The front door opened. Javi came out of my house with a tire iron in his hand, wearing a dark look. He crossed the lawn toward us with Vero’s cousin in tow. They both slowed, raising eyebrows at Cam and his smoking car as they strolled toward it to get a closer look.
Cam eyed Javi cautiously. Their first meeting back in January hadn’t been the ideal meet-cute, and I’m pretty sure Cam was still scared shitless of him. He frowned at the tire iron as Javi peeked in the Lincoln’s window.
“Seventy-eight?” Javi asked.
“Seventy-nine,” Cam said.
“You mind?” Javi asked, reaching for the door handle.
Cam gave the impression of a careless shrug, but his expression was wary. “Be my guest.”
Javi opened the door and popped the latch under the dashboard. He settled into the driver’s seat, inspecting the car’s interior as Ramón looked under the hood. Cam came up beside him, peeking over Ramón’s shoulder as he inspected a few connections and checked some of the fluids. They huddled close, talking about the car in low tones as they exchanged contact information on their phones. Javi joined them, the conversation turning to bodywork and paint. Ituned them out, wishing everyone would leave. I had far bigger problems to deal with than book club meetings and automotive repairs, and Mrs. Haggerty’s damn hoopty was leaking black and green fluids all over the street. The HOA would probably fine me for that.
Javi and Ramón bumped knuckles with Cam. They called out a goodbye to me and got into Javi’s Camaro. The engine roared, and Cam watched them drive off. He snapped Ramón’s business card between his fingers, then tucked it in his pocket.
“Why are there so many people here?” he asked me, as if he’d only just noticed the other vehicles. “Looks like one hell of a party. What are we celebrating?”
“We’re not celebrating anything,” I said irritably.
“I assume refreshments will be provided,” Mrs. Haggerty said, scrutinizing me over her glasses.
Cam’s face lit up. “You should have been at the party I threw in Atlantic City, Mrs. H. You would have loved it. We had champagne and shrimp… the works! I ordered every party favor you could think of,” he said smugly. “We even had a few lovely ladies in attendance.” I remembered the lovely ladies he was referring to; he’d paid them by the hour. Cam dug his phone from his pocket. “Maybe I should call them and see if they have any friends in the area.”
I swiped it away from him before he could dial. “We are not calling any escorts and this is not a party! Steven was taken to the station for questioning about the Dupree murder. That’s the only reason these people are all here. And no, I don’t plan to feed anyone!”
Cam gave Mrs. Haggerty a playful chuck on the arm. “Did you hear that, Mrs. H? If they arrest someone else, you’re probably off the hook. That’s something to celebrate, right?”
I shoved his phone back in his hand and stormed off to my minivan, hiding behind it where I could be alone so I wouldn’t betempted to murder anyone myself. I leaned back against the door, taking a deep slow breath as Mrs. Haggerty and Cam retreated to the house. The front door shut behind them, muting the cacophony of voices inside. It was too cold out for the chirps of crickets or the tiny frogs Delia and Zach liked to chase in the spring. The only sound was the quiettinkof Mrs. Haggerty’s cooling engine and the laughter of children playing in a neighbor’s yard. I tipped my head back and shut my eyes, savoring the silence as footsteps approached from my garage. I held my breath, hoping it wasn’t my mother or Vero telling me I had to come back inside the house.
“Hey,” Nick said softly. I opened my eyes to find him peeping around the side of the van. “I hoped I’d find you out here, but if you’d rather be alone—”
“No.” I took his hand, holding it like a lifeline. “I just needed some air.”
He brushed a tender kiss to my head. The look on his face told me he wasn’t just here to check on me. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Joey made a few calls,” Nick said, tucking my hair behind my ear. He kept his voice low, conscious of the bystanders lingering on my neighbor’s porch. “He used to work in Loudoun before Internal Affairs reassigned him. He knows a lot of people in the department over there.”
“And?” I pushed when Nick hesitated. “What did he find out?”
“They’re looking hard at Steven for this, Finn. They’ve got means and opportunity. All they need now is proof he had a motive. Given Steven’s history with Mrs. Dupree, it won’t be hard for Tran to come up with one.”
“But what if Steven’s telling the truth? What if he doesn’t even know that woman?”
Nick clenched his jaw, probably to keep himself from pointingout the glaring fault in my argument. “I’m not saying Steven is guilty. But it might not be a bad idea to distance yourself from him until he’s cleared.”
“He’s my kids’ father, Nick! I can’t distance myself from that!” The neighbors’ chatter quieted at my raised voice, and I threw them a scathing look.
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” He took me gently by the shoulders, ducking to meet my eyes. “That’s not what I was suggesting,” he said quietly. “But this investigation is circling too close to you, and I don’t like that there’s nothing I can do to keep you out of it. Maybe I’d have some sway if it was happening in my own department, but the most I can do is keep an ear to the ground. Joey’s feeding me all the news he can, but the cops in Loudoun know he was working with IA, and no one trusts him enough to let him get close. I’m afraid Mike Tran is going to drag you into this investigation before I can get ahead of it.”
“This isn’t about me!” I cried.
“This has everything to do with you!” he whispered, gesturing for me to keep my voice down. “I know there are things you’re not telling me, Finn. About the Mickler investigation and Ike Grindley and the bodies they found on Steven’s farm last fall. I know—” He held up a finger as I opened my mouth to protest. “I know you were involved. And I know it wasn’t your fault and you probably got mixed up in things you didn’t want to be part of, and I don’t want you to tell me how or why because once I know, I have a duty to act on that information and I don’t want to do that.” He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes, as if speaking those words had cost him something. He shook his head and blew out a breath. “I told myself we could let the truth die with Zhirov’s case and we could move on with our lives. But Mike Tran is a bulldog, Finlay.He knows he can’t detain Steven for long. He’s found a thread of a motive that connects back to Steven and his farm, and he’s going to pull that thread hard to come up with a charge. I won’t be able to protect you once that rug starts to unravel.”
I blinked up at him, head tipped. He couldn’t protect me from Mike Tran’s investigation, but what if we could stop it from getting that far? “Unless we can figure out whoreallyhad a motive to kill Gilford Dupree.”
Nick looked at me as if I had lost my mind. “No! Whatever you’re thinking, Finlay, shut it down right now!”
“Why not? It wouldn’t be the worst idea I’ve ever had.”
