“Yes,” she said. “But don’t go thinking he had anything to do with this. He’d never. He’s going to be heartbroken. They were each other’s first. No one can replace that.” Riley nuzzled farther into the sweater, pushing the fabric to her earlobes. “I can tell him, right? Or do you need to? I’ve seen crime dramas on TV. You’ll want to gauge his reaction to the news. After all, it’s always the husband or the ex.”
Amanda would like to handle the notification, but this case was a special situation. The father was this girl’s support system. “You can tell him, Riley.”
“If you’re going to suspect someone”—Riley jutted out her chin—“look at the boyfriend.”
The boyfriend…Riley’s words ricochetted in her head. Amanda became cold and dizzy. Her mouth, thick cotton.
“Your mother was dating?” Trent asked, stepping up and playing dumb.
“Yeah. She’s been seeing some guy for a while now.”
Some guy…And a year was longer thana while.Amanda wasn’t liking this turn in the conversation. But she’d assured Malone she would remain objective, that flesh andblood were nothing more than biological with Spencer. And Steeles honored their word. “His name?”
“Spencer Blair. He’s a volunteer firefighter, and he’s all right but…”
Amanda cleared her throat. “What do you mean byall right but…?” Requesting an elaboration had her feeling like she was betraying Spencer. She should have told Riley that pointing at someone in a murder investigation was a serious thing without justification. She just hoped whatever came out of Riley’s mouth didn’t make Spencer a suspect.
“Just that. Though no one’s my dad. I don’t much care for Dad’s new wife either.”
It was possible the ex-husband had moved on, but Amanda wasn’t letting a new marriage alone convince her of that. They’d still need to talk with him. But she was relieved that she hadn’t heard anything incriminating about Spencer. Yet, she pushed, “Is it just that, or is there more you need to tell us about Spencer?”
“It might be nothing, but Mom was pissed off at him. Honestly, I thought she was going to end things.”
Amanda stood, trying to disguise her discomfort by making it look like she were stretching. Spencer hadn’t mentioned any of this. He’d painted his relationship with Christine with brushstrokes of rainbows and lollipops. Trent shot her a look, seeing through her anxiety. Hopefully, Riley wouldn’t. “That’s what your mother told you? That she was going to end things with Spencer?” She was impressed she’d found her voice. As determined as she was to keep neutral, she was struggling to maintain her ground.
“I guess not in so many words.”
“But you think it’s possible that Spencer may have killed your mother?” Trent shot the direct question, which had Amanda briefly placing a hand over her heart.
“I don’t want to think that, but…”
Riley leftthe sentence dangling for long enough that Amanda’s stomach filled with acid.
“But, what?” Again, it was Trent taking on the burden of the unpleasant questions.
“He has a bad temper. I’ve seen it for myself.”
Amanda walked a few steps but stopped herself and returned to the couch where she had been sitting. She was making herself anxious, and the last thing she wanted to do was make this moment worse for Riley. As she sat down again, she said, “Can you give us an example?”
“He came over after fighting a raging warehouse fire. He was tired and pissed off at the squadron leader. Mom gave him a beer, and he seemed fine. Then he was cooking us steaks on the barbecue, but the propane ran out before they were finished. He roared and threw them in the trash. That ticked Mom off. Steaks aren’t cheap. She asked him to leave and ordered us pizza.”
Amanda was feeling a touch feverish, but she was also ticked off. Spencer could have mentioned this, but he hadn’t. So why not? After all, sometimes people blew up, couples fight and disagree. Was there something different about this time? “When was this?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“Was that their last fight?” Trent asked.
Riley nodded. “I don’t think they’ve met up since. They could have. I’m mostly in my own world. Will you be talking to Spencer?”
Spencer told them he’d seen Christine last Wednesday, but as Riley just admitted, she might not have been privy to that information. It didn’t mean that he had lied to them. “We will be talking with him.” As Amanda said this, her resolve kicked in. She’d look at this case like any other, as she’d intended from the start. It was always a possibility that things would point at Spencer. She’d deceived herself into thinking she could handleit if they did. It turned out facing that reality was more challenging.
“I’m sure he’s going to be heartbroken. I should have kept quiet. He’s not all that bad. Mom had a real shitty… Sorry, I didn’t mean to swear.”
“It’s fine,” Trent told her. “Nothing we haven’t heard before.”
“Her boyfriend before Spencer was an ass. Quite controlling.”
“And how was that?” Trent’s voice took on a menacing tone, which Amanda recognized as his inner white knight stepping up. He had zero tolerance for men who abused women whether it be physically, mentally, or emotionally.
