Which reminded him that Brinley was out of his sight. After hearing this he couldn’t let that happen.
“Where was Leeds at the time of death?”
“A birthday party for his daughter. Plenty of witnesses but he’s rich enough to hire people.”
“It’s a stretch,” Jason admitted. “It’s doubtful Leeds would go off after all this time.”
“I’m not done researching him. If there’s something there I’ll find it,” Jared vowed. “Which reminds me, I’ll have more information for you on Roger Gaines by morning. I’ve got a program running right now.”
“Add one more. Anita Hazlitt.” Jason spelled her name and gave the few particulars that he had. “I want to talk to her. Preferably tomorrow. If you don’t have time I can do it.”
“Then let me get back to work. If I have any issues I’ll send you a text by midnight. You’ll be awake?”
“Aren’t I always?” Jason couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his tone but Jared wasn’t a man to take offense easily. “Seriously, I’ll be up. Tonight’s going to be one of those nights.”
“Then I’ll report back. Talk to you later.”
Jared hung up, leaving Jason pondering everything he’d learned. Perhaps it was time for him and Brinley to have a heart to heart talk.
Just how many secrets did his pretty neighbor have?
*
It was another gorgeous summer night and Brinley should have been relaxed, enjoying the cooler evening temperatures. But she couldn’t stop thinking about the break in and the thought of someone pawing through her belongings. She’d walked through this morning and nothing looked missing. Richard had probably scared off the burglar before he’d had a chance to steal anything but it was still unnerving.
She’d moved here for a fresh start. A new home.
She’d wanted to feel safe and now she felt anything but.
“Are you sure you don’t want a glass of wine? It might help you sleep.”
Fran held up the bottle of Chardonnay but Brinley shook her head. She wasn’t a huge fan of alcohol and with the wheels turning in her brain a mile a minute even a whole bottle of wine wasn’t going to make her sleepy. She was wide awake.
“No, thank you. I really just came over here to thank you both for everything. For scaring away the intruder and then meeting the repairman today. I feel so lucky to have such great neighbors.”
Jason, too, but she didn’t mention him. Her personal feelings for the handsome man were all mixed up with the drama of murder. She was attracted to him but it was more than that. When she was with him she felt safe.
And after everything she’d been through she knew how special that was.
“Will you be gone tomorrow too?” Fran asked, settling back on the lounge chair with a contented sigh. “I can let the repairman in again.”
When Brinley had become friends with Fran and Richard she’d given them a spare key and they’d happily given her one of theirs. She’d let in the pest control man for the couple just a few weeks ago.
“I’m not sure what Jason has planned but if you could I would be very grateful. It’s such an eyesore right now.”
“You should have seen our kitchen when we remodeled. Complete and total devastation. We ate out for months.” Richard laughed and refilled his glass, nodding toward her driveway. “Looks like you have company.”
Brinley wouldn’t have used such a polite word.
Greg was hopping out of his car and striding up her front porch steps, not seeing her on the deck between the houses. For a moment she pondered letting him bang on the door while she hid in Fran and Richard’s house but that was the coward’s way. She needed to deal with Greg once and for all.
The relationship wasn’t going to go anywhere. She hadn’t given him a thought last night or all day. If she were being brutally honest, he had nothing on Jason Anderson. It wasn’t even a competition.
“I’ll go talk to him. I’ll be right back.”
It wouldn’t take long. She wasn’t planning on dragging this out. She met him at the bottom of her porch steps as he turned to leave.
“Greg, I didn’t know you were coming over.”
Because you didn’t call. Again. Asshole.
Greg was apparently the type that thought women were sitting around twiddling their thumbs until a man called or showed up. He must have been pissed about her absence because she’d heard him pound on the front door as if he owned the joint. Her creep detector was going off big time. She needed to cut this guy loose for good.
His thunderous expression instantly changed to a charming smile. “Brinley, I thought you weren’t home. I was hoping we might have a glass of wine together.” Greg held up a bottle. “But now I’m just worried about you. What happened to your door?”
“Someone broke in. They kicked in my door so I’m waiting for a new one.” Brinley took a deep breath. She hated this part of dating. “Listen, Greg, you’re a nice guy and all but I just don’t think this is going to work out between us. I hope we can be friends.”
Or not. Whatever. Don’t feel obligated to stay in touch. I won’t.
He stiffened and his smile fell. “I thought things were going really well. We’ve had fun.”
“This just isn’t a good time in my life for a relationship.” Next century wasn’t looking too good either. “I just think our dating wouldn’t be productive.”
That charming smile was back. “I bet I could change your mind. Let’s go inside and have a glass of wine. Talk about things.”
He didn’t listen well. In fact, she had second graders who had better listening skills.
“First of all, my house is a crime scene,” she countered, just wanting him to leave. “Second, I don’t want to have a glass of wine. I don’t want to talk.”
She didn’t bother to hide the edge to her tone that said she was annoyed. He didn’t seem to get subtlety but she didn’t want to have to hit him over the head with a brick. Figuratively only, of course.
“Brinley, Richard was thinking of building a bonfire and roasting some marshmallows.” Fran rounded the corner of the house. “Would you be interested? I think I have chocolate and graham crackers to make s’mores. They’re my favorite.”
Saved by the neighbor.
“That sounds delicious, Fran. I’ll be right there.”
Greg frowned at the intrusion but seemed to decide that retreat was the best option. “I’m sorry you feel that way. I guess I’ll just leave.”
Bottle hugged to his midsection, he whirled on his heel and stomped back to his car, gunning the engine as he sped down the road. Jason had come outside to join them and he watched Greg’s taillights disappear into the night.
“Who was that?”
“Greg. I don’t think he’ll be back.”
“Why was he here in the first place?”
Fran laughed and linked her arm with Brinley’s. “I think he’s an admirer. Persistent fellow too. Let’s go have marshmallows.”
“Actually–” Jason began and then paused. “Fran, would you mind if we took a raincheck on marshmallows? I need Brinley for something.”
For something? Way to be vague. Hopefully it had something to do with Roger Gaines.
“Of course we can.” Fran waved away his concern. “You two go have fun.”
Fran was waggling her eyebrows as Jason marched toward his own house and Brinley wanted to groan in embarrassment. It was clear her neighbor thought that something more than…well…simple neighborliness was going on in Jason’s house. This was going to be all over town by noon tomorrow.
Brinley caught up to Jason and grabbed his arm. “She thinks we’re going to…you know. She thinks we’re a couple.”
“Fran loves good gossip. Even if you and I were snarking at each other she’d think that.” He picked up her hand and a tingle ran up her arm. “I don’t know about you but I doubt I can sleep tonight. So I was thinking we could go for a night ride at the ranch. Can you ride a horse?”
; It was dangerous to her equilibrium to be alone with a man as fine as Jason Anderson but she couldn’t think of one good reason not to go. If she were honest she wanted to. Last night she’d felt so close to him.
She wanted to feel that way again.
“I’ve ridden a few times at summer camp. I wouldn’t say I was good at it but I can probably hold on.”
“I’ll get you a gentle mount. Let’s go.” Jason patted his pocket and then pulled out car keys. “Thanks for coming with me.”
At this moment, she’d follow wherever he led her.
Chapter Twelve
‡
Jason had chosen a gentle horse for Brinley and had saddled his own stallion Rebel for himself. The steady rhythm of the hooves as they ambled along the path lulled them into a sense of quiet contentment that Jason was loath to break.
“I can’t believe how many stars I can see here in Montana,” Brinley breathed, her head tipped back to take in the purple night sky. “We didn’t have anything like this in Chicago.”
She’d handed him the perfect opening on a silver platter. He hated to ruin the serenity between them but he had questions he needed answered if they were ever going to get to the bottom of this case.
“I’d like to hear more about Chicago. There’s a little spot not far away next to a pretty stream. We can sit and talk.”
“That sounds good. I need to stretch my legs or I’m going to be really sore tomorrow.”
She’d told him she hadn’t ridden in about fifteen years so she was going to be sore tomorrow no matter what, but stretching her muscles wasn’t a bad idea. When they arrived at the clearing near the stream Jason nose tied the horses and led her to an old fallen log where they could sit. He should have brought some wine or something to help relax her.
“So tell me about Chicago,” he opened, deliberately keeping the question vague.
“I told you about my family. What else do you want to know?”
Her tone was light but Jason sensed an uneasiness in the way she held her body stiffly next to his. She didn’t want to talk about this.
“What made you move to Tremont?”
He couldn’t see her face well in the moonlight but he could tell she wasn’t smiling or laughing. “A new job. I wanted a fresh start. A place where I wasn’t the middle sister in the Snow family. I can be whatever I want here.”
“What do you want to be?”
“Happy,” she answered simply, still looking at the stars. “I want to be happy.”
“You weren’t happy in Chicago?”
“I was as happy as I could be but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more out there.”
He steeled himself for her reaction. “Did the Tom Leeds situation make you unhappy?’
Jason heard the quick intake of her breath just before she hopped to her feet. He’d hit a nerve.
“I see you’ve been doing your homework. Is that what you were doing while I slept last night or did you have your brother do your dirty work?”
Brinley hadn’t bothered to disguise the disdain in her tone and he couldn’t really blame her. He was a man that liked his privacy and wouldn’t enjoy being investigated any more than she did.
“Actually I had one of my partners, Jared Monroe, do the research. Are you surprised that I had to do it? I needed to see if you had some link to Roger Gaines.”
She spun around, her body rigid with anger. “I told you I didn’t. You don’t believe me, obviously.”
He could hear the hurt in her voice and felt about one inch tall knowing he had put it there. He needed to make her understand this was about the case and not about her. He believed in her and everything she said.
Jason stood as well but she backed away, clearly not wanting to be near him. “I do believe you. But there might have been something you weren’t even aware of. How can I ask you tell me something that you don’t know?”
“Tom Leeds doesn’t have anything to do with this. You were just poking around in my life looking for some kind of scandal. Well, you found one. I wonder what I’d find if I did the same to you.”
More than she’d bargained for, that was for sure.
“I wasn’t,” he tried again. “If you’re the one clue to a murder I’d be a lousy damn cop not to check into your past. Let me ask you this…what would you say if I asked you to tell me about your life?”
“I don’t know,” she shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. “I was born in Chicago. My life has been pretty uneventful. I went to the University of Illinois and became an elementary school teacher in a private school. I’m not married and I don’t have any kids.”
“I hope you can see how that wouldn’t help me in the least. I didn’t want to upset you but I guess I should have told you straight out that I was delving into your background. I apologize.”
Brinley’s chin lifted and then she nodded. “Thank you. And I do understand. I really do. I was just upset that you mentioned Tom Leeds. That’s a situation I thought I had left far behind me.”
Glad that they were back on friendly terms, Jason reached and took her hand in his, gratified when she didn’t pull away. He didn’t want them to be enemies. If the arousal stirring inside him at the touch of her skin was any indication, he wanted something much more.
“Will you tell me about it? Is he still an issue?”
If this guy was making life difficult for Brinley Jason would happily get involved. Holding himself very still, he waited while she decided if she could trust him. Even in the moonlight he could watch the expressions flit across her features one by one until she settled on acceptance.
“No, he’s not a problem any longer. He really wasn’t even before I left Chicago.” Still holding his hand, she tugged him back to the fallen log where they’d been sitting earlier. “I think I better start at the beginning.”
Jason settled next to her while she gathered her thoughts. He wished he didn’t have to make her talk about something that was obviously upsetting but he didn’t have a choice. It was the life in law enforcement… Weeding through good people to find the bad. Sometimes innocents could get hurt in the process.
“I met Tom when I was teaching his daughter. He came to a parent-teacher conference and he was—oh, I don’t know—charming, I guess. Very charismatic. He had money and connections and he swept me off my feet. I kept saying that we couldn’t date and that it wouldn’t be ethical but he continued to send flowers and gifts. He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
A million warning bells went off in Jason’s brain all at once hearing her describe some rich douchebag who pouted when he didn’t get what he wanted. Brinley seemed too down to earth to fall for a guy like that.
“So I finally went out on a couple of dates with him.” She groaned and rested her head in her hands for a moment. “To say that he and I weren’t compatible is an understatement. He wanted someone to listen to him. Adore him. Needless to say after two dates I told him I didn’t think things were going to work out between us. That’s when the trouble started.”
“Sounds like he needed an attitude adjustment,” Jason observed, ready and willing to give the lesson if need be. “So he started stalking you.”
“Not right away. At first it was more subtle. He spread rumors about me at the school. Made it difficult to work there. Then he went to the board and said I wanted to keep his daughter Cicely back for second grade. It wasn’t even true. Cicely had issues but academics weren’t one of them. Mostly she wanted attention from her father and she didn’t care much how she got it. She was a real behavioral problem.”
“And the board listened to him,” Jason prompted. “Sided with him?”
Brinley rubbed her temple and nodded. “Some of them did, yes. I didn’t find out until later but several of the board members knew what he was like. He’d done this before to another teacher a few years ago. God knows who he’s torturing now.”
She shuddered delicately and he didn’t hesitate to place an arm around h
er, pulling her close to him. Resting her head on his shoulder, he felt her relax against him. Humbled by her forgiveness and trust, he stroked her hair and let her finish the story at her own pace.
“Even when it was over and he’d moved on to another victim I knew I needed a change. I quit and took another job but it wasn’t what I was looking for. I have a teacher friend who works in Denver who has a friend in Tremont. My family was shocked when I accepted the job but I have no regrets. This was the new start I’d been looking for and not just because of Tom Leeds.” She looked up at him and his heart skipped a beat at her beautiful face outlined in the moonlight. “I never mentioned Tom because I don’t think it could be him. He’s moved on and so have I.”
“He has an alibi and Jared can’t find a connection to Roger Gaines.”
“Because there isn’t one. Tom Leeds is a dead end.”
Jason hoped that was the case. “I just need to make sure. I can’t be too careful with your safety.”
“You worry a lot. I’m fine. No one is going to mess with me with you around to scare them off.”
“That was the plan. But what about that guy tonight? Do I need to scare him off too?”
Jason hadn’t yet met the idiot who had cancelled dinner on Brinley the other night and had only seen him drive away earlier this evening but he would happily let the guy know that he was no longer in the running.
Brinley deserved better.
“Greg? I don’t think I’ll be seeing him again. I told him that it wasn’t going to work out.”
“How did he take it?”
“He wasn’t happy but I think he got the message. There wasn’t really anything between us. We’d only been out a few times. I met him at the coffee shop. We didn’t even kiss.”
Confirmation this Greg guy wasn’t very bright. “Two dates and he didn’t kiss you? He’s a slow mover.”
“Maybe he wasn’t that attracted to me. What do you usually do by the second date?” Brinley slapped her hand over her mouth and giggled. “Forget I asked that. I’m not sure I want to know.”
Damsel in Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 1) Page 8
