Braddock nodded. “We were supposed to plan your meeting with him.”
She shrugged. “I found the video equipment and I got fired up. You weren’t here, so ...”
“He could have forced you to tell him the truth right there in his house.” Braddock’s jaw started that flexing that meant he was pissed. “You went in his house and basically threatened him. You ordered my detective to stay in his car. If I hadn’t showed up—”
“I was already out the door when you showed up,” she argued. He wasn’t going to make her feel like a fool. She’d gotten a reaction out of the man. “It’s like you said, he’ll be on the move tonight. Attempting to find that tape. If he comes in here, that’s breaking and entering.”
Braddock shook his head. “It won’t be him. It’ll be some of his men. Like always.”
Had she done nothing right? “So what do I do? You’re the damned detective.”
“You come home with me, where you’ll be safe.”
“Braddock, I can’t—”
“Don’t argue.” He exhaled a weary breath. Pain flashed across his face. “Celeste Martin’s body was found today.”
CJ’s heart sank into her stomach. “He killed her because of me.”
“No,” Braddock said firmly. “He killed her because he’s a lowlife scumbag.”
She wrapped her arms around her middle. She’d known Celeste was probably dead but hearing it ...Dear God.
“Pack for an overnight stay,” he ordered. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
Wait. She pushed away the misery. His suggestion would ruin everything. “What if Nash sees me leave with you? I didn’t put on that performance for nothing.”
“You leave in your car. Then I’ll leave. We’ll rendezvous at the cabin. I’ll keep you in sight to make sure you don’t have a tail. I’ll give Jenkins the night off.”
She nodded. “I can be ready in five minutes.”
He gave her a nod. “I’ll be waiting downstairs.”
CJ watched him walk away, her mind reeling. What if this didn’t work? What if Tyrone didn’t show in the morning?
Would she ever know who killed her sister?
She stared up at the small hole in the ceiling over the bed. Why couldn’t there have been a tape in there?
Someone had to know what happened.
Who had taken the tape out of that VCR?
Had Shelley hidden it? Taken it with her to blackmail the person she’d left with that night?
How the hell was CJ ever going to find out?
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Monte Sano State Park, 6:40 p.m.
It was cooler on the mountain.
Once she and Braddock had rendezvoused at the cabin, he drove her to Hampton Cove to pick up dinner. It wasn’t like there would be any delivery service deep in the woods of the state park. And for the first time since she’d gotten Braddock’s phone call, she was hungry. Really hungry.
She’d eaten her fill of steamed vegetables and fried rice. Now she felt tired and satisfied to some degree. She had called Juanita about the key. She hadn’t answered so CJ had left a voicemail. One way or another she was getting in that clinic tomorrow.
There were many things about her sister’s life that she now understood. Like the deceit and the inability to depend upon those who were supposed to provide protection—law enforcement officers ... and medical personnel.
