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“Yeah. After Lloyd set the fire, he fled and hid out for a while. When Nash and I put the pieces together, we started digging into Lloyd’s life. Hard. We found out he’d purchased an airline ticket with his credit card and got there in time to apprehend him before he boarded the plane. We almost missed him.”
“Damn.”
I nodded. It had been a crazy week, and I was exhausted. The case was over, and although I wanted to relax, I had to deal with the issue at home. The thought of trying to sort that mess out made my stomach twist. Kat and I had just started to get comfortable with each other. But I still couldn’t marry her.
“But what happened with the woman? Why did Lloyd kill her?” Frank asked.
“Ah, that was the million-dollar question. Turns out she never wanted to run off with Lloyd. In fact, she had told a few friends from out of state about him and said he was scaring her. She had tried to end the affair, but Lloyd thought her marriage was the obstacle. He figured taking out Herman would free her to be with him. When she told him that wasn’t what she wanted, he killed her.”
Kate and her kids walked into the room. Jack made a beeline for Frank’s legs, nearly taking him and Ava out.
“Whoa, buddy.” Frank laughed and tousled Jack’s hair once he’d regained his balance.
“He’s been dying to see you,” Peter said.
Then he turned to me, as if I needed an explanation. “He doesn’t get to see Frank and Mindy much since they’re busy with the girls and the camp.”
Kate kissed Frank’s cheek and then mine and circled back to the door. She walked past Kat in the doorway and gave her a peck too. Kat was staring at me with a shell-shocked look in her eyes. I frowned, and she shook her head like she was coming out of a fog.
“Mindy sent me to get you, Frank,” she said.
He walked around her and into the kitchen. Kat was still looking at me funny, and I walked over and pulled her against me. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“That face doesn’t look like nothing. Are you jealous that Kate kissed me?”
She laughed but wouldn’t make eye contact. “Don’t be silly.”
I quirked one eyebrow. “Am I?”
“Yes. Do you want something to drink?”
“You’re deflecting.”
“Let it go,” she whispered.
“For now.”
She huffed and then folded her arms over her chest. “Drink?”
I smirked. “Beer, please.”
Without responding, she turned and walked back into the kitchen.
“What was that about?” Peter asked.
“Nosy much?” I joked.
“Making sure everything is good.”
“I think she was a little jealous of your wife’s greeting.”
Peter chuckled. “I am too. I told her to stop putting her lips all over my friends, but she just pats my arm and tells me to shut up.”
I laughed. Kate was the sweetest person I’d ever met. And although I’d asked her out when she first arrived in Oak Springs, she was only a friend now. A fantastic friend.
Kat returned with a beer. She handed it to me and tried to retreat, but I grabbed her wrist and hauled her against me. “We’re not doing this.”
