“Weeell…” Brian said, flipping the pages of the report and pointing to another comment.
Kellen looked green. “Jesus. On an obituary?”
Riley held up her hands. “I don’t want to know. I already had to bleach my brain once today.”
“Looks like we’re heading to Channel 50 tomorrow,” Kellen decided.
“You can handle that one by yourself,” Riley said.
“Didn’t you used to work there?” Josie asked.
Riley attempted to shoot lady daggers out of her eyeballs at Josie. “Yes. And my ex-husband and his perky practically teenage fiancée still do.”
“Then you’re the perfect person to accompany me. You’ll already know most of the people there and can give me all the pertinent background,” Kellen said smugly.
“To be clear. You want me to go back to the place that fired me because my husband was having an affair with the weather girl? An affair that everyone but me knew about?”
“Look on the bright side, Riley. Maybe Gentry’s the killer, and you’ll get to help put him behind bars.”
She rolled her eyes. “Griffin wouldn’t ruin his manicure by folding laundry. He’s not going to asphyxiate a woman and then stuff a thong down her throat.”
“Come on. I’ll let you play bad cop,” Kellen said, dangling that little nugget in front of her.
She turned to look at Nick. “Remember that plan from earlier?” she asked.
“Just tell me where your passport is, and I’ll pack for you,” he promised.
The tinkling of a bell echoed eerily from within the house.
“Shit. I have to go. You guys should definitely stay out here and keep discussing this,” Riley said. She scooted around them and headed for the front of the house. Nick caught her at the porch steps. They were alone outside. Crickets chirped in the dark as he drew her into his chest.
“You’re going to be fine, Thorn. It’s a thousand degrees in there. As soon as everyone is gathered, no one will last five minutes in that room.”
“Keep talking,” she said as her heart raced.
He did more than that. His hand skimmed over her stomach to her hip and then her thigh. He reached under her dress and trailed his fingers higher over her leg.
“Gah,” she said as her thighs trembled.
“In half an hour, you and I are going skinny dipping in the river while the house cools off,” he predicted.
“Are you seriously heading to third base with a coven of weirdos on the other side of the door?” she whispered.
“I told you I liked your outfit,” he said, teasing even higher with his fingers. “Do I want to know why your thong is cold?”
“Don’t ask.”
“Hey, sweetie.”
Riley jumped away from Nick at the sound of her mother’s voice.
“Sorry to interrupt your third base. But it’s time to start,” Blossom said apologetically.
24
9:05 p.m., Sunday, August 16
Minutes later, Riley found herself seated at the round table with her sister, her grandmother, and her mother, sweating profusely and wondering exactly how her life had come to this. They were bathed in the light of way too many open flames for a summer night with no air conditioning. Red lights on the video cameras winked, taunting her with the reminder that she was about to embarrass herself not just in front of her family and friends but also her ex-husband’s new fiancée and the greater Harrisburg area.
