“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She pressed her lips together, then blew out a breath. She threw up her hands, looking totally defeated. “Everything.”
He stepped closer. “Tell me.”
"I went to a coffee shop before the grocery store. There was a group of women. Obviously true crime podcast enthusiasts."
“Oh shit. Are you okay?”
She nodded. "For the most part. One of the women came over and accused me of killing Craig. There were two detectives there. Of course, her accusing me of murdering someone made them question me."
His heart dropped, and he moved to her. “Fuck, no.”
"I didn't fart around. I gave him Ryan's number, and he called the FBI. Ryan told him everything. But what I didn't know was that Pete is out of jail."
Shock coursed through him, and he turned, seeing that the alarm was off. "Are you shitting me?"
“No. And they don’t know where he is. So the police are increasing patrols.”
“Fuck. If you’re here alone, you need to turn on the alarm.”
She closed her eyes, and it looked like she was about to start crying. He hated this. She was a smart, strong woman who didn't need this kind of bullshit. She shouldn't have to deal with Pete coming after her with lies.
He wrapped his arms around her, holding her as her shoulders shook. She had been through enough with the abduction. This Pete crap could push her over the edge.
“To make it worse, when I came out of the store, a car backfired. Four of us dropped to the ground in the parking lot.”
He hated to laugh, but a chuckle rose up. "Sorry. I've done that before, and it's embarrassing. But at least the people around here understand and don't think you're crazy."
“Yeah. That’s true.”
He squeezed her tight, then leaned back, meeting her gaze. "Anything else?"
“I listened to the podcast and watched the video. I don’t know how anyone believes that video is real. It looks totally fake.”
“I should watch it.”
She blew out a heavy breath, and he knew more was coming. He wished he could protect her from all of this.
"I know the truth behind the story Pete is telling, so I can easily see that he is lying. But he might be convincing to people who don't know what really went down. He builds a case from high school to Craig, showing how I'm a killer. Then he had the audacity to say I joined the Marines just so I could kill people. It's disgusting."
Anger rose inside. He’d been accused of that before. “The people who toss that accusation around are delusional. I’m so sorry. I’ve been accused of that a few times. Someone I went to high school with started posting on social media that I liked to murder people. It pissed me off.”
“Oh, that sucks.”
"Yeah. I blocked him on everything. Then I made all of my social media private. I don't know if he still is talking shit about me, but he isn't going on national podcasts telling lies to thousands."
She shook her head. “I wasn’t prepared for people to confront me. I don’t know how to deal with it. I know I can’t attack them, and defending myself will only make me sound like a liar.”
“I hope they find Pete and he has to retract what he said.”
“I fear I’m going to have to involve a lawyer and sue the podcast for defamation.”
“You might have to. It may be the only way to get a good retraction.”
Ansley sighed and clung tighter to him. “I hate this.”
“Do we have pizza in the freezer?”
