If You Know Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense (26 page)

Remy looked about ready to bust a vein. “You expect me to buy that?”

“Doesn’t matter if you buy it or not. I can tell you, honestly, I didn’t
think
we’d find anything. I figured our chances of finding anything out there were slim to none.” Ezra shrugged, his green eyes direct. “Reilly and I have been out there before—never saw a damn thing. Didn’t see why we’d expect it to be any different this time.”

“But you did. And damn it, now what in the fuck happens?” he snarled. “You’re the damn sheriff and you had civilians on what might be a murder scene!”

“Actually, only one civilian,” Law corrected. “And we were just walking around—researching some old maps of mine. The cellar was on one of them and I wanted to take a look. I moved ahead and was wandering around while I waited for Ezra and Nia to catch up, that’s when I found it.”

Remy snorted. “Like anybody is going to buy that.”

Law looked down at his maps, then back at Remy. “Well, I do have the maps. And come on, Remy, look at it logically. If Ezra had thought he’d be finding a murder scene, he’d have his men with him. Right? So logic tells us he wasn’t expecting to find anything of the sort.”

“Nah, he was just out there because he’s into recreation,” Remy muttered. “And that’s why I had to take a day off of work … without telling anybody why. That’s why
he
took a day off of work. Without telling anybody why. Like that isn’t going to make people suspicious as hell. And by the way … why the big fucking secret?”

“Because the sheriff isn’t sure just which of the townspeople are involved,” Ezra said, his voice flat. Hard.

Remy stared at Ezra blankly, not comprehending.

Law realized the lawyer hadn’t quite arrived at that
conclusion yet, that he hadn’t connected those dots. Too close to it, he guessed—hell, Law hadn’t lived here all his life, wasn’t connected by blood or marriage to nearly thirty percent of the county. Remy was. His roots here, they went deep. More than likely, he would know whoever was behind this—more than likely, he had met the killer—might even be friends with him.

Shit, wasn’t that a thought to have in your head?

“You know, for a sharp lawyer, you’re not thinking very clearly here,” he pointed out.

“Reilly. Shut the fuck up.” Ezra focused on Remy. “Think it through, Jennings. If he’s right, whoever did this is local. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Whoever did it is local … and you know him.”

“No.” Remy shook his head, spit the word out like it tasted bad. “
Fuck
, no.”

“Yeah. Which is why I wanted it quiet while I was out there. We couldn’t put it off—Nia was out there yesterday and she’s had some weird shit happen, which tells me somebody is paying too much attention to her. I couldn’t risk
not
taking a look around, don’t you get that?”

“You’re nuts,” Remy snarled. “There’s no way—”

“Nothing else makes sense,” Law said softly. “If she’s right, then whoever did it put her cousin at my place to throw attention off Lena when she reported hearing the screaming that first night. That means either they knew we were close, or that the people in town already figured I was mostly still an outsider … or both. That cellar? Nobody
but
a local with pretty deep roots would know about it. It can’t be anybody
but
a local.”

“You’re not a local.” Remy glared at him. “But
you
know about those underground areas. Hell,
I
didn’t know about them. Yet you did. Explain that.”

“Sheer luck—I found the maps at a yard sale. If it wasn’t for those …” He shrugged.

“This is bullshit,” Remy spat.

“Look, I know this isn’t—”

“Enough.” Ezra pushed between them. “I’ve got work to do—in all likelihood, there’s a crime scene to be processed. Remy, you’re probably going to want to find a way to pass on this. Instead of hassling Law, why don’t you think about how to do that? Law—get Nia the hell out of here.”

Nia shot a look at the darkness of the trees.

She wanted
—needed
to get back there. But how could she possibly hope to, now? Assuming she even
could
. As though he’d been purposely intent on throwing her off, Law had led them on a winding, confusing trail back to the house and she hadn’t been thinking clearly enough to pay attention on the way in to note details.

And of course, lousy reception meant she couldn’t really mark the area either.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Law and she stiffened her spine, kept her gaze focused straight ahead. It was a stab of betrayal, even looking at him. He’d locked her out.

Kept her on the outside when she’d been the one to push him into finding this. The bastard.

“How long are you going to stay pissed at me?”

She set her jaw. Damned if she’d speak to him right now. Son of a bitch.

He sighed. “I’m not doing this to cut you out, Nia. Whether you believe it or not, I’m doing you a favor here.”

Her resolution to remain silent splintered under her fury. Wheeling around, she glared at him. “I don’t
want
your damn favors,” she snarled. “I don’t need your coddling, your protection, your fucking knight in shining armor routine. Maybe you needed to ride in and save
the day with Tinkerbell in there, but I don’t need a hero, damn it. Y’all never would have even bothered to
look
for anything if it wasn’t for me. How could you cut me out like that?”

“Because I’m going to have fucking
nightmares
after what I saw,” he snapped. “I’d rather it not be in your head.”

Then he stopped, took a deep breath. “You want to be pissed off, you be pissed off. I’m sorry if I hurt you—that wasn’t my intention. But if I had to make the same call, I’d do it again. And I’m not sorry for that.”

He turned around and headed back into the house.

She waited until she heard the creaking of the door as it opened. Then, because she couldn’t keep the question silent any longer, she blurted out, “What in the hell did you see?”

Law just shook his head. “Aren’t your nightmares bad enough right now?”

He’d have to tell her, he figured. Sooner or later, if the cellar turned out to be what he thought it was, details would slip. He’d have to tell her. But until Law knew for certain, he wasn’t going to put those images in her mind. If she hated him for it, then she hated him.

Feeling somebody’s eyes on him, he looked up and saw Hope watching him. She was perched on the stairs, her elbows resting on her knees, her misty green eyes full of sympathy and sadness.

“Hey.”

He gave her a tight smile and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“I guess you won’t tell me, either, huh?”

Law lifted a brow.

Hope smirked. “Didn’t think so.” She shifted her gaze past his shoulder, staring toward the door. “You know, I really wish she’d drop the ‘Tinkerbell’ comments.”

“She doesn’t mean anything mean by it,” he said wearily.

“I know.” Hope lifted up a hand, propped her chin on it. “You know, she’s probably not really angry at you. Just upset. Scared. Frustrated. Once she cools down …”

Law snorted. “No. She’s angry. Really angry. At me. And it’s too fucking bad, because I wouldn’t do it any other way.”

“Is it that bad?”

He stared at her. Then he looked down at the floor. “I don’t want to sleep tonight, sweetheart. Because I’m afraid of what I’m going to see.”

“So it is that bad.”

“Worse,” he muttered. He shoved a hand through his hair. He fucking needed a drink, but couldn’t. Not yet. Probably wouldn’t be wise to have one later, either. Not until he’d figured out how Nia was going to react. If she had any plans on slipping away, he had to be ready, had to watch her …

This was probably all over town by now.

“Did you hear?”

He held the coffee cup loosely, focused on doing just that because he wanted to crush it. Wanted to hurl the steaming liquid in Natalie Walbash’s pretty face. Instead of doing that, he gave her a puzzled smile. “Heard what?”

Of course he’d fucking heard—

Everybody in the whole damn town knew. The sheriff’s department was crawling all over the woods. His place. They knew about his fucking place.

Nia—

“Something weird is going on down in the woods between where Lena and Ezra live and the Ohlman property. I don’t know what—I’ve heard everything, too. Somebody said they found where a cult worships, and
somebody else said they found a serial killer’s hangout, and somebody else said it’s where they stashed money from a bank robbery. But something is
weird
.”

He forced a wry note into his voice and asked, “I wonder if the next story is going to involve little green men from Mars. Or maybe it’s the secret hideout for a vampire …?”

Natalie rolled her eyes. “Please. Not vampires. I’m so tired of them. Grandma is getting hooked on them. She likes the ones that sparkle.” She topped off his coffee and looked up as the bell over the door jangled. The café was already packed, but it was only going to get worse.

Which was why he was there. The best place to hear news. Gossip.

Everything.

“I’ll be by in a few minutes,” she said, smiling at him. Then she was gone.

Leaving him alone. He stared down into the dark, steaming brew, but he didn’t see it. Didn’t see the cup, or the table … it wasn’t Natalie’s voice he heard, or anybody else.

He saw Nia, as she’d looked coming out of the forest. And he was imagining how she would have sounded if he had just aimed his van for her, run her down.

It would have been too quick. Too easy. And
over
. His secrets would have been safe. His hands trembled, the coffee splattering out, but he barely noticed.

Damn that fucking whore. He shouldn’t have left his things there. Not after last night. But how could he have risked moving them
then
? With her poking her nose into everybody’s business and showing up exactly where she shouldn’t be …

Damn her.

“… wasn’t that Carson guy.”

He stiffened. Without turning his head, he slid his eyes to the side, trying to find the speaker.

Female—ahhhh … bingo. He knew her. Married to one of the deputies, too. Ethan’s wife. Oh, this was priceless.
Exactly
why he was hanging around here.

“What do you mean?”

She shook her head, her mouth drawn tight in a frown. “I don’t know. He wouldn’t say anything else. I get a feeling I might not be seeing much of him for the next few days.”

“Shit. I don’t want to think that we might have another crazy fuck running through our town. What in the hell is going on around here lately? The Carson guy, all the insanity last summer …”

Idly, he reached down and stroked the knife he’d used to cut up the steak he’d ordered for lunch. He imagined taking it, standing and moving to stand behind the gossiping bitch just behind him, a little to the right. Grabbing her hair and jerking her head back, exposing her neck. The spray of blood as he dragged the blade over her flesh.

She’d be dead before anybody realized what he’d done, most likely.

Everybody would be so shocked—

You’re slipping
.

Because the image was so enticing, so rich and intriguing, he pushed the knife away, folded his hands around his cup of coffee. Too enticing, too intriguing.

He was slipping …

No. No, you’re not. You’re in control
. He was in control. He’d always been in control. He didn’t notice that as he set his coffee down, his hands continued to tremble.

Nia stared through the windshield. “I don’t give a flying fuck if you want me alone or not. I said,
take me back to my cabin
.”

“Damn it, Nia.” He slammed a fist into the steering wheel. “Don’t you get it? You were right, okay? Something
fucked up is going on, all the more reason for you to be careful and you want to go back there?”

“Not especially.” She slid him a thin-lipped smile. “I just refuse to stay at your place and there really isn’t anyplace else. I figure the cabin is more secure than the hotel room, at least.”

She glanced in the rearview mirror at the car following along. “Besides, sugar, it’s not like I’m on my lonesome. I’ve got my nice escort, remember?”

Law said nothing, a muscle jerking in his jaw.

She slumped down in the seat, arms folded over her chest. Misery sat in her chest, a tight, cold lump. Beneath it lurked the twin shadows of rage and guilt.

There was something monstrous and dark in Law’s eyes.

She’d seen it lurking there all day—the echo of something haunting him, something he wouldn’t share with her. What was it, this thing he wouldn’t share with her? She had to know, damn it.

You can’t undo the damage—

Tense moments of silence passed before he finally turned into the small parking area in front of her cabin. She half expected him to peel off in a fit of sulking fury.

But that wasn’t Law’s style, apparently. He was just a few inches away as she headed up, and behind him, the deputies.

“I don’t recall inviting you in,” she said, her voice bitchy. And she wasn’t even sure
why
—she was pissed, but damn it, she didn’t entirely understand just
why
. Did she really want whatever horror he’d seen inside her head?

He isn’t giving me the choice to decide for myself, damn it
, she thought. That was the problem.

“I don’t care if you invited me in or not.” He stared at her, his gaze level, flat. “I’m making sure everything is okay before I leave.”

Nia glared at his back as he shoved around her, plucking the keys out of her hand. Then she gave one of the deputies a considering glance. “I didn’t invite him in here. Can’t you make him leave?”

Ethan shifted from one foot to the other, then gave Law a worried look. “Well, Ms. Hollister, I … uh … he already said he isn’t staying …”

“Not the point.” She had to grit her teeth to keep from yelling. “Fine. Screw it. I don’t want him in, but he goes in anyway.”

Stalking inside, she decided she was going to change, then go to the Inn, and get shitfaced drunk—

Law’s arm came up, barring her way. She went to shove it aside, but then she focused on the room. She blinked, rubbed her eyes. But the image didn’t change.