For one thing, they were in Grace’s office, not at his house. And for another, this heat was a delicious distraction. One that she wanted to slip right into and never come out. But she couldn’t do that. Not with so many things undecided between Ethan and her.
Not when they were looking for a killer.
With tons of regret, Livvy eased back from him, and she had no trouble seeing both the heat and the regret in his eyes, too. He sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face.
“When this is done,” he said, “when we have the answers we need, then we can work this out between us.”
Livvy liked the sound of that. Things had been uncertain between them for too long now. But that uncertainty would have to wait because she wanted to do some work on the list. The sooner they found out what was going on, then Sunny and others, including them, would be a whole lot safer.
She used her phone to access info on one of the names from their portion of the list, but Livvy had barely gotten started when there was a knock at the door. The visitor didn’t wait for a response though. The door opened, and Livvy turned to see the woman standing there.
Vernice.
Great. Livvy hadn’t steeled herself up nearly enough for this, but she quickly did so. And judging from the scowl Vernice shot them, steeling up would be required.
The woman slid glances at them, especially at the way they were seated. Their arms were still touching, and there wasn’t much distance between them. It was also possible that Ethan and she still had the flush of arousal on their faces from that scorching kiss.
“You put Grace up to dragging me in here for questioning,” Vernice insisted.
Sighing, Ethan got to his feet. “I didn’t have to. All persons of interest are being questioned.”
Vernice’s mouth opened, and the woman seemed genuinely shocked, no doubt because “person of interest” was the same as “suspect” in her mind.
“What have you told Grace about me?” she demanded as she stepped into the office and shut the door. She volleyed glares at both of them.
Livvy went with the truth. “Grace knows that you were at New Hope earlier today, right before Chloe was gunned down. And she also knows that wasn’t your first visit there.”
Ethan picked up the explanation. “It’s possible you’re the last person to see Chloe alive.” But he held up his hand to stop Vernice when she started to speak. “Let me go ahead and Mirandize you, and that way whatever you say will become part of your official statement.”
Vernice dropped back a step and she reached for the doorknob, but she didn’t leave. “Isabel is turning over in her grave because of what you’re doing.”
Ethan ignored her, though Livvy figured that had to sting, and he turned on the record function on his phone before he recited the Miranda warning. “Do you understand your rights?” he asked when he was finished.
“I understand that you never deserved my daughter,” Vernice spat out. “You are despicable. Both of you.”
Ethan kept his hard stare on the woman. “Do you understand your legal rights? And FYI, I’ll keep asking that until I get a straight answer.”
Vernice’s eyes went to slits. “I understand my rights.” Her voice was low and menacing, a nasty tangle of grief and hatred. Hatred now aimed at Ethan and Livvy.
She didn’t care much to be on someone’s hate list, but in this case, she figured there was no way around it. As far as Vernice was concerned, Ethan should stay faithful to his late wife forever.
“The sheriff will ask you this in your interview,” Ethan went on a moment later, “but tell us why you were at New Hope this morning.”
With the way Vernice’s lips stayed pinched together, Livvy figured the woman would just clam up. But she didn’t. “I’ve known Chloe for a while now. She’s helped several friends of mine with their infertility issues.”
Livvy considered that. “So, why visit Chloe this morning?” she pressed when Vernice didn’t continue.
“Because obviously someone is trying to drag me into…well, whatever the heck is going on,” she ranted. “I mean, why leave the knife on my doorstep? Why pull me into something that clearly isn’t my business?” Vernice stopped, and the short tiradeseemed to have sapped some of her fury. “I wanted to talk with Chloe and find out if she knew what was going on.”
“And did she?” Ethan was quick to ask.
Vernice sighed and shook her head. “She said she didn’t. But I don’t know Chloe well enough to tell if she was lying.”
“Where did you talk with her?” Livvy pressed.
“In one of the front rooms,” she replied without hesitation. “I think she called it the parlor.”
Ethan continued to stare at her. “Not her office?”
