AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Why he had that in an artists’ studio, I didn’t know. But what was another’s loss was my gain.
“What do you think?” he asked, coming up from behind me.
I turned and studied him with my arms across my chest. “I like it.”
He looked relieved as he blew out a breath.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Sunny looked at the footage,” he answered. “He’s on his way here.”
“Oh boy,” I said. “That can’t be good.”
It wasn’t.
Twenty minutes later, Sunny was there, standing in the middle of what would be my new work home, looking haggard and tired.
“…came to town sometime last week and started asking questions,” he said. “As far as I know, he had to find the cash to get here. When he finally did, he headed straight here. He’s staying with an old friend in that trailer park off the interstate. Got a job with his buddy on a construction crew.”
“Okay,” I hesitated. “So have you talked to him?”
“I did,” he said. “The only thing I can get him on right now is trespassing. And that’s only a warning from me. The next time, I’ll be able to file charges if he trespasses again. But until then…”
“He has the truck that belongs to her,” Davis interjected then.
“As of five minutes ago, it’s parked back in your garage. I went and checked myself before talking to him,” Sunny said.
“Who is ‘him?’” I asked.
“Denny McCollum,” he answered. “He’s thirty-one years old, white male. He has a few priors, assault and theft, but none of them in the last ten years.”
I sighed. “So what am I supposed to do?” I asked. “Wait for him to make a mistake? Hurt me?”
“No,” he said. “But I would get some cameras up at your place.” He looked at Davis. “And I would ask someone to stay over with you to make sure that you’re never left alone and vulnerable.”
I groaned. “Do you think he murdered Herb?”
Sunny shook his head. “It’s pointing right now toward a female.”
I gasped. “A female?”
“An elderly female that was dating him,” Sunny said, “but that’s unofficial, and I can’t give you that information legally yet.”
I looked at Davis in shock.
Herb was knocked off by his girlfriend.
“I wonder if there was some cheating going on?” I wondered. “Herb was a notorious flirt.”
“Could be,” Sunny shrugged, looking as if he was about to change the subject.
It was more than obvious that he didn’t want to talk about it, which was making me want to laugh.
Hence I had to change the subject back to something that would continue to make him uncomfortable.
“So, about my best friend,” I said. “What’s the connection you two have?”
Sunny’s eyes went alert and wary.
“I can’t tell you that either,” he admitted. “Is she doing okay?”
His concern for her was almost palpable.
“Sara is doing,” I said. “She’s not ready to tell us. So I was hoping that I could get you to give me a little information on what’s stressing her out.”
He sighed. “I can’t.”
And that fuckin’ sucked.
“So what do we need to do about this Denny guy?” Davis asked. “Just sit on our hands and wait for him to make a mistake?”
Hopefully that mistake not being killing me as he slipped into my own home.
“As of right now…yes,” Sunny said.
It took another ten minutes for Sunny to leave.
Then Davis and Kobe started listing off things that were about to happen.
One of which was my getting a security system.
Two, I was getting all new locks and dead bolts put on my door.
Third, Davis would be staying with me indefinitely.
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
The real question was, why was I A-OK with it, and more importantly, why was it making me want to cry?
CHAPTER 16
The only place I’ll be flying this year is off the fucking handle.
-Greer to Davis
DAVIS
The doorbell rang, and I cursed.
Why did I curse? Because Bryan—or Bo Seefus, hell, I didn’t know the difference, only that one liked TikTok, and the other liked Jesus—decided to start yelling about “the power of Christ compelling you.”
I wasn’t sure who was more surprised.
Sara when I opened the door to Greer’s house, or me when I opened the door to find Sara there.
Then I cursed myself inwardly because she hadn’t been in any of the thoughts that’d crossed my mind in the last twenty-four hours. Not a single one.
Damn, I was a bad best friend.
Greer had been the only one there, front and center, and that made me feel sort of horrible.
“What are you doing here?” I opened the door wide to allow Sara passage, trying not to let my guilt show on my face.
She held up the coffee cups in her hand and then said, “You may call it third wheeling. But I’m calling it a reminder that I was here fucking first.”
I snorted out a laugh, then pulled her into me for a kiss on the head.
