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ell me Charlotte was in your cabin with Alex?”
“Nope.” Lily took a long swig of the whiskey. “Worse.”
“What could be worse than that?”
Lily sank back into the cushions and stared up at the antler chandelier dangling from the ceiling. “She was packing.”
“Packing what?”
Lily let those two words sink in for a few seconds and nodded when Sara’s hand flew to her mouth, and she sucked in a shocked breath. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Sara said as she grabbed the glass from Lily. “What did she say?”
“That’s just it. She didn’t really say anything.” Lily sniffed as she plucked a fresh tissue out of the box, dropping a twisted handful of damp rejects on the growing pile at the end of the coffee table. “Except that she would never cheat on me, but let’s just say that it was clear that whatever she was wearing, it wasn’t for me. All she said is that she ‘couldn’t explain yet.’”
Sara finished the whiskey and put the glass back on the table, her eyebrows narrowing as she listened to the scenario. “And?”
“That I needed to ‘trust’ her.”
“I swear to God,” Sara said, glancing down the hall to her bedroom. “If I came home and Sam was strapped on for someone else, it would be her staying in my old cabin until she came up with a believable excuse.”
“So…” Lily finally broke into a smile. “Permanently?”
“Exactly.” Sara shook her head. “I actually like Alex, so I want to give her the benefit of the doubt.” She paused, shaking her head as she pulled the sleeves of her bright blue fleece down over her hands. “But I know from experience that Charlotte is an elite-level flirt and laser focused on what she wants.” She paused, drawing in a long breath. “No matter who else gets hurt.”
Lily nodded. “I asked her where she’d been.” Lily’s voice cracked, and she covered her eyes to block out the movie reel playing in her mind. “And she said she’d just come back from Charlotte’s cabin.”
“So that’s why you’re sure it wasn’t…” Sara paused. “For you?”
“Yeah.” Lily shook her head, her fingers tense and white around the tissues. “I was the last thing on her mind if she forgot to take it off.”
“Lily.” Sara’s eyes welled up with tears. “I’m so sorry. I wish there was something else this could be.”
“At least I know now, I guess.” Lily dried her eyes and picked up her pile of tissues, dropping them in the trash under the kitchen sink. “How do you feel about walking me over to your cabin?” She paused, looking at her bag by the door. “Shit. I just have my purse with me. Should I go back for my toothbrush and stuff?”
Sara got up and picked up Lily’s bag, holding her hand out. “Don’t worry about anything. There are new toothbrushes in the bathroom drawer, and I even still have a stack of clean pajamas upstairs in the loft chest of drawers.”
“Thanks, Sara.” Lily gave her friend a long hug before they walked out into the cool night air. “I’m always alone in LA, but somehow here, I knew I could just come over and we’d figure it out.”
“Always.” Sara opened the door and put her arm around Lily as she stepped outside. “LA is overrated. If you’re going to get your heart broken, it might as well be in McCall, where your best friend knows to drop a flask in your bag for the night.”
Sam’s security lights glinted off the stainless steel flask that had appeared in Lily’s bag. She pulled her in for a hug, and they started the short, dark walk to the lakeside cabin.
* * *
Alex watched the sunrise the next morning from the chairs outside the cabin, the sheer wash of gold light moving slowly across her body as she stared out over the water, still listening for the sound of Lily’s footsteps on the path. She hadn’t been to sleep since Lily left, and it was everything she could do to not run to Sam and Sara’s house and tell Lily everything. But what could she really say to her? She’d given Sam her word she wouldn’t tell anyone until it was over, and the case was so involved at this point that it would take telling Lily every detail to have even a shot at her actually understanding. There just wasn’t time.
Alex stared at the diving watch on her arm; she had exactly an hour to get her act together. She’d been sitting outside in jeans and a sports bra since dawn, her eyes on fire from tears and lack of sleep. She had to find a way to shake it off before she fucked up the entire operation. There was a lot more at stake today than her relationship, and everything was riding on her ability to get herself together and act like the only thing on her mind was access to underage girls.
Shake it off. Time to draw a line under this and get into the mindset of a sex trafficker. A fish flipped out of the water just past the shore and swam away, the ripples expanding until they met the sand just beyond Alex’s feet. All I have to do is forget that the future I never knew I wanted just disappeared into thin air.
An hour later, Alex walked into the McCall police station three minutes before she was supposed to be there. The receptionist, a portly woman in pleated corduroy pants and an “I Love Cats” lapel pin, escorted her to a conference room in the back where Sam and a dozen other officers were sitting around a long table. The air was initially tense and silent, at least until Murphy whistled through his teeth and started a slow clap.
“Damn, man.” Murphy shook his head as a ripple of laughter started around the table. “You look so fly, I’m starting to think I might be gay.” The room filled with laughter, and the tension faded as Murphy looked Alex up and down.
Alex smiled and straightened the placket on her G-Star button-up denim shirt. She’d used nipple tape underneath to give the shirt a distinctly masculine line and rolled the sleeves casually to her elbows. Slim linen trousers and Italian leather loafers completed the laid-back Miami vibe.
“What can I say?” Alex took a seat at the table and winked at Sam and Murphy. “I’m Cuban. We know how to dress.”
Alex pulled a notepad placed at her seat closer and uncapped a pen, looking to Sam.
