“Yes. After I found him with the bracelet.”
Bracelet?
Apparently there were more pieces to this story than he’d anticipated.
“Let’s go back to the cottage, and you can fill me in.”
She didn’t protest.
They paused only once in their trek, for him to read the text from Larry.
“Is Steven ... did he survive?” Cara gripped his hand tighter.
“No.”
“So he died just like Marie.” A shiver rippled through her. “I think that cliff is cursed.”
He didn’t argue with her.
But there were still answers to find and bad news to share—and telling a caring woman that her beloved cousin was not only dead but a killer would be one of the hardest tasks he’d ever performed during his law enforcement career.
THIRTY
BY THE TIMETHEY EMERGEDfrom the woods, Brad’s brain was on overload trying to integrate the new information Cara had relayed during the walk back with the facts he already knew. Steven’s dire financial situation. Micah’s death. The expensive jewelry Cara had seen. The flashlight he’d found, and Steven’s reference to the cave. The man’s late-night excursions.
All of those disparate pieces were somehow related, and it was up to him to figure out how.
On the plus side, he had far more to work with now than he’d had an hour ago.
The faint wail of a siren sounded in the distance as they walked across the lawn toward the cottage, and the back door of the main house opened.
He paused as Natalie stepped onto the galérie. The place would soon be swarming with emergency crews, and keeping her in the dark any longer than necessary would be cruel.
“Why don’t you go on to the cottage and chill while I talk to Natalie?”
Cara’s brow puckered as she looked toward the house. “No. I’ll go with you.”
“This isn’t going to be easy, and you’ve been through enough today.”
“I have to be there when you tell her, Brad. We’ve grown close during my stay, and she’s about to get the shock of her life. I want her to know she’s not alone.”
Throat constricting, he squeezed the hand of the remarkable woman beside him who never seemed to put herself first. “Okay. We’ll do this together.”
She held on tight to his fingers as they headed for the galérie.
The older woman remained in the shadows under the overhang as they approached, cane gripped in one hand, fingers of the other wrapped around the railing.
She watched them as they ascended the steps, eyes sad, complexion pale.
“Natalie, why don’t we go inside for a few minutes and talk?” Brad motioned toward the back door.
“Steven’s dead, isn’t he?” Her tone was flat. Resigned.
Brad sucked in a breath as Cara stiffened beside him.
How could she know that?
But sometimes people sensed when someone they loved was gone.
