I stare at the wall as I think of every possible scenario, but none of them fit because Delaney didn’t deserve to die. Not that anyone deserves to be murdered, but I can’t imagine anything Delaney could have done to merit such hateful revenge. Unless there wasn’t a motive at all, and one of the women just snapped.
I push that idea aside just as quickly as it comes, though, because that doesn’t fit any better than the other theories. I saweveryone with my own eyes at the station after, and they looked just as haunted as I felt.
The only person I haven’t seen since is Judith, since she was on the back of the property. I stand behind my belief that she is way too small to overpower Delaney and has too much to lose.
The way I see it, there are only two real possibilities left: The police are wrong, and it was only an accident, or it was not a person at the retreat at all, and someone came on the property to murder Delaney, then left, undetected.
I push myself up off the bed to walk over to the adjoining door between Cameron’s and my room to listen. If he and Reggie are done, I want to tell him my theories and see if he has security cameras around the perimeter of Ravenwood so that we can ask the company to check the footage. With my ear to the door, I can just make out their muffled voices. I lean in closer.
“. . . increasingly paranoid in the months prior.”
“I assume Cartwright investigated?”
“Yes, and he found no evidence of anyone stalking her.”
I jerk away, like a kid caught spying on their parents. I should stop before I hear anything else, because all three of them warned that it was in our best interest to maintain attorney-client privilege, but I can’t help my curiosity. I lean back in.
“Anything else?”
“That’s everything I can think of regarding Delaney, but there’s always . . .” Cameron’s voice drops just enough that I miss the name. I push my ear to the crack in the door so that I can hear over my thundering heartbeat.
“I wondered about him myself,” Reggie says. “When’s he up for parole?”
“Not for a while, last time I checked.”
“I’ll put a call into my contact at Maury a little later today to confirm.” There is a brief pause, and I cover my mouth in case they can somehow hear my rapid breathing through the wall. “Ithink that’s enough for today. I’m going to head into the office. Call me if you think of anything else.”
“Thanks, Reggie. I really appreciate this.”
The sounds of them rising from the couch prompt me to retreat, and I jump on my bed before I am caught, although my complete and utter panic will probably give me away if Cameron walks through the door in the next few seconds.
I reel at the revelation that Delaney was paranoid about something, because that makes the idea of it being someone from the outside even more plausible. And there’s someone inprisonthey are worried about? It all has to be connected somehow, and with us working separately, we may have never made the connection.
The room starts to spin just as Cameron knocks, then peeks inside, revealing his beautiful, smiling face, as if he wasn’t just talking about stalkers and criminals five seconds ago. “Hey, we’re finished. You can—” He pauses when he sees me and closes the distance between us in two long steps. “What happened? Where’s Jalen?”
“He just left.”
“Did everything go okay? I know he can be intimidating.” He kneels down to brush his hand across my cheek and forehead. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Are you feeling sick? Or just a little shell-shocked?”
“The last one,” I say, but feel my nervous system start to regulate on its own accord under his touch.
“Come back to my room and let’s relax for a while. I’ll order us some lunch, and we can watch TV to get our minds off everything.”
I look into the depths of Cameron’s brown eyes, searching for anything to grasp onto to keep me from spiraling. He returns my gaze, completely open and unguarded, and I find myself taking an audible breath.
“There you go,” he says softly. “Breathe, Drew. In and out.”
The relief of being back in his care after hours of being scrutinized under Jalen’s cold, hard gaze is undeniable, and as he hovers just inches from me, the fear that I had just a minute ago dissipates and is replaced by a feeling of complete security. I am certain that he has my back, and that if I asked him right now to explain what he and Reggie were talking about, he would tell me everything without reservation. He wanted us to work together the entire time, just like I did, and only deferred to Jalen and Reggie’s judgment because he believes them to be the better lawyers.
“If you want to be alone, that’s fine too. I can get lost.” He chuckles, unable to decipher my silence.
“I definitely don’t want you to get lost,” I say to soothe the pinch of worry in his brow despite his attempt to disguise it with humor, then scoot forward to test the strength of my legs under me. He takes a step back to watch, but frowns when I struggle to get to my feet.
“Here, let me help.” He places one arm under my legs and the other behind my back to pick me up in one fell swoop.
“Cameron!” I squeak as I am thrown off balance and forced to wrap my arms around his neck to hold on for dear life.
“Sorry, I should have asked if you were afraid of heights first,” he quips as he carries me towards the door.
