a waitress. I’m not sure why, but she attached herself to me like a pesky little sister.”
He paused a moment to swallow against the lump that rose in the back of his throat as he thought of the vibrant, happy young woman who had been his friend and now was gone forever.
“She didn’t know anyone in town, and for some reason she decided I needed a friend as badly as she did. We spent a lot of time together, but there was absolutely nothing romantic between us. To me, she was just a kid, and she even tried to matchmake for me, insisting I needed a good woman in my life.”
A new wave of sorrow swept through Nick.
Adrienne stared at him. Her fork, sporting a small piece of lettuce, halted halfway between her plate and her mouth. “In every text, in every email I got from Wendy when she arrived here in town, you were the only person she ever talked about.”
“You already said that, but that doesn’t make me her lover, and it definitely doesn’t make me the man who murdered her,” Nick countered. He picked up a French fry and then dropped it back to his plate, his appetite gone.
“She was like the little sister I never had. I knew she probably wouldn’t be in town for long. She told me her plan was to eventually visit all fifty states and work all different kinds of jobs. When she disappeared, like everyone else, I just figured she’d gotten a wild hair and had moved on. I was devastated when we found her body.”
“On the ranch where you work,” Adrienne replied flatly. She placed the piece of lettuce into her mouth and chewed it with the expression of somebody tasting something nasty. She swallowed and then leaned forward slightly. “You had means and the opportunity to kill her and hide her body.”
“You’re missing one important factor. Aside from the fact that I didn’t do it, what would have been my motive? Why on earth would I want to kill Wendy?”
“I don’t know, but that’s what I intend to find out. Maybe it was a lover’s quarrel that got out of hand. Maybe you have a bad temper and lost it with her.”
Nick sighed and thought of all the things Wendy had told him about her older sister. Stubborn and rigid, Wendy had said about Adrienne. Controlling and a right fighter, Wendy had added and explained that she’d needed to get some distance from Adrienne to figure out who she was away from her sister’s firm thumb.
He knew that this little meeting had done nothing to change Adrienne’s belief that he’d killed her sister. Adrienne had made up her mind and nothing was going to change it.
“Have you spoken to Chief Bowie yet?” he asked.
“Not yet. I stopped at the station earlier this morning, but he was out on a call. I expect to meet with him sometime this afternoon,” she replied.
That would probably only make things worse, Nick thought. He knew he was high on the list of suspects, although they had no evidence tying him to the crime and wouldn’t find any because he was innocent.
“The investigation into Wendy’s murder has just barely begun,” he said. “It would be nice if you had an open mind.”
Her shoulders shot back defensively. “I do have an open mind, but I can’t ignore my gut instinct, and all of that instinct is pointing directly to you. I don’t know you, but I do know that I don’t trust you.”
“Then, maybe the answer to that is that you get to know me,” he replied evenly. “Look, you’ve already made it clear that you believe I’m guilty and that you intend to keep an eye on me so that no other woman gets hurt or maybe you think I’ll somehow give you the evidence you need for me to be arrested. Why not work with me to find the real killer?”
She stared at him as if he’d grown a steer horn in the middle of his forehead. “Why not leave any investigation to the police instead of working with you?” she countered.
“Because Chief Bowie doesn’t just have Wendy’s murder to occupy his time and attention. I don’t know if you heard, but there were six skeletons found in the same area as Wendy’s body. There’s no question that he’ll do the best that he can on Wendy’s case, but he’s got a lot on his plate right now.”
In some place in the back of his mind, Nick knew he was probably crazy to even entertain some sort of partnership with Adrienne. But as he gazed into her lovely eyes and saw the hint of vulnerability that softened her lips, more than anything he wanted her to believe in his innocence.
Dammit, he was innocent.
“I’d be crazy to even consider working with you,” she said slowly. “But I’ve been more than a little crazy since Chief Bowie contacted me about Wendy’s death.”
Nick reached up and touched his eye. “You were definitely a little crazy last night.”
Her cheeks grew pink, only making her prettier. “That wasn’t me. I mean, that was completely out of character for me. I don’t believe in vigilante justice. I believe in rules and following the law. Before last night, I’d never hit another person in my entire life.” She narrowed her gaze, as if blaming him for the way she’d acted.
Nick once again picked up a fry and popped it into his mouth. The ball was now in her court. She could either work with him or against him, but he wasn’t going to waste any more of his time or energy trying to talk her into anything.
For the next few minutes, another awkward silence fell, and they each focused on their lunch. He felt the surreptitious glances she threw in his direction, but he kept his gaze on his plate. He had a feeling she was weighing her options.
One thing the conversation had done for Nick was make him decide that he was going to actively try to find Wendy’s killer, with or without Adrienne.
What he’d said about Chief Bowie was true. The man had a lot on his plate right now and a small force to deal with everything. Dillon was a good man, a good investigator, and he had good men on the police force, but Nick wanted his own name cleared sooner rather than later.
She finished her salad before he’d finished his burger. She shoved her dish aside, grabbed her purse and clutched it to her chest in a defensive manner.
“Okay,” she said.
He raised an eyebrow, unsure what exactly she was okaying.
“Okay, I’ll work with you,” she said. “Although I feel like I’m making a deal with the devil.”
Nick frowned. “Trust me, the devil is still out there somewhere. Why don’t we plan on meeting here first thing in the morning and we can figure out where we’ll go from there.”
She slid out of the booth. “Nine o’clock?”
“Sounds good,” he replied.
With a curt nod of her head, she turned and walked away. Nick watched her go, unable to help but notice that she had a nice butt. In fact, she had a slim but slamming body.
His frown deepened. There was no question that he was perversely physically attracted to Adrienne Bailey as he hadn’t been attracted to a woman in a very long time. She was definitely a hot little number.
But she didn’t like him. She believed he’d killed her sister, and he knew she’d do whatever
