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I sucked in a breath. I already knew she felt that way, but it still hurt. Maybe because the woman who had raised me would never have said such a thing in front of an audience. That was the sort of thing that was only said in the deep privacy of one’s home.
“Wise or not, I’m leaving anyway.” I headed into the kitchen, not surprised when my mother followed me. I grabbed my purse from the breakfast room table as I headed for the back door.
“Why are you still looking for Ava?”
“Because Chief Larson won’t!” I practically shouted.
“You think the police failed your sister,” she called after me. “But did you ever consider that the blame may fall at your feet?”
My heart stuttered as I turned to face her, words escaping me.
Her face was crimson and her eyes wild. “If you hadn’t disobeyed me, if you hadn’t gone to that creek, your sister wouldn’t be dead.”
I sucked in a breath, her words like a knife to the heart. “And then you’d have the good one, right?” I pushed past the ball of emotion burning in my throat. “You wouldn’t be stuck with me.”
I didn’t give her a chance to respond, because while I’d always believed it, I was too fragile to have it confirmed.
I fled.
Chapter 22
The parking lot was full at Scooter’s when I pulled in a few minutes after eight. I saw Louise’s car in the back, so I knew she’d beat me here.
When I walked in, I let my eyes adjust to the light before I found Louise at a table with Nate and a man I didn’t recognize. Empty baskets had been shoved to the side of the table, and the three were deep in conversation when I approached them.
Louise glanced up at me as I pulled out a chair. She was wearing a cream-colored cable-knit sweater over jeans, her dark hair spilling over her shoulders.
“I see you’ve met Nate,” I said as I slipped my coat over the back of the chair.
“They found me,” she said with a laugh. “They realized who I was and invited me to their table.”
The man next to Nate glanced up at me, his face expressionless.
Nate saw where my gaze had landed and said, “I’m sorry. Harper, this is Drew Sylvester. Drew, this is Harper.”
I wasn’t sure if Nate had purposely left off my last name, but I was guessing Drew knew exactly who I was.
“Nice to meet you,” I said with a nod, not sure if he was up for a handshake.
“Likewise,” he said with a slight dip of his chin.
“I’m going to get a drink,” I said, thumbing toward the bar. “Can I get anyone anything?”
They glanced down at their fresh-looking drinks. “I’m good,” Louise said.
“Same,” the men said in unison.
I headed over to the bar, not surprised when James Malcolm walked over to me with an expectant look.
“Your usual, Detective?” he asked in a sly tone.
“How would you know my usual?” I asked flippantly. “I’ve been in here twice and ordered different things both times.”
His eyes shifted to the side toward Nate’s table, then back to me. “Jack and Coke.”
I lifted a brow. That was what I’d planned to order, but I wasn’t about to give this man the satisfaction of thinking he was right. “Wrong. I’ll take a beer.”
Releasing a short laugh, he shook his head. “Right. The draft you had this afternoon?”
