Page 9 of Dead Man's Alibi

Her eyes were shiny, but she didn’t unclench her jaw.“I love you too,” she muttered, then turned away from him.

Not exactlyprogress, but something, he supposed.

*

Cal had insistedon driving.There was something to be said for optics.Hayes might think lawyering up was a sign of guilt because he was a cop and thought with a cop brain, but it was just smart.

So Cal drove away from Honor’s Edge and toward the police station, a million things about this running through his mind.Not unlike a usual case.So many threads to tie together.So many different ways things could go.

But the thing his brain kept coming back to was Sam.He wouldn’t say he knew Samantha Price all that well, but over the past year, he’d gotten a real sense of her.She didn’t rattle easily.In fact, the only time he’d really seen her unsteady was in the aftermath of her coming across anactualdead body.

So the fact she was rattled really bothered him.Especially considering what he’d noticed as they’d been getting ready to leave.

He tapped his fingers on the wheel, glanced at Nate, who sat stiffly in the passenger seat, a folder of paperwork on his lap.

“She’s real fucked up over this, huh?”

Nate didn’t look at him.But he answered honestly at least.“Yeah.”

“That why you haven’t mentioned that ring on her finger?”

Cal felt Nate’s gaze turn to him, but Nate said nothing.The silence stretched out as Cal drove.Cal didn’t know what else to say if Nate wasn’t going to explain.Cal didn’t know what he was trying to ascertain, in fact.

Then Nate sighed.“Hayes must have some kind of radar.He popped up about five minutes after she said yes.Things have been a little weird since, so… I don’t know.I don’t think she’s thinking about it right now.At least not in terms of telling anyone.”

Fascinating to hear a little bit of uncertainty coming fromNate the Stoic.Also a little concerning, so Cal found himself wanting to offer some kind of comfort.“She’s wearing the ring though.”

“Yeah.Well, she did say yes.”

“Can’t imagine why.I bet you still leave toothpaste clumps in the sink.”

Nate snorted, which Cal considered a win.“I was like thirteen the last time we shared a bathroom.Pretty sure the army beats such things out of you.”

The army.Cal could still remember what Hayes had asked him last month.

You really believe this bullshit that your brother ran away for fifteen years, comes back, and is nothing but a perfect war hero?

Cal did, in fact, believe that.But… Well, if he was going to help Nate, he had to cover all his bases.“Speaking of that, there’s nothing there I need to know about, is there?”

Nate’s confusion was real and not put on.“About what?”

“Something that might have happened when you were in the military.An altercation.A crime committed.Something they could potentially use against your character, if it came to that.”

Cal pulled into a parking spot and looked over at his brother when Nate didn’t say anything.The expression on his brother’s face was a mixture of shock, hurt, and fury.

“I was a criminal defense attorney for ten years, Nate.I know how investigations work.I’m just covering my bases, making sure there’s nothing Jake’s going to unearth that looks bad.”

“You really think he’d just… pin this on me?”

“No.But I also know he’s got to pin it on somebody.He wouldn’t be the first cop to follow the first idea in his head under some circumstantial evidence.Especially when there’s a little personal vendetta in the mix.”

“I’d hardly call it a vendetta.”

“Maybe not, but you got the girl.He didn’t.”

Nate looked away.“We’re not teenagers,” he muttered.

“In my experience, a lot of men are nothing but perpetual teenagers.”