“She was here bright and early. Said she couldn’t sleep.” His lips twitched just the slightest. “I thought she wouldn’t be able to get enough of you.” He leaned forward and whispered, “You know, now that you finally made a move.”
“I think I can hang onto my woman just fine without your help. If I were you, I’d worry about your own wife.” I pretended to think about it. “Didn’t she leave town? It’s been so long since anyone saw her.”
Something dark flashed in his eyes, and for the first time, I wondered if maybe she didn’t leave town on her own. I glanced over his shoulder, wondering if it was really safe for Bailey to be here by herself.
“Was there something you wanted, Parker? Or did you just come here to waste my time? Some of us still have jobs to do.”
He just loved to get in that dig whenever he could.
“Wasn’t Bailey’s car brought here after the accident?”
He nodded. “Towed into the lot not long after. Why?”
“Just seems odd that the car exploded. You don’t happen to have any footage of it, do you?”
“Of a car exploding? No. There are no cameras back there.”
I nodded. “Strange, don’t you think? The firemen put out the fire, yet it came back here, and hours later…boom,” I said, mimicking an explosion with my one good hand.
“What the fuck is your point?” he snarled.
“Just seems to me that someone didn’t want any evidence to be found.”
“Evidence of what? Your inability to drive?”
No matter how much I needled him, he just seemed irritated.There was no guilt or malice in his eyes. Only a desire for me to leave him alone.
Maybe he really didn’t know about any of it. And if that was true, he wasn’t covering for his brother, which meant that little psychopath was doing all this shit on his own.
If I could believe what I was seeing.
“Is that all you came here for? To spy on your girlfriend and ask stupid questions?”
I glanced at Bailey one last time, then turned on my heel and walked out.
“Good chat, Parker! Let’s not do it again sometime!”
18
BAILEY
“Mama!”I called out, letting the front door swing closed behind me.
After avoiding incessant phone calls for two days, I could no longer put her off. Not if I wanted to avoid her showing up at my job and putting on the show of her life.
“Bailey?” she called out, like she didn’t know it was me. “Is that you?”
“Of course it’s me, Mama.”
Collapsing into my favorite chair, I rubbed my tired eyes, wishing I was anywhere but here. Preferably at Liam’s house where I could snuggle in his big, warm bed.
Her little feet scurried down the hall until all five foot nothing appeared at the mouth of the living room. Dressed in her nightgown and her hair in rollers, you would think she was getting ready for bed. But I knew better.
“Mama, what are you doing?”
Pressing her hand gently against the rollers, she beamed at me. “Oh, this? I’m testing out hairstyles.”
“For what?” I pressed.
