Juanita and Cost had taken advantage of Shelley. Had used her like she was some disposable product manufactured for their entertainment. The idea made CJ sick. They wouldn’t get away with this. That was one thing she could ensure.
And Celeste. Poor Celeste. Nash couldn’t keep getting away with what he was doing to those women.
Braddock joined her on the couch. “You okay?”
CJ closed her eyes, drew in a deep, deep breath. “The one thing I’m certain of right now is that I’m not okay.”
“What those two did is criminal.”
Over dinner she had filled Braddock in on the confrontation between Juanita and Cost.
“I suppose”—CJ opened her eyes—“Carter Cost was the secret man in Shelley’s life.” It killed CJ to think that Shelley had been so happy. She’d thought she finally had a good guy. A guy who was somebody. And he’d only been using her.
Braddock nodded. “You know that makes him a suspect.”
He was right. “Oh my God.” The words he’d screamed at Juanita finally made sense. “He said something like, ‘You don’t know what you’ve done.’” Her gaze lifted to Braddock’s. “Do you think he could have killed her because he thought she was pregnant and would blackmail him or expose him?”
“Before Banks was murdered, I would have said that was very possible. But the MO used to murder Shelley was the same one used on Banks. I can’t see any reason Cost would have killed Banks.”
“True.” CJ made a disparaging sound. “I can guarantee he isn’t man enough to get close to that dog, much less use it as a murder weapon.”
“Sounds like you and Cost have a history.”
“Believe it or not,” CJ hated how this was going to sound, “back in college, Cost dropped Juanita and went after me for a while. Trust me, his motives were merely selfish. He dropped me soon after he had attained his goal. I guess Juanita still carries a grudge.” Poor Shelley. How was she ever supposed to have gotten her life back with odds like this?
But she had been doing exactly that. There was no way to know if her determination would have withstood the pain of learning Cost had used her, had she lived.
CJ dropped her head on the sofa back. How could so many people associated with the village be so crazy? Evil? Maybe it wasn’t all of them, just the ones she knew.
What did that say about her?
That she’d grown up in a dysfunctional, drug-abusing household.
Sad.
“I’ll have Cooper haul Cost in tomorrow just to rattle his cage.” Braddock smiled. “When she gets through with him, he’ll be a far humbler man.”
CJ touched his arm. “Only if I can watch.”
Braddock looked down at her hand on his arm, then lifted his eyes back to hers. That desire was there again. She should have moved her hand. Shouldn’t have just sat there staring at him. But somehow she couldn’t.
He took her hand in his, gently explored it. She told herself to draw her hand away but she couldn’t. Then he leaned toward her, brushed his lips across hers. She eased into the kiss. Couldn’t resist.
Banging on the door had CJ jumping back.
Another round of pounding echoed through the small cabin. Braddock released her hand and went to the front window. He took a look, then opened the door.
Detective Cooper waltzed in, her arms loaded with bags. “I come bearing gifts.”
CJ felt her cheeks redden. Talk about bad timing. If Detective Cooper suspected anything was going on between CJ and Braddock, that could make them both look bad.
Braddock took the Walmart bags from his partner. “What’s that?” He nodded to the big Priority Mail envelope beneath her arm.
“Evidence.” She shot a look across the room at CJ. “I don’t know about you, but I could use some coffee.”
CJ ordered herself to relax. “Sounds good to me.”
“I know what that means.” Braddock set the bags aside and headed for the tiny kitchen.
