Tucker told his deputy what he could do with his smart-mouthed theories, then went over to explain the plan to Mary Elizabeth.
“You’ll stay at my place until we know more,” he said. He regarded her with a wry expression. “Though it might be best if you take up residence in the guest room and stay out of my bed, whether I’m in it or not.”
“I’m not dragging you any deeper into this,” she said flatly. “You’ve already gone above and beyond what anyone would expect under the circumstances.”
“Have you got someplace better to stay?”
“I could go to the house Larry and I have in Richmond.”
He shook his head. “Not a good idea. You need to stay here in town.”
“I could stay at the hotel.”
“The walls would start to close in on you in a day.” He studied her thoughtfully. “I suppose I could call Anna-Louise. She’d probably take you in.”
“Your minister? I don’t think so. Besides, isn’t she married to the editor of the Trinity Harbor Weekly?”
Tucker feigned an innocent expression. “Would that be a problem?”
“I suppose that depends on whether he’s likely to bug the guest room when a suspected murderer is in residence,” she said irritably.
“You have a better suggestion?”
“No,” she conceded, then added grudgingly, “Okay, I’ll stay at your place.”
Tucker didn’t like the little chorus of hallelujahs that ran through his head at her response. Right up until that instant, he’d been able to convince himself that he was doing his duty as a police officer, his good deed as a human being. That little flaring of excitement was definitely about something else, something that was supposed to be over and dead. Talk about inappropriate, to say nothing of stupid and self-destructive. He shook his head.
When he glanced at Mary Elizabeth, there was no mistaking her amusement.
“Second thoughts already?” she inquired.
He frowned at the question. “I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do—we’re clear on that, right?”
“Of course,” she said dutifully.
“It has nothing at all to do with…” He couldn’t even bring himself to say the word.
“Sex?”
“Us, dammit. It has nothing to do with us. That’s in the past.”
“Of course,” she soothed.
“Your husband just died,” he reminded both of them.
“The marriage had been over for a long time. I told you that.”
“But you didn’t tell me why.”
“Do we have to get into that now?”
Tucker glanced over and saw the exhaustion and strain in her eyes, around her mouth. But despite that, despite all she’d been through in the past twenty-four hours, she was beautiful. “No, it can wait,” he told her.
She met his gaze. “King’s going to go ballistic when he finds out about this. You know that, don’t you?”
“I can take it. Besides, what good are old friends if you can’t call ’em when you need ’em?”
“We were more than friends, Tucker. And it ended badly. I’m sorrier for that than I can ever tell you. I never meant to hurt you.”
He looked into her eyes, then shook his head. “Let’s not go there. We just agreed that I’m just helping out an old friend. Don’t turn it into anything more.”
“Other people will.”
“Let them. I can handle that, too.”
“But you shouldn’t have to defend yourself on my account. I know how it works around here. At the first whiff of scandal, the vultures will start circling.”
“I’m not worried.”
She gave him a wry look. “You tired of being sheriff?”
“My job’s not at risk, as long as I steer clear of this case.”
“Completely, or in your professional capacity?”
“Both,” he said firmly. “You have an attorney. He’ll be more help than I could be from here on out.”
“But you’re a cop, a trained investigator.”
His gaze narrowed. He was pretty sure he could see right where she was heading with this. “So?” he asked cautiously.
“I need to find out who killed Larry. I won’t be able to rest until I know. Since you insist on letting me stay with you, I might as well take advantage of your expertise.”
“Walker will figure out what happened here yesterday. Your husband was an important man. The sheriff’s department will be highly motivated with or without my involvement.”
She regarded him with a wry expression. “So highly motivated that they’ll want to wrap up the case by arresting the first decent suspect that comes along?”
To Tucker’s everlasting regret, she had a point. Even if he stayed on Walker’s back, it was possible that the quickest solution would be the one people would grab onto. “If it comes to that…”
“It’ll be too late. Don’t they say trails go cold very quickly?”
“Mary Elizabeth, I already have a job. If you want someone besides the police looking into this on your behalf, hire an investigator. I’m sure Powell can recommend a good one.”
“He could, but I trust you.”
He sighed heavily. “I thought you regretted drawing me into this. And I am absolutely certain I heard Powell tell you not to trust me.”
She regarded him solemnly. “He did. And I do regret getting you involved, but you’re in it now. And it was your choice to keep me underfoot where I can pester you. I might as well take advantage of that fact.”
“And my job? What do you propose I do about that?”
“You said yourself you haven’t taken any time off in forever. Since you need to avoid this case and I doubt there’s much else going on in Trinity Harbor, take a vacation or a leave of absence, whatever makes you comfortable. I’ll pay you the going rate to work for me as an investigator.”
“Liz—”
“Two weeks,” she pleaded. “If nothing turns up in two weeks, you can turn it over to another investigator.”
Tucker
