Page 36 of K-9 in Pursuit

“He called me.” She glanced around the parking lot. A few other people were walking toward their cars. “Can we sit in your truck and talk, where we can’t be overheard?”

“Sure.” He unlocked the passenger-side door and held it open for her. As she slid past him, the floral scent of her teased him. He hurried around to the driver’s side and loaded Daisy into the back seat, then slid behind the steering wheel and started the engine. “Might as well get the heater going,” he said.

He waited, watching as a couple walked past. When Chloe still didn’t speak, he finally looked at her. “What did Douglas say?” he asked.

“He told me he didn’t know about the photographs—if he had, he would have told the police.”

“So I guess this means Sharee didn’t blackmail him or anything.”

“At least she didn’t do that.” She angled her body toward him. “Hearing him describe how she disrupted his life sounded so awful. That was my baby sister. I always thought of her as so innocent. It was like listening to someone talk about a stranger.”

“I don’t think Sharee was deliberately wicked or anything,” he said. Her behavior had alarmed him—he still remembered opening that package and seeing that underwear. “I think she was young and maybe a little spoiled.”

“Oh, she was spoiled all right. But I never thought she would act this way. It makes me see how she could upset someone so much—some man—that they would believe the only way to eliminate the threat she represented was to eliminate her.” She hugged her arms across her stomach. “It’s so awful to think about.”

He wanted to reach for her. To comfort her. But someone was bound to see them, and that wouldn’t be good for him…or for her, according to his lawyer.

She looked over at him. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

He shifted away from her slightly. “Why would you think something is wrong?”

“You’re acting strange. Nervous, even.”

“I guess I’m shaken up. I got called back into the sheriff’s department this morning. They wanted to question me again.”

“About what?”

“They got the test results from the glove—it had my DNA on it. My lawyer pointed out I never denied it was my glove.”

“Did the glove have Sharee’s DNA?”

“They wouldn’t say, which my lawyer thinks means no. It felt like they were trying to trick me into confessing something, but there’s nothing to confess. I had nothing to do with Sharee’s death.”

“I wondered…do you think Sharee took your glove?”

“Why would she do that?”

“To mess with you? Or to get you in trouble somehow?”

That missing glove had gotten him into a lot of trouble. “And then what—when she was attacked she dropped it?”

“It could have happened that way.”

“Maybe that did happen. It still doesn’t help us figure out who killed her.”

“No.” She sagged back against the seat, facing forward again.

Brian closed his eyes. Fatigue dragged at him.

The next thing he knew, her arms were around him. She leaned across the center console and hugged him tightly. He swallowed past a knot in his throat. Until this moment, he had told himself he was doing okay, but he guessed that wasn’t true.

She released her hold and retreated once more to the passenger seat. He could feel her gaze on him, but he avoided looking at her. “Let’s get something to eat,” she said. “Or a drink. Maybe a drink would be better. You can tell me about it. Or not. Whatever makes you feel better. I told you I was self-centered. I forget I’m not the only one with problems.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“My lawyer says it’s a bad idea for us to be seen together.” He blew out a breath. “The cops have been following me. The detective asked about our ‘relationship.’ He suggested the two of us worked together to kill Sharee.”