“But I didn’t.”
“You were here when I arrived, that much is true.” Robert shifted his weight. “Thing is, Tyler, this is becoming repetitive. First Sheila, now Monique. People are starting to talk.”
“I didn’t kill anyone.”
“I believe you.” But Robert’s voice held something Tyler hadn’t heard before. Doubt, maybe. Or worry. “Sue’s concerned about the business. About what this might do to our reputation.”
Tyler straightened, wiping his hands on a shop rag. “You want me to quit.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Robert met his eyes. “I’m saying we need to be careful. This town is small. Word gets around. If people think we’re employing someone who—”
“Who what? Killed two women?” Tyler’s jaw tightened. “Three, maybe, if you count my wife. And of course, my little boy. But I didn’t do it, Robert. None of it.”
“I know. But perception matters.” Robert rubbed the back of his neck. “Just keep your head down, okay? Do your work, go home, don’t give anyone reason to talk.”
He walked away before Tyler could respond.
Tyler finished the oil change in silence. His mind kept circling back to Robert’s words.Perception matters. The business. Sue’s concerned.
He’d been so focused on proving his innocence that he hadn’t considered what this was doing to Robert and Sue. They’d stood by him when Adam started his harassment, but there was a limit to anyone’s loyalty, especially when money was involved.
Sue came in around nine with coffee and a box of scones from somewhere that wasn’t Brooke’s shop. Tyler noticed but didn’t comment.
“Morning,” she said, setting the box on the workbench.
“Morning.”
She poured coffee into two mugs and handed one to Tyler. They stood there for a moment, neither speaking.
“I’m sorry about Monique,” Sue said finally. “I knew her. Not well, but I’d see her at the craft store sometimes. She worked there.”
“I heard.”
“Right across the street from here.” Sue’s tone was careful. Measured. “Must have seen her around, I’d think.”
Tyler took a sip of coffee. It was too hot and burned his tongue. “Maybe. I didn’t really know her.”
“But you went to school together.”
“I graduated eighteen years ago.”
“I heard you dated.”
He paused with the mug halfway toward his lips. “Dated? Monique and me? We never dated.”
“In high school? When I was picking up treats, the woman in line said—”
“I never dated Monique.”
Sue nodded slowly. The expression on her face made it clear that she believed the woman in line over Tyler. “Robert told you about the sheriff calling?”
“Yeah.”
“We’re not trying to make this harder on you, Tyler. We just need to protect ourselves.”
