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“Actually, I’m here to ask you a few questions.”
“Wait, questions about what?” I paused, rather than letting him in.
“Can you open the door? I’d rather discuss this face-to-face.”
What if I didn’t? I glanced at my outfit. Cringed at my orange fingertips. Love me. Love me when I dressed like I couldn’t afford to replace the T-shirt with its tomato sauce stain and the trackpants with the hole in the knee.
I flung open the door in all my crusty beauty.
The grim expression that met me indicated that Brayden had returned to being a detective. “May I come in?”
“Depends. You here to arrest me for something?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not a danger to anybody.”
I didn’t know if I should be pleased or insulted. “Why do you seem so frazzled?”
“Because someone was murdered last night. Someone on the force.”
“Oh, shit, that sucks.” Trite words because I didn’t actually know what to say. “Were you close?”
“No. It’s important because of how they were killed.”
A chill filled me, even as I knew what he’d say.
“Someone used a triple claw to rip out their throats.”
“Sounds like you have a copycat.”
A hopeful reply dashed as he said, “Forensics has already matched it to the weapon used in the original murders. It seems Mahoney might be back.”
CHAPTER13
“Mahoney,back in town? That hardly seems likely. He’s been gone more than ten years. Why come back now?” I threw the detective’s words back at him.
“I don’t know,” he muttered. “It makes no sense.”
For some reason, I thought of my dream. “Could he have returned because of his sister?”
A sharp gaze turned on me. “What sister?”
Oh, shit. How much should I admit? He’d laugh at me for sure if I mentioned my dreams. “I thought I read he had a sister. Special needs. Lived in a home in Ottawa? Part of the reason he lived in the area.” I gave him what I knew without indicating where I’d gotten the info.
This was where I’d be told in no uncertain terms that Mahoney didn’t have—
“I wasn’t aware he had a sibling. Or that he’d care if he did. But it’s possible, given his mother remarried when he was still fairly young.” Brayden rubbed his chin. A man more into solving the mystery than me. Kind of miffing.
“Now that you’ve got a lead, why don’t you go follow it?” The suggestion emerged on a sour note.
He glanced at me and then finally saw me, offering a rueful grin. “Sorry. I got thrown for a loop when I realized the murderer used the same weapon. It didn’t help that I immediately thought of you.”
“Me?” Not exactly the kind of thing a woman wanted to hear after a man saw a dead body.
Apparently, my expression alerted him to the fact that he might have said the wrong thing.
Brayden struck, quick as a viper, and grabbed my hands. “I don’t want anything to happen to you, Allie. You’re special, and it would kill me to see you hurt.”
“Uh, thanks?” I honestly didn’t have a clue what to think of his statement. Sexy or creepy? After all, we’d only just barely met.
