strained.
“What?”
He jabbed a finger at her. “You’re just like your mother.”
“That’s not fair.”
“No, it’s not. It’s not fair that she didn’t like me just because of who my family was. It’s not fair that she interfered in our relationship. A lot of things aren’t fair. And you’re following right in her footsteps. You’re judging me without all the facts. Well, that’s fine. You’re entitled to think and say what you want, but I don’t have to stand here and listen to it.” He started to walk off.
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“How are you going to get there? You don’t have a car, remember?”
He held up a cell phone, his eyes narrowed. She shivered at the coldness there. “All too well. However, while there aren’t many, I do have a few friends left in this town. I can get a ride. Or I’ll just walk. It’s not that far.” He spun on his heel and kept going.
Ellen sighed and dropped her chin to her chest. Was he right? Was she being judgmental? The fact that he compared her to her mother made her shudder. “Wait, Lee. Stop. You haven’t even eaten your food.”
“It’s still in the bag, I’ll take it with me.”
He stopped his march at the car, opened the door and pulled out one of the fast-food bags. Then he turned his back on her once more and headed for the edge of her property, which would lead him to the main road. “Who was it, Lee? Who did you recognize?” He didn’t answer, just kept walking. “Lee!”
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Ellen.” And then he disappeared around the edge of the house.
She gave a low groan and took off after him. “Stop, will you?”
She rounded the corner and slammed into his hard chest. “Oof.”
He caught her biceps, the white food bag dangling from one hand. She looked up. The chill in his eyes hadn’t thawed one degree. His features resembled granite. She drew in his scent and swallowed, the past rushing in to blindside her. She remembered clearly being held in his arms. Sitting in the hammock, her ear pressed against his chest, listening to his heart thud a steady beat. She remembered his sweet kisses and whispered promises. She remembered it all. And yearned to go back to recapture each and every moment.
He gently set her away from him and reality intruded. She straightened. There was no going back. There was only now and what the future might bring. And that didn’t include Lee. Once the murders were solved and her mother woke from the coma—and she refused to believe she wouldn’t—Ellen was going to request a transfer. There was no way she was staying Desert Valley forever. She was simply marking time until everything was wrapped up.
No matter what her mother thought—or wanted.
She was still leaving once the murders were solved. Ryder Hayes’ wife’s case was still open after five years, and the two deputies whose deaths originally looked like accidents now appeared to be possible murder victims. And so she and the other deputies were in Desert Valley until these cases were solved. But until then...
“Don’t go,” she blurted. Then bit her lip.
His eyes didn’t soften—but he did hesitate. Hope flared. “I need to think about some things,” he said, “and I need to do that at home. We’ll talk later.”
She sighed. When he was in this kind of mood there was no talking him out of it. “Fine. I’ll give you a ride home. Let me get Carly.”
He studied her a moment, then gave a terse nod. She walked up the steps to the front door, unlocked it and whistled for Carly. The sleek golden retriever with the soft brown eyes bounded over to her and expressed her delight in Ellen’s presence. Ellen scratched the dog’s silky ears then led the way to the truck. She opened Carly’s door and the dog hopped in, sniffing the area. The pups had left their scent and Carly definitely noticed. She finally seemed to accept the smell and settled down. Ellen shut the door and climbed into the driver’s seat. Lee was already in the truck with his seat belt fastened. “Will you at least tell me who you recognized? I need to know.”
* * *
She started the truck and backed out of the spot. Lee considered keeping the information to himself, but couldn’t do it. When she hit the main road, he finally answered her.
“A former inmate,” he said. “And while he served at the same I did, I knew him before I went to prison.” He winced. “Even after everything it still galls me to say that sentence.” He tightened his jaw against the anger then breathed deeply before exhaling slowly. He could tell her this. He used to tell her everything. And even though he wasn’t exactly happy with her jump to judgment, if he had information that could lead to Veronica’s killer, he’d swallow his pride. “I used to hang out with him before I met you.”
“So who is he?”
He sighed. “A troublemaker. Like I said, he was released about the same time I was. Not because he was innocent, but because he’d served his time.”
“A name, Lee.”
He sighed. “Freddie Parrish.”
She lifted a brow. “Freddie Parrish? Wait a minute. I know him. We went to high school with him.”
“Yep. He and I graduated together. I kind of lost track of him after high school, though. We went our separate ways.”
“Yeah. You went to college.”
“Yes.”
“And so did Freddie, for a while. He had options. He could have finished school. He could have just gone to work if he didn’t want to do school. I wonder what made him turn to a life of crime.”
He shook his head. “Some people just make bad decisions, get mixed up with the wrong people. I don’t know.” He rubbed his chin. “You know, they offered a lot of college courses at the prison.”
“Sure, I know that. Including the vet tech program through one of the local colleges in Flagstaff.”
He nodded. “A lot of the inmates take advantage of it to get their education. It gives them hope that when they get out, they can stay straight and get a good job.”
“I think it’s a great idea.”
“I know Freddie took a couple of the courses, and was even real close to finishing the program before he was recruited to work with the program’s veterinarian, who took care of the puppies.”
“What was he in prison for?” she asked.
“He had several DUIs and had gotten off with fines the first couple of times. Then he got into a bar fight with a guy who was supposed to be a friend and cut him with broken bottle. The judge gave him three years. He served all three.”
She tapped the wheel. “We’ll check him out, see if he has an alibi for the shooting.” She handed him her phone. “Send a text to the chief with the information, will you? Tell him I want Freddie brought
