Her face lifted to his, their eyes meeting. He hadn’t touched her at all, but he may as well have from the way the air seemed practically charged with electricity. After just a second or two of silence that stretched out, he spoke. “You don’t have to tell me anything. This isn’t an interrogation, you aren’t a suspect. Technically we have no links between this case and the one you were involved in, so you’re not even a witness.”
“Then, you wanted to question me because...?” she asked, even though she suspected the answer.
He met her eyes with an honesty she wasn’t used to seeing, especially from people in her hometown. It seemed as if people preferred to keep their true feelings to themselves. But she saw no pretense in his eyes. Just full, clear blue.
“You know why. You of all people know why.”
She did. Closure. Curiosity. That nagging, haunting feeling that never fully let her rest, not even in sleep.
Gemma wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. Not until she nodded slowly, admitted he was right. “Yeah, I know. But you also know why I want to leave the past alone. Let it go.”
“It doesn’t always stay there, you know.”
As though she didn’t. As though she hadn’t had to fight for a job she was overqualified for because of the stigma of being involved in a criminal trial. “Listen, Matt...thanks for the coffee. But I don’t want to talk about it. And if I’m not legally obligated, I won’t. Not tonight.”
“That’s fine.”
She hadn’t expected him to agree immediately, with no fight at all.
“Stay anyway. Have coffee.”
She studied him. Searched his eyes to see if he meant it.
Then Gemma sat back down.
* * *
Over a decade ago, he’d have given almost anything to have quiet Gemma Phillips give him half a minute’s notice. Now here he was once again, unexplainably attracted to whatever it was he saw in her dark brown eyes.
She was the one to break the silence. “We never talked in high school. Why are you being so nice to me now? When I...”
“What?” Matt asked, already knowing the answer. “You think I’d blame you for my dad going to jail?”
The look in her eyes confirmed he’d been right on. Matt shook his head. “He sent himself there. You didn’t commit any crime, Gemma. You testified against one. There’s a difference.”
“Not to Treasure Point.”
“Yeah, well, small towns.” He shrugged. “But you don’t really believe that you did anything wrong, do you?”
“Everyone treats me as if I may as well have been guilty. As if I’m a criminal by association.”
Yeah, he knew that feeling.
“You don’t believe that’s who you are, do you?” Matt asked Gemma, feeling as though one day he was going to have to answer that same question for himself.
“Of course not.”
“Okay, then, tell me about you.”
“What do you mean?”
“What have you done since you left town?”
She eyed him suspiciously for a minute, as if she was trying to figure out his ulterior motive. He didn’t have one, so he watched her back with a small amount of amusement until she’d apparently studied him long enough to decide he didn’t have any particular reason for asking.
“I moved to Atlanta.”
He laughed. “I knew that part. What happened between then and today?” He took a sip of coffee, looking as if he was waiting for her answer.
“Not a lot. I went to college in Atlanta, then started working at a company, doing marketing for them. They had to make cuts and let me go...but I know it’ll work out.”
“But you aren’t happy to be here.”
Gemma shrugged. Matt didn’t miss the way she shifted in her seat, too. “I liked the city.”
“Don’t you like Treasure Point?”
“My family loves it and they’re here. Family’s important.”
He saw her wince after that comment. Yeah, he was used to that, too. So he had no family, really, unless you counted his father in prison, which he didn’t really anymore. Matt shook his head, tiring already of the conversational dance she was doing.
“Why won’t you answer my questions?”
She looked in his eyes then, straight in. Something sparked in them that made him want to lean closer.
“I don’t know why you want to know.” Her voice was softer on the edges. Honest and unguarded.
“Because I want to get to know you.”
Gemma looked away, shrugged. “There’s not much to know, really.”
“I don’t think that’s true.”
She wouldn’t look back at him. Seconds went by, maybe minutes. He heard her phone beep as a message came in, but she didn’t reach for it and he didn’t say anything.
More silence.
Finally Gemma looked back at him. “So tell me about you. Is this your first big case?”
Back to business. He guessed he shouldn’t be surprised. “It’s my first case like this, yes.” He spoke the words to answer her question and also to remind himself. Putting aside a long list of other reasons he shouldn’t be noticing now attractive she was. He needed to focus on work right now. Matt had wanted to be a police officer since the first day he remembered meeting one. He’d been five, maybe six, and an officer on patrol had found him up in a tree and bought him a Happy Meal when Matt had told him he didn’t know where his parents were right then.
That was the day he’d decided what he wanted to do with the rest of his life; the day he’d decided what he needed to do to really matter. To be somebody.
“I saw more officers with you at the crime scene today.”
So she’d noticed them as he’d seen her running away earlier in the day. Matt nodded.
“Did they find anything?”
“I thought we already talked about how you aren’t law enforcement?”
She was the last civilian it would be appropriate to discuss this case with. It wasn’t against department rules, specifically, to discuss cases, but officers were expected to use common sense and their training to make wise choices.
“It’s late anyway.” It was a lame excuse to get her out of his house, hopefully out of his head, but it was all he had.
Gemma’s smile lifted slightly. “So you don’t like to be on the other end of the questions. Interesting, I’ll remember that.”
The hint of teasing in her tone, the friendliness there, made it even harder not to trust her. Shouldn’t he tell her what Shiloh had discovered, or rather, not discovered? Really, out of everyone she had the most right to know.
Then Matt pictured Lieutenant Davies, the smug smile that would be on the other man’s face if the chief took this case from Matt and gave it to him. He couldn’t let that happen, couldn’t get stuck working patrol for the rest of his life. Matt was more than just a guy filling a uniform, driving a car with lights and sirens and making sure no one vandalized a construction site.
He was a cop down to his core. An investigator. Someone capable of helping bring justice when it mattered.
He just needed everyone else to see it, too, needed Treasure Point to see him for something other than his father’s son. This was his only chance at proving himself.
And even though he’d been wrestling with attraction only minutes before, what Matt felt now was different. Beautiful as she was, all he could see in Gemma at this moment was her potential to destroy everything he’d worked for.
When he didn’t respond to her, he saw her face fall slightly. With the night she’d had, he felt a hint of guilt for his sudden lack of friendliness, but he pushed it away. “I suppose you’re right. I’m not big into questions.” He made a show of glancing at his watch, not noticing what it said. “But it’s getting late. You’d better head home.”
She nodded. “Claire is probably worried even though I told her I was fine.”
“Was that her who texted earlier?”
“I’m not sure. I didn�
�t check.” Gemma slipped her phone out of her purse and read the message.
Then dropped it into her lap.
“Your sister? Everything okay?”
She just shook her head. He noticed her hands were shaking as she reached to pick the phone up, then handed it to him.
He took it from her, a frown already spreading across his own face. For someone who’d been so brave all day, the thought that a text could scare her this badly...
Then he read it.
He doesn’t believe you. None of them do. I win.
FOUR
Gemma held her hands together in front of her, tight, wishing she had something else she could squeeze besides her own fingers.
How could he have gotten her cell phone number?
She glanced up at Matt, noting the tightness of his jaw. He was asking the same questions she was, but not out loud. Gemma almost wished she could talk to him, but...what had the message meant? He still didn’t believe her?
She wanted to cry. Instead, she swallowed hard and made herself ask the only question that would fully form. “What now?”
“We investigate more thoroughly.”
“Right. But I mean now. Am I in danger? Is he...” Her gaze moved toward the solid wood door. It looked secure, made her feel safely closed in from the night outside. But one good shot to the knob...
Matt was already pulling out his own phone. It looked as if he had a plan. “I’m going to call Clay.”
“Clay?”
“Officer Clay Hitchcock. We patrol together sometimes and he has a little fishing cabin near here where he spends all his free time. He can help me secure this area and make sure it’s reasonably safe. Then we can get you home.” He held the phone up to his ear and stepped away from Gemma. Her shoulders tensed. Being near Matt O’Dell made her feel safe. Who would have thought?
She wanted to let her mind go back to high school, think about the friendship she might have had with Matt if she’d been brave enough to strike up a conversation with someone so opposite of her, but she could think of nothing but the text message, and the impending sense of danger that pressed in on her like a tangible thing.
Gemma swallowed hard, feeling the beginnings of a panic attack. Was it too late to shake it? Maybe if she could have a change of scenery... Hands shaking, heart racing, Gemma wanted to run, but didn’t know where she’d go. And it obviously wasn’t safe for her, not anywhere.
Gemma swallowed hard, willed herself to take deeper breaths.
He doesn’t believe you...
Did the killer know she was at his house? The first time she’d read the words, she’d assumed the attacker knew Matt was the officer on the case. Scary enough. But what if her stalker had actually followed her, knew where she was?
She sank a little deeper into the chair, as though somehow that could protect her from whatever evil might lurk outside in the darkness.
“I think he’s just lent some credibility to your claim that this is all related to what happened ten years ago.”
Matt’s deep voice seemed deeper in the tension. Gemma turned to look at him. “What do you mean?”
“Until now, we just had suspicions. You may have believed someone was after you because of what happened back then, but it was hard to substantiate. His bragging about that, ironically enough, is what’s going to make people believe you.”
She narrowed her eyes in Matt’s direction. “He was right?”
Their gaze had no sooner connected than Gemma jerked hers away, tried to school her features again. So she was hurt. Fine. She didn’t have to show that to Matt, did she? Give him the power to hurt her more?
“Not what I meant.”
“It’s what you said.”
Understanding dawned as she searched for some kind of indication that Matt was like the other officers, that he didn’t believe her side of the story, either. She finally landed on it. Those minutes she’d been alone in the car, when he’d talked to Shiloh. His attitude toward her had changed after that. Shiloh must have told him something that made him doubt her story.
Just like the text had said.
Gemma did her best to leave her face expressionless, but somewhere in her heart, she could feel the battle going on between too many emotions to name. She couldn’t let him see that.
She stood and walked away from him, momentarily forgetting her fear until she heard a car outside. Gemma jumped away from the window.
“Relax. It’s probably Clay.”
She nodded wordlessly and sat back down.
Matt reached to open the door. “We’re going to have to talk about this later. About me believing you and about that look on your face.”
He could read her so easily?
* * *
Matt didn’t feel comfortable leaving Gemma alone, even for a few minutes. This case was growing messier by the minute, and it looked as though the star witness in the stolen antiques trial from a decade ago might be poised to become the only witness in a murder case.
Even if he didn’t have a bit of a personal interest in her, her safety was too important to get sloppy about this.
So he stepped onto the front deck to meet Clay, leaving the door open six inches or so. He’d only be out here for a second.
“What’s the emergency? You’re going to have to connect some dots for me, man. I didn’t go into work today.”
“You heard about the body, though.” Matt didn’t doubt that for a second. First of all, Clay had law enforcement habits embedded too deep to have turned off the scanner all day, even for fishing. He was too protective of the town he was protecting during the hours he was on duty to ignore it just because he was off. Second, Treasure Point was a small town. Matt couldn’t remember the last murder they’d had.
This would be news everywhere for a long time.
“Just that there was one. At the Hamilton place?”
Matt nodded.
“What is it about that place that attracts trouble?” Clay gave a fake shudder and Matt knew he was remembering a case they’d worked a year or so ago, one involving Shiloh and her past. They’d been present for the final showdown, which had taken place underground in a series of tunnels that led to the old house, and while everything had turned out well, it could have just as easily turned out ugly.
“It’s in the woods, just out of town...” There were plenty of reasons the place seemed like a crime magnet.
“Yeah. Tell me about this one.”
Matt shook his head. “I will. Inside. I have a...” What did he call her? She wasn’t officially a witness yet. Saying he had a woman inside just sounded as though he had some kind of date, which hadn’t been true for him in years. Women in his dating pool wanted to settle down, raise families, and no one wanted to consider doing that with a man whose dad was a felon.
“You have a what?”
Clay’s gaze moved behind Matt and he turned slightly to see that Gemma had walked up behind him. He took in her appearance again, trying to see her through Clay’s eyes. A dark purple fitted T-shirt that somehow managed to highlight the honey flecks in her brown eyes, and comfy sweatpants. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She looked as if she’d put zero effort into her appearance, but she could draw the attention of anyone she wanted.
And the attention of those she wouldn’t want, too. Like himself. Yeah, Matt was pretty sure he was down on the list pretty close to last as far as people she’d ever want to get involved with. No way she’d trust him after the way his family’s past had affected hers.
And he didn’t blame her. People could move on, but they couldn’t erase things that had happened, could they?
“Matt?”
Clay’s eyebrows were raised and the smirk on his face hinted that this might not have been the first time he’d called his name.
Oops.
“This is Gemma Phillips.” Matt switched to his all-business police officer voice, introducing them since Clay had moved to town about a year after Gemma had graduated and
move to Atlanta. Clay’s amusement didn’t dim at all. Yeah, his friend knew him too well for that.
“She has something to do with you calling me over here when I was fishing?”
Matt hesitated, not sure how to say it.
“Somebody’s trying to kill me.”
“You don’t sugarcoat things, do you? Why don’t y’all let me come inside so we can shut this door and talk...” Clay’s voice trailed off. Matt and Gemma stepped back almost in sync and Clay moved inside, toward the kitchen. Matt locked the door tightly behind him, still not sure what their best next step was. Were they being watched? Should he head outside to canvas the perimeter?
He looked over at Gemma again. She was a strong woman. He’d always thought so. But leaving her inside, even with a gun—provided she knew how to use one, as he suspected a Southern woman like her would—didn’t feel like the right choice.
“The house is secure already?” Clay turned to Matt to confirm. Matt nodded.
“There doesn’t seem to be an immediate threat,” he admitted. “But someone is after her, and he seems to know she’s here.” He explained about the text message.
“Have you checked things out outside?”
He shook his head.
“He didn’t want to leave me alone,” Gemma chimed.
Okay, so she was more perceptive than he’d thought. There was a good chance he was underestimating her ability to handle the situation, but he wanted to take care of her. Was that so wrong?
“I’ll take care of it. Tell me the rest of what’s been going on. Start with the body.”
Matt gave him the short version. Clay just kind of took it in, nodded and seemed to think about it without saying much.
Clay was steady, not quick to jump to conclusions. He could spring into action when he needed to on the job and react quickly, too, but if he had the choice, he’d take things slow.
The opposite of Matt.
“So far it hasn’t been that bad, right? Besides the carbon monoxide thing?”
Matt raised his eyebrows at his friend. Seriously, had he been listening? “Isn’t that bad enough? It could have killed her.” The pale shade of Gemma’s face seemed to imply that she agreed with him.
Cold Case Witness Page 4
