“Where do you want this?” Sullivan asked.
Ramsey was hunkered in front of the fireplace prepared to add a log to the crackling flames. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Sullivan was looking for direction as he held up her glass of red wine. “Just a moment. I’m coming for it.” She placed the log in the fire, put the screen in place, and rose, dusting off her hands. “I’m getting pretty good at adding fuel without burning myself.”
“No argument here.” He released the wine glass to her care and toasted her with his beer bottle.
Ramsey frowned slightly as Sullivan chose the oversized armchair instead of the sofa and did not invite her to cozy up to him. She had been spending more nights at his home than hers and the arrangement was comfortable and mutually satisfying, or so she thought. There was something subtly different tonight, and she couldn’t put her finger on it, but she was sure he was working up to something serious. He was wearing his Dudliest expression, earnest yet unyielding, and he was still so handsome that it almost hurt to look at him.
Ramsey took up the corner of the sofa closest to Sullivan’s chair. In her mind, the proximity proved she could hear anything he meant to tell her. “All right,” she said when he stared at the bottle he was idly twisting in his hand. “Out with it. Clearly you have something on your mind.”
He looked over at her, nodded. “I do. I’ve had it for a while, but I needed some time to sit with it. I figured you did too.”
Ramsey continued to regard him expectantly.
Sullivan took a draw of his beer. “I know you made some kind of deal with Jay when you went to see him a couple weeks ago. I’m wondering why you haven’t mentioned it.”
Ramsey frowned slightly. “Well, that wasn’t anything I was imagining.” She saw he was about to ask what shehadimagined and shook her head to stop him. “Not only am I not prepared to tell you about my obviously misguided thought, I don’t want to sidetrack this conversation. I told you that I was going to see Jay. There was no secret there.”
“I didn’t say there was. I didn’t try to stop you from going, did I?”
“No, but I could see that you didn’t like it. And you didn’t ask me about the visit afterward.”
“I asked you how he was doing. I guess I hoped you’d see that for what it was and tell me more.”
“What makes you think I made a deal?”
“I don’t know the specifics, but it wasn’t hard to figure out that something like that happened. Did you think I wouldn’t notice that there’s been no mention of the lottery and the fact that Jay tried to extort money from you has never come up?”
“There was no deal, Sullivan. You’re wrong about that. I know better than to bargain with the devil. I merely gave Jay some pertinent details regarding his charges and told him I could always change my mind.”
“Did you tell him you lied in your interview with Butz and on your written statement?”
Ramsey drew in a sharp breath and waited for several moments to pass before she spoke. “I didn’t tell him that because I didn’t lie. You know what? I’m setting my wine glass down because I’m afraid I might throw it at you and this red will stain that lovely pillow tucked beside you. And, no, I don’t care about your shirt.”
“It was a lie by omission, Ramsey.”
“So you say.” Her threat hadn’t rattled him at all. That was disappointing, but also admirable. She remembered that he’d faced Jay with the same solid wall of calm, and Jay had been pointing a gun at him, not a glass of red. A vertical crease appeared between her eyebrows as she understood what he wasnotsaying. “You read my statement. I don’t think you’re allowed to do that. It was private.”
“Private? Are you serious? It’s part of the case record.”
“Yeah, but…” She didn’t even try to mount a defense. Her voice trailed off and she turned her face away from him to stare at the fire.
“I deserve a little credit for waiting as long as I did to read it. Look, Ramsey, only the chief and I know what you didn’t tell Butz and didn’t write down in your statement. I’m guessing that now Jay knows as well. The chief isn’t going to say anything. He understands why you did it. As a matter of fact, so do I.”
Ramsey’s eyes returned to Sullivan’s. “You do?”
“Sure. I know how important it is to you to keep your lottery win a secret. I’ve never disagreed with you about the effect that kind of money would have on relationships.”
“Ours?”
“Maybe. Probably.”
Ramsey didn’t disagree. Nodding faintly, she picked up her wine glass and drank.
“I’m not saying the effect would be harmful or even undesirable. Some things would be different, is all. Do you see, Ramsey? I appreciate why you never told Butz that Jay was trying to extort money from you. You’d have had to explain about the money, and you wanted to steer away from anything having to do with that. Your omission let Jay off the hook.”
“I didn’t do it for Jay. It was selfish. I knew that when I was sitting in the interview room, and I did it anyway. I did it for me.”
“And I have no problem with that.”
