“Then tell me, why do you seem to be a week behind in the news? I heard the rumor mill was reliable around these parts. Apparently, that’s not accurate.”
Holt Callahan was too damn cocky for his own good.
“Doesn’t mean you’re not stalkin’ him,” Travis retorted.
“Does when we’re livin’ together.” His expression remained cool. “I moved in with Bailey and Rafe a few days ago.”
Well, shit. Travis would have to admit he’d gone off half-cocked on this one. Then again, he didn’t give a shit about Holt Callahan’s personal life or his romantic interests.
Travis jerked his chin. “That brings me to my next problem.”
“I hadn’t realized the first was a problem. Least of all for you.”
Travis didn’t want to admit it, but he was starting to like this guy.
Leaning forward, Travis put his elbow on the table. “Why are you here askin’ questions about my wife?”
Some of Holt’s cockiness faded. “Unfortunately, that’s not as simple to explain as how I got here.”
“I’m a smart guy. Lay it out for me, Callahan. I bet I can keep up.”
***
Holt had known the sheriff was stallingwhen he’d first sat down. After a quick introduction and hearing Jeff’s confirmation of what Mack had told him about Holt being one of his favorite authors, Holt attempted to get to the point. Jeff had redirected the conversation every step of the way.
Now he knew why.
As he sat across from Travis Walker, he had to admit the stories he’d read about the man hadn’t done him justice. Many referred to him as a businessman with a steely determination and a laid-back demeanor. The steely determination was obviously on point, but Holt had yet to see anything that resembled laid-back since the man appeared.
“You’re right when you said I intend for Coyote Ridge to be the backdrop for my next book. A lot about this town appeals to the writer in me. And it’s the perfect setting for my protagonist.” Holt turned his coffee mug, then met Travis’s eyes again. “I like the idea of a mystery unraveling in a small town that rarely sees any crime. Finding a place like that is rare. At least for me. So, when I learned about the small town Rafe grew up in, I did my research.”
“My wife’s death was national news,” Travis said through clenched teeth. “I don’t see why you’re diggin’ for more information. If you think you’re gonna use this tragedy to line your pockets, you’re—”
“No,” Holt said firmly. “I have no intention of doing any such thing. My book has no resemblance to anything that happened to Kylie. And if you don’t believe me, I’ll gladly let you read the first draft before I send it to my editor.”
“That’s a given.”
Holt smiled. “Don’t mistake my offer for fear. I’m not doin’ it because I’m threatened by you.”
Travis’s gaze shifted over his face. Holt figured not many people stood up to this man, but that was too damn bad. Holt was not going to be bullied by anyone. He understood Travis’s reason for coming here. He even understood the confrontation. What he didn’t understand were the assumptions Travis made without any facts.
“I didn’t intend to investigate Kylie’s death when I first came across it. As I said, it has no bearing on my book. However…”
Travis’s eyebrows rose. “What?”
Holt huffed. “It was when I was reading about Kylie that I came across a few things that didn’t add up to me. And no, I’m not a detective. However, my life’s work involves creating a mystery. My goal’s to make it difficult to unravel, keeping in mind that everything can be unraveled. It may take time, but you can pull on the thread and see how every response to the previous action led to another and then another. A chain reaction, if you will.”
“If this is your convoluted way of sayin’ my wife’s death was the result of someone’s reaction, you’re right. Juliet Prince hated me. And that bitch killed my wife because of it.”
Holt had done his homework on Juliet Prince as well. As far as he could tell, the woman who had run Kylie down with a car was a byproduct of something else. If he was right, she was merely a side character who happened along at the exact right time so that everything looked like it was her fault. Not that she was innocent by any means. She was the one behind the wheel of the car that struck Kylie. They had eyewitness accounts.
“I’m not disputing that, and this is gonna sound bad, but I think Juliet Prince was a red herring.”
Travis’s face hardened. “She killed my wife. She ran her down in the goddamn street. I don’t know how you can think we were led tobelieveshe was the bad guy. It’s a proven goddamn fact. She killed—”
Holt shook his head. “That’s not what I mean.”
“Then what the fuckdoyou mean?” Travis growled.
