When he didn’t answer, she decided she’d had enough. “Come, Bruno.”
Rueger didn’t stop her as she left the interrogation room. Cam had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He abruptly straightened when she emerged.
“Let’s get out of here.” His voice was a low growl. No doubt, his interview had been worse than hers.
They didn’t speak until they were settled in her SUV with Bruno in the back crate area. She glanced at him as she left the police station parking lot. “I’m sorry, Cam. I feel like this is my fault.” Her gaze darted to Bruno. “Well, Bruno’s fault since he found the bone.”
He shrugged, his expression seeming to have been carved from stone. “It’s better to know the truth. Too bad, I don’t think Rueger is as interested in uncovering the truth as he is in finding me guilty.”
She reached over to touch his knee. “He’s just mad because he was wrong all those years ago. We kept telling him that Skye didn’t leave without saying anything to us. Now he’s faced with a fourteen-year-old cold case because he didn’t listen.”
Cam stared straight ahead. “I won’t blame you for moving into your own room, rather than sharing the suite.”
“You didn’t hurt Skye.” She tightened her fingers on his knee. “The person who shot at my house did. He’s the one Rueger needs to be looking for.”
He covered her hand with his for a moment, then released her. He cleared his throat, finally seeming to relax a bit. “Thanks for that. And I tried to tell Rueger the same thing. I pointed out that I came back to Grand Haven voluntarily. That I want to know who was responsible for hurting Skye all those years ago as much as he does.” There was another pause, before he added, “Maybe more.”
“He seems fixated on some argument you had with Skye.” She glanced at him. “I told him I didn’t know anything about a disagreement between the two of you.”
“It’s true, we did argue.” Cam grimaced. “It wasn’t that big of a deal, not the way he’s making it out to be.”
The news surprised her. “What did you argue about?”
He sighed. “Skye wanted us to move to Grand Rapids together. To find jobs and a place to live. When I told her I planned to join the army in September, she was not happy.”
Evie pulled into the parking lot of the hotel and drove around to the back the way they had earlier. Then she shifted into park and turned to look at him. “I didn’t realize you and Skye talked about moving in together.”
“That’s just it, we didn’t.” His voice rose in frustration. “I never asked her to marry me or move in with me. We had fun, I liked and cared for her, but I never planned on spending the rest of my life with her.” He turned in his seat to face her. “Did she tell you differently?”
“No, not at all.” She hastened to reassure him. “Skye knew I planned to attend college for nursing. Being a lifeguard only made me realize how much I enjoyed helping people. Skye flat-out told me she had no interest in attending college, and she couldn’t wait to get out of small-town Grand Haven.” She thought back to those early summer days. She’d looked forward to graduating from high school and moving on with her life. They all had. Even Cam had mentioned he was excited to see the world as an army soldier.
“She didn’t ask to share an apartment with you?” Cam asked.
“No. But that was because I told Skye that college freshmen were required to live in the dorms. Something she couldn’t do if she wasn’t planning to enroll in college.” She shrugged. “I just figured she would live with her mother until she found a job and made enough to move out on her own.”
“Yeah.” Cam jammed his fingers through his short hair. “I can’t believe she’s dead. That she never even left town the way we thought.”
“It’s not our fault, Cam. We’re not responsible for what happened to Skye.” She stared at the other cars in the parking lot. “Maybe we should be searching harder for her car. Whoever killed her must have taken and dumped it somewhere.”
He arched a brow. “You think we’re going to succeed in solving a fourteen-year-old murder before the police?”
She flushed, realizing how naïve she sounded. “Someone shot at me tonight for a reason. And to be honest, I think we have far more motivation to uncover the truth than Rueger. As you said, he’d just as soon take the easy way of arresting you, rather than finding the real killer.”
Cam didn’t say anything for a long time. She didn’t move to get out of the car either.
Then he surprised her by reaching for her hand. A little jolt of awareness zinged up her arm, but she did her best to ignore it.
She and Cam might be working together, but there was no reason to unearth her old feelings for him.
They were friends. And once they knew who killed Skye, they’d go their separate ways.
Just like they had fourteen years ago.
Cam was secretly relivedEvie believed in his innocence. That he’d never hurt, much less kill, Skye. Looking at Evie in the darkness of the car, he was struck by how pretty she was. He hadn’t known Evie that well until he and Skye had started seeing each other. And while he and Evie had worked as lifeguards together, he’d always known she was off-limits.
There was no way he could have broken up with Skye to start dating his former girlfriend’s best friend.
Besides, he’d known joining the army meant leaving his old life behind. He hadn’t wanted to get serious with anyone. Not Skye or Evie. Cam had never regretted making that decision. At least, not until their last day in Afghanistan when he’d lost more than half his teammates.
