The man nodded, but his gaze stayed trained on me. I knew down to my bones that he was about to say something I didn’t want to hear. And whatever it was, I especially didn’t want Gloria and Naomi to hear it.
“He killed his wife, Jenn,” he said before I could slap my hand over his mouth. “I’d advise you to be very, very careful where Dylan Conrad’s concerned. I’d hate to see your pretty picture in the obits.” With that, he put a ten on the counter, nodded to Gloria and Naomi, and then walked out.
Naomi and Gloria let out simultaneous gasps. “Biggest news story ever,” Naomi gushed, almost falling off her stool as she twisted around to watch him leave. Then her gaze landed on me. “Who was that man?”
“A crazy person, that’s who.”
“Did he say our new police chief killed his wife?” someone farther down the bar said.
Naomi grabbed Gloria’s arm. “This calls for a special edition.”
“It’s not true,” I yelled as they raced away. Everyone at the bar was staring at me. “It’s not true,” I said again, as much for myself as for them.
I pushed away the whispering voice in my head that asked me how well I knew Dylan. There was no way the man I’d seen fall apart when he’d told me about his wife had killed her.
Dylan needed to know what had happened here tonight. Like right now, before any more damage was done to his reputation. I went looking for Brandy.
“Tell Angelo I have the flu,” I said when I found her, tossing the key to the liquor closet at her. I left without knowing or caring who’d cover the bar for me. I’d never walked out like this before, but I had to get to Dylan. If I got fired for leaving, so be it.
30
~ Dylan ~
“Isit me or the water you like?” I asked Daisy when she followed me into the shower. It was probably a little of both. The silly dog seemed to have fun catching the water, snapping at the drops as they fell on her face, but she also didn’t like letting me out of her sight.
I’d hoped to see the mayor by now, but he’d gone out of town with his wife and Stephanie. They’d left Monday morning before I could talk to him to let him know we were going to arrest his daughter. Since he’d taken her with him, we were going to have to wait for them to come back to pick her up. He’d finally answered my text late this afternoon, letting me know they were returning sometime tonight and scheduling the meeting I’d requested for tomorrow morning. I wasn’t looking forward to it.
My doorbell rang as I was drying off Daisy. “You expecting company, girl?” She gave an excited bark, running to the door, anticipating Jenny since she was the only one who ever came here. I slipped on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, wondering who was showing up this time of night.
Jenny would still be at work, so I wasn’t expecting her yet. But there she was, on the other side of my door when I opened it.
“Oh God, Dylan. Something awful happened.”
My smile at seeing her died as she rushed by me. “Daisy, down.” The dog loved Jenny almost as much as she did me.
“It’s okay.” She knelt. “Hey, girl. I’m happy to see you, too, but I have to talk to your daddy.” After giving Daisy a good scratch behind her ears, she stood.
I tracked her movements as she paced my living room. “What’s going on?” She stopped, facing me. When she started chewing on her bottom lip, I frowned. “Jenny?”
“You remember when I asked if you knew some man when we were at the festival?”
“Not really.”
“Okay. See, there was this guy, and he was watching you. I thought it was weird because I got the impression he didn’t like you. But then he disappeared and I decided I was imagining things.”
“But you weren’t?” I had no idea where she was going with this, but whatever it was, it had her upset.
“No, but I sure wish I had been.” She twisted her fingers around each other.
“Come sit and tell me what this is all about.” I took her hand, leading her to the sofa.
She sat, leaned forward, and put her hands over her face. “I don’t know how to tell you this.”
The hairs on the back of my neck tingled as my gut said this was something to do with me. Even so, I was at a loss as to what could have her so upset. “Jenny, just say it.”
When she lifted her head, tears shimmered in her eyes. “The man I saw, he came into Vincennes tonight.”
“What did he look like?” I feared I already knew the answer.
