Josh grinned and saluted her. “Nelson says you can come inside now that I’ve vouched for you. Did you find anything?”
“Yeah. Let me grab my laptop to show you. Can you get Sam for me?”
“Sure.” Josh jogged to the SUV. “Hi, Sam.” His one-year-old nephew held out his arms and beamed at him with a gummy smile. “I’ll have you out of your car seat in a trice.” True to his word, seconds later, he carried Sam toward the house.
Inside, he gestured to Nelson and then Gerry. “This is my sister Summer and her son Sam. Summer, Nelson, and Gerry. They’re Ashley’s DPS squad until we work out this stalker stuff.”
“Did you ask Ashley about Joseph? I found an article written by a local journalist at the time of the inquest. Joseph was noticeably upset and blamed Ashley for killing his sister.”
“Do you have a copy of that article?” Nelson asked, stepping forward.
“I do. Let me fire up my laptop, and I’ll show you.” Summer pulled her laptop from its protective bag. “I haven’t been able to locate Joseph, not since he left high school. There is nothing online for him that I can find, and that’s unusual these days.”
A door opened and shut down the passage, and Josh had to force himself not to react. A naked Ashley slipping into the bubble bath or getting out, bubbles running down her breasts. His imagination—hell, he didn’t require sounds or sight to get a hard-on. The more he learned of Ashley, the more he admired Frog’s little sister.
He forced himself to concentrate on Summer. “Do you think he’s the one?”
Summer wrinkled her nose. “I honestly don’t know.”
Nelson and Gerry spoke in undertones after reading the article Summer had discovered.
Gerry turned to Summer. “Anything else? Other family members?”
“You should go to the source.” Ashley padded into the kitchen, her body swathed in a robe and her feet bare. “I’d hate to think you were gossiping behind my back.”
“Of course we weren’t,” Summer retorted. “I came here to speak to you and Josh. I didn’t realize you’d have a goon squad in residence.” A mischievous smile crept into evidence. “Well, I knew you had one living here, but I hadn’t expected them to multiply.”
Josh groaned. “Not helping, Summer.”
“What info do you want?” Ashley persisted.
“We wondered if Joseph Harrison might be the one behind the trouble you’re having.”
“No.” Ashley shook her head. “Not Joseph. I doubt it’s any of the Harrison family. Jess was a wild child. She was acting out, and I suspect she was dabbling with drugs. I feel terrible for saying this, but if she hadn’t died in the accident, chances were she’d have hurt herself in other ways. Her parents were strict with their children. Stricter than most of our friends. Jess was a rebel. Not one family member blamed me for Jess’s death. Not one, despite the stories in the papers.”
“What about the article that says Joseph was upset and blamed you?” Summer asked.
“My older sister was standing nearby when the journalist approached Joseph outside the courthouse. He was a kid, and they confused him with their questions. My sister told me they twisted his words, and I believed her. The local reporter tried to interrogate me too, but Dad had my back.”
Josh watched her closely. “What aren’t you telling us, Ashley? You’re careful with what you’re saying.”
“Miss Townsend, if you know anything to clear Joseph Harrison please tell us,” Gerry said in a firm voice.
Ashley fought a visible inner battle before her shoulders slumped. “All right, but this can’t be made public. It’s not as if I’m certain, anyway. The reason Joseph has fallen off the face of the Earth is that I think he followed through and became Josephine. Jess wasn’t the only one with problems in the family.”
Summer’s hands flew over the keyboard. “Ah, Ashley is right. There is a profile for Jo Harrison here.”
“Let me see,” Ashley demanded.
She pushed past Josh, and he got a whiff of lavender. Summer murmured something, and when Josh’s gaze jerked to her, he found his little sister smirking at him.Busted.
“That’s Joseph,” Ashley confirmed. “Or Jo. The face is the same. Joseph always had a girlish appearance.”
“Not a suspect then,” Summer said.
“We’ll check,” Nelson stated in a no-nonsense voice. Efficient and protective. “We’ll have a chat with this Jo. No one needs to know.”
“Thanks.” Ashley turned to him, her brown eyes serious. Her features in what he was beginning to recognize as her work-mode. “Josh, you’d better hurry if you want to shower before we leave again.”
