Not once in her life had she ever missed this life or her past. Now it felt as if leaving it behind would close the book on her sister.
And Braddock.
She downed the last of her wine, savored the exquisite flavor. Shivering as she thought of how sex with him had felt, her eyes closed and she let the sensations flow over her.
Okay. She had to stop. She set the empty glass on the table and burrowed into those fabulous pillows. What she needed was sleep.
Her brain refused to cooperate. She couldn’t stop thinking about Braddock. What he’d gone through losing his niece.
He and CJ were both pretty much in the same boat.
She had learned a lot these past few days. As a kid, things had been different. Life in the village had been about staying out of her parents’ way and playing games in the street. She was only just beginning to understand the intensity of that life as an adult. Of being a part of the village the way Shelley had been. Of investigating heinous crimes day in and day out the way Braddock did. Getting caught up in a moment—in the struggle for survival—wasn’t so hard to understand.
She needed to put the past behind her. Whatever happened between her and Braddock from this point forward didn’t need to be about the past.
CJ had to remember that when this was over, she still had a future. So did Braddock.
Whether the two would ever intersect again was yet to be seen.
Her eyes drifted shut with the wine’s coaxing.
Tomorrow maybe she would figure this all out.
She really didn’t want to die trying.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Ditto Landing, 10:30 p.m.
Carter watched the headlights go black.
His heart rate bumped up a notch.
He surveyed the dark, wooded park around him. As he’d turned from the Parkway onto Hobbs Road, he’d been nearly certain he was being followed. But when he’d taken the first entrance into the park, the other car had continued on.
This whole cloak-and-dagger shit was just too much.
Carter stared at the big SUV a few yards in front of his BMW. No one had gotten out. Carter damned sure wasn’t getting out first.
What the hell did this scumbag want now?
Carter needed that video. He didn’t have to ask what was on it. He remembered every damned detail of that night in gut-wrenching detail.
The argument he’d had with Shelley, the things he’d said ... they were motive. He didn’t need a lawyer or a cop to tell him; he knew perfectly well. According to CJ, the police didn’t have a damned clue who had killed Shelley.
If Carter was lucky, it would stay that way.
The whore was dead.
End of story.
And Lusk. When he found that bitch he was going to get the truth out of her one way or another.
The autopsy had determined that Shelley had not been pregnant. He had agreed with CJ that labs did occasionally make mistakes.
But not with his life!
Someone was going to pay for that mistake.
