Casey’s expression didn’t seem like he agreed with me. “I need to call the police.”
Reed nodded with him, but my heart jumped into overdrive with the news. I hadn’t gotten a single picture of the ring in its hiding spot. I hadn’t realized it was important when I grabbed it, but I regretted not getting one for my report to Delaney.
This was a major break in the case and would definitely make the podcast. That missing ring was the entire reason the police believed Lisa’s murder was a robbery gone wrong. But it’d been in her flower garden the entire time. What did that mean for her murder?
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I hurried to read it.
MOM: Why do you have so many lotions from Bath and Body Works? You can’t use all this in a lifetime.
Now was not the time to judge me on my lotion collection.
I didn’t have time to message my mother back about the importance of different seasonal smells. We needed out of here before the police came and started asking us questions regarding our newlywed status. Lying to Casey was one thing, but we couldn’t lie to the police. That was surely a crime.
I had to get back to our place and Google the laws in Georgia.
“The detective is on his way,” Casey said before I pulled Reed back into our rental and forced us on a plane out of town.
“Great,” I said to him and handed Reed my dirty coffee cup. I used it as an excuse to lean closer, giving me the chance to whisper in his ear. “We’re so going to jail.”
11
It only took fifteen minutes for the yard to fill with police and another twenty for a crime scene van to arrive. I placed the white mug on the railing and then quickly snatched it again. That’s what got us into this mess in the first place.
A woman with black hair tied back in a super tight braid snapped photos of the rocks where we found the ring. My feet ached, and I switched positions to alleviate some of the stress.
“And you didn’t wash off the ring or anything after locating it in the rocks?” the detective asked Reed, who stood beside me on our small balcony.
He shook his head. “No, we found it, and less than two minutes later, Casey came over and identified it as his mother’s.”
I’d already answered the exact questions in the same way. So far, we’d given the police our real names and said we were here on a holiday but had not explicitly said we were married. We were hovering in this murky gray area that hopefully wouldn’t land us in jail. I really didn’t want to go to jail.
“I think that’s all I have for you right now. If we come up with anything else and have more questions, I will reach out,” the detective said.
He and Reed shook hands, and my fake husband held our back door open for me. I practically ran through to get away from the police. I couldn’t get the imagery of me in handcuffs for lying on a police report out of my head. What if they ran background checks and saw I overdrafted my checking twice last month?
“That was close,” I whispered to him after he shut the door and locked it.
He had a furrowed brow when he looked at me. “What was close?”
“We almost went to jail. What if they find out we’re here from the podcast?”
He shrugged as if the thought of wearing an orange jumpsuit didn’t send his tenth-grade inner child into a coma. “The podcast never came up, so I don’t think that’s a jailable offense.”
I set the mug in the sink, grabbed it again, and placed it on the top rack of the dishwasher. “It still makes me nervous.”
“Hey,” Reed said, standing beside me and resting his hand on my shoulder. “It will be okay. No one will bother with us again. They won’t waste case hours on us.”
“You’re sure?” I asked, closing the dishwasher door.
He moved his hand, making me immediately miss it but also grateful for the space again. We’d moved closer and closer to one another during the police questioning, but he hadn’t put his arm around me again. I missed it and wished he would.
Which was a dangerous place for me to be in. We were here on a job. Falling in love with your bodyguard was asking for trouble. And heartache.
“You want to get some of that peach cobbler Samantha said we’d enjoy?” He held up a strip of paper. “Casey gave me the coupon. We’ll save an entire dollar.”
I smiled, more in response to his wide grin at the hilarity of a dollar savings than anything else. “Okay.”
“Let me change my shoes. Can you look up the address on the map?” he asked as he walked toward his room.
