Page 29 of K-9 in Pursuit

“Did the sheriff’s department keep the photographs?”

“They did.” She hesitated, then added. “All but the one I held back.”

“Oh?”

When she didn’t say anything for a long moment, he asked, “Can I see it?”

She hesitated. The photo itself was innocuous. But what it represented—that her sister had stalked this family—that she had even been seen as a threat to them—hurt in a way she couldn’t explain.

“You don’t have to show it to me.” Brian took a step back. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, I want you to see it.” She believed she could count on him not to judge. “Just give me a minute.”

Chapter Nine

Brian studied the photograph Chloe handed him for a long time. “They look like a happy family,” he said at last, and returned the photo to her.

“And my sister made them unhappy.” She clenched her hands into fists. “I hate this. Sharee didn’t deserve to die, but these people didn’t deserve what she put them through, either. If someone followed me around, taking pictures like that and calling my house, I would have been terrified. Even if that person was a teenage girl.”

He returned the photo to her. “It sounds like this teacher and his wife couldn’t have had anything to do with Sharee’s murder. Do you know if the investigators are looking at other men she might have met here?”

“The detective wouldn’t tell me anything else about the investigation, except that they know how to do their jobs and they’re still looking.”

“We should tell them what Leann and Krista said about her coming on to older male tourists,” Brian said. “In case they haven’t heard that yet.”

“You’re right, but I dread talking to them again. The detective was so…condescending.”

“I’m not their biggest fan, for obvious reasons.” He picked up the broom once more and resumed sweeping. “I finally worked up the nerve to call the lawyer Connor’s girlfriend told me about,” he said.

“Oh? What did they say?”

“She said that until I’m formally charged there’s not a lot she can do, but that if law enforcement tries to question me further, I should tell them I won’t talk without my lawyer present. I’d offer to go with you to talk to the sheriff but I don’t think that would be the best idea.”

“No. You should stay away from them. And I should warn you—there’s a reporter from something called True Crime Online who’s in town. He came by the salon but I refused to talk to him. He said he wanted to do a story about Sharee’s murder. Maybe I should have at least heard what he had to say, but I couldn’t face rehashing everything with a stranger.”

Brian stopped sweeping. “He came by ski patrol headquarters, too. Connor wouldn’t talk to him, either, and he sent me to a remote part of the resort where no one would find me.” Though she had managed to track him down.

“I’m glad your friends are supporting you,” she said. “One of my stylists, Nadia, reminded me today that I should ask for help when I need it. I wish I did that more. I wish I had set an example for Sharee. Maybe then she would have asked me for what she needed.”

“She still might not have confided in you,” he said. “Sometimes it’s hard to open up to other people. Even family. And it’s hard to let yourself depend on others. At least it is for me.”

“Me, too,” she said. She moved to the next station and began wiping it down. “I’m trying to be better about that. The women who work for me have been very supportive. But the last few years all my focus has been on growing my business, so I’ve let friends take a back seat. I didn’t realize what a mistake that was until now.”

“I’m glad we can be friends.” He rested the broom against the wall and moved closer. “And it means so much that you believe me,” he said.

Alone, she had questioned her belief in him, but when she was with him, she couldn’t imagine this gentle man hurting anyone. “I want to know who killed Sharee,” she said. “But I can’t believe it’s you.”

They worked in silence for the next half hour. The routine of cleaning and restoring everything to order soothed her. And the mindlessness of the task allowed her to think. When they were putting away the cleaning supplies, she asked him, “Do you know how I can find out the phone number of someone in another state?”

“Who do you want to call?”

“I want to talk to Cameron Douglas.” Before he could object, she added, “He, of all people, might know if Sharee stalked anyone else before or after she focused on him.”

“How would he know that?”

“I’m not saying he does. But he might.”

“And? Is that the only reason you want to talk to him?”