By tomorrow, everyone would know about the fight. About Brooke defending him.
More gossip. More judgment. More reasons for people to believe he was guilty.
Tyler went to the window. A car drove past. Normal Sunday morning traffic. People going to church or brunch or whatever normal people did on Sundays.
He hadn’t felt normal in years and hadn’t gone to church since Jen and Garrett died. Sometimes, he missed it. Mostly, he just felt guilty about not going.
His phone buzzed again. This time it was a number he didn’t recognize.
This is Edi. Heard about last night. You okay?
Tyler hesitated before responding.How’d you get my number?
I’m a cop. I have ways. Seriously though, are you all right?
Bruised but fine.
Good. Stay safe, Tyler.
He stared at the message. Edi believed him. Robert and Sue believed him. Even Brooke believed him, though she’d chosen to walk away.
But believing him didn’t change reality. Didn’t find the real killer. Didn’t clear his name.
Didn’t keep Brooke safe. Tyler’s mind kept circling back to that.
What if staying away from her doesn’t actually keep her safe?The thought made his chest tight.
Someone was killing women from his past, even if he hadn’t been close to them. Someone had left a threatening note on his truck. Someone had attacked Brooke on a trail.
And now Brooke had defended him publicly. She’d hit Rusty with a chair in front of a restaurant full of witnesses. Had made it clear she was on Tyler’s side.
What if that made her an even bigger target?
What if the real killer saw her as a threat? As someone who needed to be silenced?
Tyler grabbed his phone and pulled up Brooke’s contact. His thumb hovered over the call button.
But what would he say? That he was worried about her? That staying away might not be enough? That whoever was doing this might come after her anyway?
She’d think he was being paranoid. Or manipulative. That he was trying to find an excuse to keep her in his life.
Maybe he was.
Brooke was smart and careful. She wouldn’t take unnecessary risks. She’d be fine.
Except she’d already been attacked once. Already been dragged off a trail by someone strong enough to overpower her despite her fighting back.
If that person came after her again, would she be able to defend herself?
Tyler’s hands clenched into fists. He couldn’t protect her if he stayed away, couldn’t be there if something happened, couldn’t do anything except sit in his house and hope she was safe.
Hope wasn’t enough.
Staying away from Brooke was supposed to keep her safe. But if the killer saw her as a threat, distance wouldn’t matter.
The only way to truly protect her was to find out who was doing this, clear his name, and remove the target from both their backs.
He should’ve been doing this all along. In some ways he had, but the truth was, he was making little headway in finding out who the killer was. He thought maybe Rusty had killed Sheila, but after last night, he wasn’t sure. Rusty was drunk, no doubt about that, but he was also hurting. Tyler knew grief well enough to recognize it in someone else.
