Fuck, it wasn’t the right time to tell him about Charlie. I wanted to, but my head was beginning to throb, and we were both exhausted.
Besides, I wanted to get through tonight first. If Tate’s grandma had answers for us, it would make a conversation with Bobby and Dad easier. Maybe.
“No, he didn’t, just that they hadn’t ruled out that it could be the same killer,” I answered.
And in the most obvious, fumbling segue imaginable, I continued, “Oh, that reminds me. I saw you yesterday driving on the park service road, near the trailhead. I told Tate you’d been in the area recently, so he may give you a call to ask if you saw anything suspicious. The body’s only a few hundred yards away from the parking lot.”
He stared at me for a second, face blank. “What are you talking about?”
“Yesterday?” I asked. Had that been yesterday? Everything was happening so fast. “I saw you driving into the park.”
He shook his head. “I was home with Molly all day yesterday.”
I cocked my head. “I’m certain it was your truck.”
He peered out the window at where it was parked, no ATV in sight. “I didn’t leave the house yesterday, Reece.”
What the fuck?
“I’m not trying to argue with you. Maybe it was someone else. I just thought I saw you.”
He frowned, looking shaken. “I’ll tell Tate it wasn’t me if he calls.”
Something in his gaze made my skin itch, like it was suddenly two sizes too small. “Yeah, sure. Hey, I should get going. I’ve got plans tonight and need to catch some sleep.”
Really, I needed to be alone. Charlie might want to come back soon, and I needed to see him. Needed to hold him. Needed to get myself together and stop reading into whatever I’d just seen in Bobby’s face.
“Of course,” he said, standing and pulling me into a hug. “I miss you. I’m sorry this was so short. Hopefully, the next time you’re back, we can go to dinner. And maybe then you’ll be comfortable enough to introduce me to whoever it is you’ve been shacking up with in that lookout without telling me.”
My entire body tensed, and I quickly pulled out of the hug. “What?”
“Shit, I told myself I’d wait for you to talk to me about it first,” he said, looking at me oddly. “It’s just, I’m your best friend. I thought you’d tell me something like that. You’ve sounded good the last few weeks—really good. I want you to know that if you’ve met a guy, I want to know him, too. I know I wasn’t the greatest around Josh. Not that he was particularlyeasyto be around, either, but?—”
My blood ran cold. “How do you know that?”
He looked surprised at the interruption. “What do you mean?”
“How do you know I’ve had someone staying with me?”
Bobby blinked and opened his mouth to answer, but a loud banging on the front door interrupted him.
“Fucking hell…” he mumbled, striding over to yank it open. “I just got the goddamn baby to sleep, you asshole. Who the fuck are you to?—”
Sunglasses stood on the porch, stoic. “Bobby Mandich?”
“Yes? Who are you?”
“I’m Special Agent Waters with the FBI,” he said, pushing his way inside and handing Bobby a piece of paper. “We have a warrant to search your home for items connected to the murder of Janine Wallace, including both the vehicles in your name and the outdoor structures on your property. Please step outside.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“What the fuck is going on?” I roared into the phone, pacing back and forth in Bobby’s front yard.
Police were crawling all over the place, loading giant totes filled with God knows what from Bobby’s house into the back of those same unmarked vans from earlier.
“Calm down, and I’ll explain,” Tate shouted back.
I took a deep breath and shook my head. “It’s not him. It’s not,” I said, my voice catching. “Whatever you think you have, you’re wrong.”
