Rory had spent an hour walking around the backyard. The yard wasn’t that large, but she’d spent a good deal of that time weeding flower beds and just admiring the many things her aunt had planted over the years. She had owned this place since she was about Rory’s age. There was a lifetime of Lulu here.
For Rory it felt good to be outside and to breathe the warm air without fear of who might come after her or that her time outside her cold, austere cell was almost up. Freedom smelled and tasted better than almost anything.
As good as this felt, she reminded herself this freedom was only temporary. There were already hearings happening to determine if she was a flight risk. Her attorney, Gerald Patterson, had insisted in his last phone call to her that she needn’t worry.
But she did and would.
You didn’t lose everything when you had done nothing wrong and learn to trust again easily. She wasn’t sure she would ever trust anyone other than Austin again. She had trusted Lulu, of course, but Lulu was gone.
The sound of a car turning into the driveway had her hurrying back into the house. It was about time for the Colby Agency investigator to arrive, but she wanted to be sure before goingaround front. Again, it was the trust thing. In the living room, a quick peek out the window confirmed she had made the right decision.
A convertible sports car had parked in her driveway. Two men hopped out and headed for her door.
Rory drew back from the window. Her gaze flew to the new dead bolt. It was locked, as was the other lock. Should she call the police?
She rolled her eyes. Like they would come. And even if they did, somehow it would be turned around and made to appear her fault.
A bang on the door made her jump.
“We know you’re in there,” a deep male voice warned. “You don’t have to open the door or come out. We just want to give you a message.”
A sudden blast of fury obliterating her fear, she unlocked the door and yanked it open, then she pushed open the screen door, forcing the two to step back. She looked from one to the other. Cade Coleman and Ronnie Smith. Both lifelong friends of Pete’s.
“I’m listening.” She looked from Cade to Ronnie.
Both men stared at her as if they’d lost their collective nerve, or maybe they were just so startled that she would risk opening the door they couldn’t remember what they’d come to say.
“You’re not going to get away with what you did,” Ronnie warned. “One way or the other, we’ll see that you don’t.”
Rory stepped past the screen door, let it slam behind her. “What will you do, Ronnie? Kill me? Is that what you believe Pete would want you to do?”
“Don’t even say his name,” Cade growled. “You lost that right when you murdered him.”
Rory flinched. “Well, we agree on one thing.” She stared the former high school football star in the eyes. “He was murdered all right, but it was a couple of guys—like the two of you—whodid it.” She looked from one to the other. “Maybe even friends of his.”
Fury whipped across Cade’s face. “You better watch your mouth—that kind of thing can get you dead.”
Her heart pounded so hard she could barely breathe…but that beating in her chest was the only thing that told her she was alive anymore. Otherwise, she had died two years, one month and four days ago…the same night as her husband. The husband she did not…would not…could not have hurt, much less murdered.
“Don’t waste your time,” she said, the bravado draining away, defeat taking its place. “I’m already dead.”
She turned her back on the two and went inside. She didn’t even lock the door. What was the point? If those two wanted to storm her house, she couldn’t stop them. Maybe she wouldn’t even try.
Raised voices drew her back to the window. A Jackson County police cruiser had pulled into her driveway next to the convertible. The deputy was yelling at the two men. Rory couldn’t determine who he was since his back was turned to her. But she hadn’t called the police.
She shook her head. Ronnie and Cade would assume she had. Great. Now the two would be even angrier.
Cade spun out of her driveway, spraying gravel. What a fool. The one thing Rory knew with complete certainty was that Pete would be ashamed of his friends. Angry too. He would never have allowed anyone to talk to her that way.
But Pete was gone.
A knock on her door had her jumping again.
She pressed a hand to her chest and went to the window. The deputy—surprise flared inside her as she recognized him as Shane Carter, Pete’s cousin—was standing at her door.
Fingers fumbling, she quickly unlocked and opened it. For a moment, she stared at the man through the screen door.
Then he drew it open. “Hey, Rory.”
