?”
“The rehab center that used to be in the same field where Daniel and Mandy were found,” he clarified, not convinced by the man’s seeming bewilderment.
He’d once fallen victim to the tears of a little old lady who claimed that she had no idea her grandson was selling drugs out of her house. Then she’d pulled out a gun and tried to shoot him in the heart. It was only because she didn’t have on her glasses that she shot the fridge instead of him.
It’d been a memorable learning experience.
“Oh,” Gary finally grunted. “I’d forgotten about that place. My mom worked there.”
Nate jerked. He hadn’t expected that answer. “Really?”
“She worked in the nursery a few months before it burnt to the ground.” Gary reached into his pocket to pull out a handkerchief. “I don’t remember much. I was a baby at the time.”
“Was there a daycare center for the workers?” he asked.
Gary shook his head. “No, for the clients. I think they specialized in helping female addicts who had young children. They came in from around the state.”
Nate tapped a frustrated finger on the arm of his chair. It seemed that they kept collecting more and more puzzle pieces, with no clue how to put them together.
Hopewell Clinic had to be involved. It couldn’t be mere coincidence that both Daniel and Mandy’s bodies were found in the same place where it’d once stood. Not when both their fathers had been involved in the clinic.
“How did it catch on fire?” he asked.
Gary made a sound of impatience. “What does it matter? That was twenty-five years ago.”
“There seems to be a lot of tragedy connected to a small plot of land,” Nate pointed out. “The clinic catching on fire. And now two dead bodies.”
Gary blinked, as if baffled by Nate’s conclusion. “No one was hurt when the clinic burned down.”
Nate continued to tap his finger, struck by a sudden hunch. What if there had been someone in the clinic when it’d burned to the ground? Maybe a client who died?
Still, why would the board members cover it up? Were they afraid they might be sued?
Or . . . had there been something suspicious about the fire? Maybe a deliberate arson to collect insurance money that had accidentally led to a death.
That would certainly be a secret that men in power would want to hide.
And keep hidden.
“You’re sure no one was hurt?” he demanded.
Gary’s brows snapped together. “That’s what I just said.”
Nate wasn’t convinced. “There’s never been any rumors about the fire? Maybe that it was suspicious?”
“You mean arson?” The sheriff started to shake his head, only to hesitate. “Wait. I think I overheard my mother whispering to a friend about something that’d happened at the clinic just before it burned.”
Nate leaned forward. “What?”
Gary paused, hopefully searching his mind for the details of his memory. Finally, he heaved an annoyed sigh.
“I don’t remember, and I don’t care,” he snapped. “We’re discussing your connection to the string of tragedies in Curry.”
Without warning, Ellie surged upright. “No. We’re not.”
Gary’s mouth fell open as he gaped at the woman who was already walking toward the door.
“I’m not done.”
Ellie turned, her expression hard. “Is my client under arrest?”
Gary opened and closed his mouth, like a catfish that’d been tossed on the bank. At last he conceded defeat.
“ No.”
“Then we’re done.” She glanced toward Nate. “Let’s go.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Jumping out of his chair, Nate followed Ellie out of the office a
nd down the maze of corridors to the front exit. He lowered his head to whisper in her ear as he reached around her to push open the door. “I like when you’re a badass. It’s sexy,” he whispered.
She rolled her eyes, but he didn’t miss her faint flush of pleasure before she was crisply stepping outside and heading down the cement steps.
Once confident they were out of earshot of anyone in the building, she halted so she could turn to face him. There was a glint in her eye that warned Nate she was about to give him a tongue-lashing about the stupidity of answering questions when he hadn’t been officially arrested. But before she could launch into her tirade, she stiffened, her face draining of color.
Nate felt a prickle of unease as he turned his head to follow her gaze, realizing she was staring across the street at her office. Or more exactly, at the silver Rolls-Royce parked near her front door.
“Oh my God,” she breathed in horror.
Chapter Twenty
Ellie stared at the vehicle parked in front of her office as if it was a ticking bomb. Melodramatic, but that’s exactly what it felt like.
She loved her parents. She truly did. But she needed plenty of forewarning, along with a generous amount of wine, to prepare for their rare visits.
To have them appear out of thin air was more than she could deal with when she already had on her plate a mysterious stalker, a burned house, and Nate almost daring the sheriff to arrest him.
“Ellie?” Nate reached out to grasp her hand. “Ellie, talk to me.”
She gave a small shake of her head, hoping that might clear it. “That’s my father’s car.”
“You’re sure?” he demanded in surprise, only to grimace as he studied the expensive car. No one in Curry drove around in a Rolls. “Sorry. Stupid question.”
She shivered. “Why would they be here?”
“I assume they miss their daughter and want to spend some time with you.”
Ellie snorted. “You don’t know my parents.”
As if sensing her need for his warmth, Nate wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Why do you say that?”
She leaned closer, savoring his strength. Or maybe she was just savoring his rock-solid muscles. Whichever. She liked being pressed against him.
“My parents don’t drop in unannounced,” she informed him. “It takes weeks of pre-visit negotiations.”
He looked predictably confused. “Negotiations?”
Her lips twitched. “The Guthrie clan consider themselves royalty, which means they have a detailed list of demands that must be met before they condescend to make the journey.”
He remained confused. “What sort of demands?”
She ticked off the list on her fingers. “The specific brands of bottled water and coffee they prefer. New sheets on the bed. No household plants.”
“What do they have against plants?”
Ellie’s lips twitched. Her parents were difficult, overbearing, and treated her like a child. Oddly, however, she enjoyed their small quirks. It was what made them human.
“My mother dislikes the smell of nature,” she said.
“I can’t imagine that she enjoyed living in Curry,” Nate retorted. “There’s not much around here but nature.”
“She never talks about her time here,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “Actually, neither of my parents ever talked much about Curry, which I suppose is why I was curious to come here and discover more about the place where I was born.”
“Understandable.” He glanced toward her office. “I can’t wait to meet them.”
Ellie abruptly stepped away. It hadn’t occurred to her to introduce Nate to her parents.
“You want to meet them?”
He studied her horrified expression, his jaw tightening with some inner emotion.
“Is there any reason you wouldn’t want to introduce me?” She licked her dry lips. It was difficult to pinpoint the precise reason. A part of her reluctance was the desire to keep her new life separate from her past. She moved to Curry for a fresh start. This place was her future. And Nate was very much a part of that future. Another part was the knowledge that her parents would never approve of Nate. Reasonable people might admire a man who’d served as an agent in the FBI and was now building his own business, but her parents were more interested in how much money a man had in his bank account.
“I just want to know why they’re here,” she hedged.
“Without me.” His tone was flat, emotionless.
“For now.” She sent him an apologetic glance. “Later.”
There was a tense silence before he was turning his head toward his own building across the square.
“I have a few things to take care of.”
Ellie was suddenly reminded of why they were standing in front of the courthouse.
She’d been at her desk when Doris had come in to say there was some trouble across the way. Ellie had strolled to the front reception area to check it out, more curious than alarmed. Only then did she realize that the emergency vehicles were parked in front of Nate’s building.
Ignoring Doris’s demand to know what was happening, Ellie had hurried out the door. Less than five minutes later she was shoving her way past the deputy to enter the storage area. She’d only been vaguely aware of the dead body on the ground. All her attention had been focused on Nate and making sure he didn’t say something to incriminate himself.
Now, she reached out to lay a hand on his arm. “Nate.”
He stiffened at her light touch, but he didn’t pull away. “What?”
She ignored his sharp tone. She would find some way to soothe his ruffled feathers.
“Don’t talk to the sheriff without me,” she commanded.
His brows snapped together. “You don’t think I’m guilty, do you?”
She sent him an annoyed frown. Did he truly think she would have spent the night in his bed if she thought for one second he could be a cold-blooded killer?
“Of course not. But Gary Clark doesn’t like you, and he’s lazy,” she reminded him. “If he can pin the deaths on you, he’ll do it.”
He shrugged. “I don’t have any intention of crossing paths with the sheriff.”
She studied him with blatant suspicion. He’d agreed way too easily.
“You’re not going to do anything dangerous, are you?”
Another shrug. “That’s not on the agenda.”
“Nate.”
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m no longer that reckless boy who craves constant adventure.”
“I wish I believed that,” she breathed.
Perhaps sensing her genuine concern, Nate’s features softened. Reaching out, he wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged her close.
“Believe it,” he commanded, his voice husky as he lowered his head. “All I crave is you.”
He brushed his mouth lightly over her lips. Ellie trembled, reaching up to place her hands against his chest.
“Just be careful,” she pleaded.
“Call if you need me.”
With one last, lingering kiss Nate dropped his arms and turned to walk away.
Ellie paused to admire his lean body, which moved with a lethal grace she could only envy. He might no longer be an FBI agent, but he moved like he was trained to kill.
Only when he turned the corner of the courthouse did Ellie square her shoulders and head toward her office.
She hadn’t lied when she told Nate she was anxious to discover what had brought her parents to Curry. She didn’t have a clue why they would be there. On the other hand, she found her feet dragging as she crossed the street and neared the door.
Her mind was already running through the list of complaints that would be waiting for her.
Her mother would criticize her casual attire and her hair that hadn’t been trimmed or highlighted in over a year. Her father would belittle her small office and clientele who were basically petty thieves and drunken brawlers.
Grimacing,
she stepped into the office and plastered a smile to her lips. She loved her parents, she silently reminded herself. And they loved her.
Her gaze landed on her father, who stood rigidly in the center of the office.
He was a large man, although he maintained his trim form, which was shown to advantage in a perfectly tailored charcoal-gray suit. His features were bold, with a straight nose and a square jaw. His eyes were as clear as emeralds, and had made criminals, attorneys, jurors, and his own daughter squirm in fear for years.
His dark hair was brushed with silver at the temples, and lay so perfectly against his head it was obvious he spent a small fortune to have it styled. Just as he spent a fortune on his smooth tan, his whitened teeth, and his Botox.
For Colin and Allison Guthrie, image was everything.
The sudden thought of her mother had Ellie’s gaze roaming around the reception room. Behind the desk Doris was sitting in subdued silence, clearly overwhelmed by Judge Guthrie. It was a familiar reaction. But there was no sign of anyone else.
Moving forward, Ellie lifted her face. “Hello, Father,” she murmured as he brushed her cheek with a light kiss. “Where’s Mother?”
“She stayed in Oklahoma City,” he said, stepping back to run a critical gaze over her. “She has her charity gala tomorrow night.”
“Of course.”
Her mother hosted an annual ball that raised money for a children’s hospital. Ellie had never enjoyed the pompous gathering of the rich and powerful, but she admired her mother’s ability to charm massive amounts of money out of her guests.
An awkward silence filled the office. Without warning, Doris scraped back her chair and jumped to her feet.
“I’ll make some coffee,” she muttered, heading down the hall to the small kitchenette at the back of the building.
Colin watched the woman’s hurried exit with a lift of his brows.
“Is your secretary always so skittish?” he demanded.
Ellie nearly laughed. Doris was the least skittish person she’d ever met.
“Not at all. She’s very efficient.”
“Hmm.”
“So.” Ellie cleared her throat. “This is an unexpected pleasure.”
Her father turned his head to stab her with his piercing gaze. “I don’t know why it would be unexpected.”
You Will Suffer Page 18
