by Kate Kessler
Lucy had just basically told her to stay away from Luke. Had she delivered the same warning to Tala?
Monday night Neve went to bed still poking through Tala’s phone. The cell was full of photos and texts—she never seemed to clear out her cache, which was both a blessing and a pain in the ass. She had more social media accounts than Neve thought possible, which made combing through it all a little tedious.
“No,” Gideon said. “Put that thing away. You’re not working at midnight.”
Neve glanced up, about to ask for five more minutes, but he was standing there in the en suite doorway in nothing but a pair of pajama bottoms slung low on his lean hips. The man was delicious. And it had been a while since they’d taken time for themselves. Gideon was in construction, so spring and summer were his busiest months, and both of them had been preoccupied with Bailey’s upcoming court date.
“You have something else in mind?” she asked with a coy arch of her brow.
He grinned. He was the most gorgeous thing she’d ever seen. And he was hers. All hers. She was well aware there were a lot of women in the area who were jealous of her, and she liked it.
Gideon walked toward her side of the bed, muscles shifting beneath his skin. He was like a cat, all sinew and grace. He yanked the sheets down, exposing Neve’s tank top and boxers. A little thrill shot through her. Oh, yeah. It had been way too long.
He pressed his knee into the mattress, planting his hands on either side of her. She reached for him as he lowered his body to hers. Their lips came together hungrily as she ran her palms down the smooth curve of his spine. He had the sweetest little ass. She dug her fingers into each cheek as he ground his hips into hers. He pulled the neck of her tank top down, and lowered his head to her breast.
A long time—a long time—later, they lay entwined, stroking lazy circles on each other’s backs with the tips of their fingers.
“Oh, my God, I needed that,” Neve said.
“Mm-hm,” he agreed in that low, sleepy way that made her want to bury her face in the crook of his neck and never leave. “Sure did. Why don’t we do it more often?”
“Because we’re idiots.”
He chuckled. She kissed the crinkles that fanned out from his eye. “Did you talk to Bailey today?”
His laughter evaporated, making her instantly regret the question. “She says if she’s released she wants to go live with her mother in Portland.”
Neve hugged him close. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re not surprised, huh?”
“No. Would you want to come back here if you were her?”
“I guess not. I just assumed she’d want to be with us.”
There was no denying the edge of hurt in his voice. “What did you tell her?”
“I told her we’d cross that bridge when we got there. I asked her to talk to Audrey about it, though. She’s the only person I know with a similar situation.”
Except Audrey had killed to protect the very person whose life Bailey had taken. Neve didn’t say that, however. She just held him. “Well, we have to get her out first.”
He shifted his head to meet her gaze. “You think we won’t?”
It was gutting, the fear in his eyes. “I didn’t say that. I think things look good, but you need to be prepared that the judge might decide she needs to do more work.” There was always the chance that Bailey would have to serve more time. She just hoped the circumstances and all the work the kid had already done would make a difference. Hoped that they got a sympathetic judge.
“I know.” He sighed. “But Stillwater was good for her. This place she’s in now…she’s having a hard time.”
Stillwater was the facility Audrey had gone to after killing Clint, and it was where Bailey had spent the first ten months after her arrest, but it had closed earlier that year and she’d gotten sent to a facility near Augusta that had twice as many kids and half the compassion.
“She’s going to be okay, babe. You have to believe that.”
Gideon nodded. “I just wish I hadn’t been so fucking blind. I wish she had told me.”
“Maggie made sure she wouldn’t. It’s not your fault.” But how she wished she could dig up Maggie’s corpse and bitch-slap her a few times for the hurt she’d brought down on Gideon and his kid. For the hurt she’d left in her wake like a trail of expensive perfume. Maggie had been one of those people who couldn’t help but destroy everything they touched.
“We should have Jake and Audrey over some night. I want to thank them for all they’ve done.”
Neve didn’t like being in Jake’s debt, but he and Audrey were there for them, whether they liked it or not. He had helped get Bailey a good lawyer—a really good one. And of course, Audrey had helped on the psychological side of things, finding someone to present a clear picture to the judge of just what sort of damage Maggie’s abuse and manipulation had wrought. She’d even volunteered to testify on Bailey’s behalf if it might help.
“Sure. I’ll ask Audrey when a good time might be.”
He hugged her close and pulled the sheet up over them. It was still a little cool at night, and they’d both worked up a sweat that was now turning to a chill.
“I love you,” he said, pressing his lips to her hair.
Neve swallowed. Every time he said it felt like the first time, damn it. She was in so deep with this man she didn’t know which way was up. It was terrifying and wonderful. “I love you too.”
She rolled to her side so he could spoon her and listened as his breathing changed. He always fell asleep long before she did. He was one of those people who could close their eyes and start snoring. It usually took her a good thirty minutes or so to turn off her brain.
It was dark in the room, but there was a light on Tala’s phone—tiny and unobtrusive, yet easy to focus on. Neve stared at it, willing it to tell her all the secrets it knew. She thought about Bailey and how she and Tala were the same age. Would they have been friends? Probably, especially since Alisha had befriended the girl. Alisha certainly seemed to attract the walking wounded—probably because she was a loyal friend. Neve would give the Tripp family that—if they liked you, they would do anything for you.
It was when they stopped liking you that was the problem.
But she didn’t want to think about the Tripps. She needed to focus on finding who had killed Tala. Bailey had killed Maggie because of years of sexual abuse and manipulation. In Neve’s experience there was always a reason. Even serial killers had their triggers. It was rare that murders, especially those as up-close as Tala’s, were committed for no reason. There was always a motive.
So what had Tala done to motivate someone to kill her? Someone out there knew the answer, and there were clues in Tala’s phone. There had to be. A teenager’s phone was as good as or better than a diary. Every aspect of Tala’s life was in that little plastic box, and the identity of her murderer was there too.
Neve just had to find it.
CHAPTER NINE
The clock said 3:15 a.m. Audrey was alone in bed. She reached over and found Jake’s side cold to the touch. Frowning, she sat up. “Jake?”
No reply.
She lay there a moment and waited, but he didn’t come. Knowing there was no way she was going back to sleep without finding out where he was, she threw back the blankets and slipped out of bed. Clad in a T-shirt and knit shorts, she padded barefoot from the room, the smooth hardwood cool beneath her feet.
She stood at the top of the stairs and looked down; there was the faint glow of a lamp underneath the door of Jake’s office. The steps creaked slightly beneath her as she made her way down. At the bottom, she turned right and knocked softly on the door.
“Yeah?”
She turned the knob and pushed. Jake sat at his desk in a T-shirt and pajama bottoms. His hair was mussed and his cheeks were flushed. He looked tired and stressed.
“You okay?” she asked, leaning against the door frame.
He nodded. “Couldn’t sleep, s
o I decided to catch up on some paperwork. You?”
“I woke up and you were gone.” She smiled. “You know how nosy I am. I had to find out where you were.”
He smiled back, but it looked forced. “Now you know. Go back to bed. I’ll be up in a bit.”
Audrey started. That sounded really…dismissive. “Right. Sorry to bother you.”
He didn’t say anything—he’d gone back to his paperwork. Hurt—and pissed—Audrey backed out of the room and closed the door. She was tempted to slam it—or at least get a little forceful with it, but she didn’t.
What the hell was up with him? He’d been acting weird the last few days, and he kept telling her nothing was wrong, when it was obvious it was. For a man who was a really good liar, he was pathetically bad at hiding his distraction from her. Or maybe he wasn’t even bothering trying to hide it. Why not just tell her he didn’t want to talk about it?
They were supposed to be partners, weren’t they? Hell, she talked to him about everything—probably even things he wished she’d wouldn’t. His continued silence and bizarre behavior made it worse. Made her think that she was the cause of the problem.
Which totally fed into the deep-seated anxiety she had where he was concerned. They’d been connected since they were kids, and they always would be, but there were times when she didn’t trust his feelings for her. Not because she didn’t think they were real enough, but because he’d put them aside if he thought it was for the best. Years ago he’d made her think he didn’t care about her so she’d leave and go to school. Was he having second thoughts about marrying her?
If he thought she could actually go back to sleep now, he was out of his ever-loving mind. She had a full day ahead of her and wanted to be on the ball. So, instead of stomping off and sulking like she wanted, she went back upstairs, used the bathroom, and crawled into bed with her tablet to do a little reading.
Jake didn’t come to bed. When Audrey went downstairs a few hours later—after finally going back to sleep—she found a note saying he had to make a run for supplies for Gracie’s and that he’d see her that night.
Audrey ripped the note into as many pieces as she could before throwing it in the trash. Then she made her way to his office once again. Whatever he’d been working on, it was gone now. The top of his desk was completely clear—freakishly so. One of the drawers was even locked. The only thing there was a pad he used to write down appointments or notes before putting them into his phone.
She stared at it a moment before grabbing a pencil from the WORLD’S BEST UNCLE mug Alisha had made for him when she was five. She ran the lead over the top sheet on the pad, letting it bring out what had been written on the one previous: Ashley, Tuesday 11:15. It was followed by a phone number with a Maine area code.
Who was Ashley? And why was he meeting her that morning when he was supposed to be getting supplies for the tavern? Jake wasn’t the type to cheat. She wasn’t worried about that—even though she suffered from the same fear many women had that their significant other might find someone he liked better and leave. But that said more about her than Jake.
No, he didn’t have another woman, but there was something going on.
Audrey tore the top page off the pad and put it in her pocket. Later, if it drove her crazy enough, and if she got mad enough, she just might call the phone number for herself, but for the time being she owed Jake his privacy. She’d already crossed a line by snooping, and even though she was hurt, she needed to respect him and trust that he would eventually share with her what was going on.
She didn’t have any more time to dwell on it. She grabbed something quick for breakfast and made her coffee to go. Then she drove back the Ridge to check on how renovations were going. They were still on schedule and everything was looking great. She made some calls, talked to the contractors, and took some photos. Once she was done there, it was lunch time. She grabbed a bite and then went to the high school. She got there with ten minutes to spare before her first appointment.
Lucy Villeneuve was five minutes late by the time she breezed into the small office. She was a fashionably dressed young woman, with makeup skills that suggested too much time watching “gurus” on social media. Seriously, her eyebrows were sharp enough to cut glass.
“It was my mother’s idea for me to talk to you,” she said when she sat down. “Just so you know, I don’t want to be here,” she announced, echoing Kendra’s earlier statement.
Don’t let the door hit you in the ass… “Oh? Why not?”
The girl tilted her highlighted head. She ought to have blended out that contour a bit more. “Because talking about it’s not going to bring Tala back, is it?”
Audrey shook her head. “No. It’s not.”
“And it’s not like you can make me feel better.”
Another shake. “Not immediately.”
Lucy shrugged her slim shoulders. “So what’s the point?”
Studying her, Audrey noted the acne not completely hidden beneath the layer of makeup, the teeth scrapes on the top of her right index finger, and the darkness of her roots. Lucy Villeneuve was a girl who spent a lot of time trying to be what she thought she ought to be. That didn’t leave much time to like who she was.
“Were you and Tala good friends?”
“Me and her and Kendra were always together. Ask anyone.”
“So you were best friends.”
The girl frowned—it made her look tough, and made little cakey lines in her foundation and powder. “Didn’t I just say that?”
Audrey smiled. For some reason she welcomed the girl’s biting attitude and defensiveness. It gave her something to crash into and beat down. It was a welcome distraction. “No, you said you spent a lot of time together.”
“I’m not going to hang out with someone I don’t like.”
“That makes you different from most girls, then,” Audrey replied.
Lucy went still, and Audrey knew it had been the right thing to say. As much as she desperately wanted to be like all the other girls, Lucy Villeneuve wanted to be special.
“So was Tala the kind of friend who always had a tampon if you needed one? Did she have your back? Did she hold your hair while you made yourself puke?”
Heavily lined eyes widened. Audrey’s gaze didn’t waver. She wasn’t going to give away how she knew the kid had purging issues.
“Tala never had tampons—she didn’t need them.” She gave Audrey an assessing glance. “You know she wasn’t really a girl, right?”
Audrey fought a sigh. So much for the enlightened youth. But Neve had said the girl had a tampon in her bag. “I know she was transgender, if that’s what you mean.”
Lucy made that face again. “I’m sorry, but if you don’t have a vag, you’re not a girl.”
“But you refer to Tala as ‘she,’ so obviously you thought of her as a girl.”
“Okay, so she wasn’t a girl where it counted. She acted like it was this horrible thing. Do you know what I’d give to be able to pee standing up? Or not have a period every month? God, she went on about how much she envied Kendra and me. She could have my cramps if she wanted them.” She frowned a little. “She used to rub my back for me when they got bad.”
“Sounds like a good friend.”
“She could be. She could also be a total nut job if her hormones got messed up. Sometimes she was such a bitch to Luke. I don’t know why he put up with it. Not like he was getting sex out of her. Although, apparently she gave him a couple of blow jobs.” She said this as though Audrey should find it interesting. “I wonder if Luke ever gave her one?”
“Why?” She didn’t bother to explain that Tala’s hormone therapy probably made that impossible.
Lucy looked surprised—as though she’d forgotten Audrey could speak. “Just nosy, I guess. It used to drive Kendra cray-cray wondering about it.”
Okay, time to steer the conversation elsewhere. “Did the four of you spend a lot of time together?”
“Yeah. Mos
tly because Tala and Luke couldn’t stand to be apart, and Kendra couldn’t stand the idea of them being alone together.”
“What about you?”
She shrugged. “I don’t think any of them cared what I wanted. I was just there to hang out. It was better than being at home. Plus, I couldn’t let Kendra go through that alone. I’d try to get her to go out with other guys, but she’d only do it when Luke was around. She thought he’d get jealous.”
“Did he?”
“Are you kidding? He never noticed. One time Ken practically fucked a guy right on top of him. Oh. Is it okay if I swear?”
“You can say whatever you like.” She folded her hands in front of her. “Do you guys see Luke much now?”
She shook her head. “Everything changed when Tala disappeared. Luke didn’t want to see anyone, and Kendra’s been a mess.”
“What about you?”
“I just want everything to be like it was.” Her eyes filled with wetness before a little gray tear streaked down her cheek, leaving a trail of eyeliner in its wake. “But it’s not going to be, is it?”
Audrey handed her a tissue. She felt genuine sympathy for the girl, because she knew firsthand the kind of effect such violence could have on a friendship and the people around it. “No. I’m afraid it’s not.”
“Okay, I’m telling you this because I think it will help your investigation, and because it in no way puts me in moral or professional conflict.”
Neve looked up when Audrey walked into Gracie’s late Tuesday afternoon. “Telling me what?”
Audrey sat down with her. “Tala did not normally carry tampons in her purse.”
“How did you find that out?”
“I asked Lucy Villeneuve.”
“So there’s a chance she had another girl with her that night.”
