“Do you think I killed him?”
There was a short silence before she answered. “Honestly? I don’t know. Probably not. But I’ve come to care about Addie. And I don’t want her getting hurt.”
“I feel the same way. If you’re not comfortable working here anymore—”
“No, I want to work here.”
“Good.”
“I’m—” She stopped and touched her head, her brows drawing together like she was in pain.
He frowned. “Hey, are you all right?”
“Just a headache.”
“Maybe you should go home and lie down.”
“When I’m done here.”
Noah nodded and stepped back. “Okay. I’ll leave you to it. Come find me if you need anything.”
He turned and headed into the mountains. He waited until he was a good distance from the food van before pulling his phone from his pocket and calling Jesse.
“Noah, hey. What’s going on?”
“Have you looked into Jules at all?”
“Just a basic background check. Why?”
“She touched her head and…I’m ninety-nine percent sure her hair’s a wig.”
“Noah, wearing a wig is hardly against the law. There could be a whole number of reasons for it.”
“I know. I just…let’s keep an eye on her. Please.”
Addie checkedon the patrol car through her living room window. It was almost always there.
It made her feel safe but also guilty as hell. This was a small town. There weren’t a huge number of law enforcement officers to go around.
In the kitchen, she set her hot chocolate on the counter to call the sheriff’s station.
“Amber Ridge Sheriff’s Department, Janet speaking.”
“Hi, Janet, this is Addison March. I was wondering if I could speak to Jesse.”
“Is this an emergency?”
“Well, no, but—”
“He’s very busy. If this isn’t—”
“Please, can you just tell him it’s me? I guarantee he’ll take the call.” Okay, she couldn’t guarantee it, but she was hopeful.
The woman sighed. “Please hold.”
There was a faint click, and the line went quiet. Ten seconds later, Jesse’s voice came over the line. “Addie? Is everything okay?”
“Jesse. Hi. Yes, it’s fine, but I just wanted to tell you that you don’t need to waste your resources by putting a deputy on my home.”
