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‘That idiot Jasmine called asking me about you. I knew that if you’d been wearing your ring, she wouldn’t have had to ask about our relationship.”
Riley gritted the words out, trying not to blow up at her. He was sure she thought her reasoning was sound, but it made no sense to him, and the fact that she didn’t seem to realize why he was so pissed only pissed him off further. “Did I put that ring around your fucking neck? You want something to wear around your neck. I can help you with that.”
“Whoa, why are you still so upset? It’s not like I threw it in a drawer somewhere; I’m still wearing it…” Riley’s look of incredulity stopped her flow of words. “I think you should go back inside; I have shit to do.”
“Riley…”
“Go, and call me when you figure out what the…what you’ve done wrong.” He turned the ignition on while she sat there waiting for him to look at her, but he never did.
Celia got down from the truck feeling bereft and lost. Her stomach dropped a little when Riley peeled out of the parking lot, leaving her standing there, and she wanted to cry. Was it really such a big deal?
CHAPTER 25
“Well, look who it is, Constance. Detective, what brings you all the way out here this time of the evening?” Celia climbed down from the SUV and made her way up to the front porch where the two women were sitting enjoying the early evening breeze and what looked like tall glasses of lemonade, which she knew was a little bit more than that.
“Hi ladies, mind if I join you?” Lenore and Constance shared a look between each other before making room on the oversized porch swing so she could sit in the middle of them. “How are you doing, love? The job giving you fits? I have to say it’s been one hell of a year, what with people dropping like flies.”
“This keeps up; we’re going to be down to ten people in the whole town. You, that beautiful baby boy Pete, your man, and us two with a few stragglers.” Lenore smiled wanly as Celia plopped tiredly down between them. The poor girl looked plum tuckered out. Young people these days have their priorities all screwed up one side and down the other. If she had that hunk of a man Riley waiting at home for her, she’d hardly leave the bed, let alone go stand over dead bodies all damn day.
She didn’t say any of this to the poor girl, though, because the child looked like she had the whole world on her shoulders. Celia felt like shit for more reasons than one. As if Riley’s behavior wasn’t giving her a headache, this case had turned into something way worse than she’d expected with its many twists and turns.
After Riley had driven off in a huff leaving her to question what the heck had gotten up his butt, James Wyatt had shown up with Pete and Ryan right on his heels; it seemed like. She’d just sat down to talk with James when the other two walked into the station, but since the situation was delicate, she’d kept the two men apart for now, even though they were both there for the same reason.
According to the D.A., since there was no crime on the books for what Connie had done, they had no choice but to let her go. If Ryan wanted to, he could pursue a civil case against her because of what the charges had done to his reputation, but other than that, there really was nothing else to be done. Celia’s issue now was finding someone to take the girl before she called children services, something she dreaded doing because it was obvious that the girl needed help, and she didn’t hold out much hope that she’d get it if she ended up in the system.
“Mr. Wyatt, thanks for coming down. I gather that you know why you’re here…”
“Actually, no, I don’t. I was told something about the girl which, if that’s true, I don’t see what any of it has to do with me. If her bitch of a mother is trying after all this time to extort money from me, tell her I’d see her in hell first.”
There was such venom in his tone that Detective Sparks was slightly taken aback. Oh, there’s a story there, alright, no doubt about it. “This isn’t about that, your daughter…”
“Don’t call her that; she’s not mine and never was.”
“Are you saying that Connie is not yours?”
“No, she’s not. Why don’t you ask her bitch of a mother about that?”
“Well, why didn’t you say so on the phone? Why did you come down here?”
“Because I want to put an end to this mess right here and now so that you people don’t ever try getting me involved with these people again. Do you want to know how that kid came to be? I’ll tell you.” James had to stop to take a deep breath. It had been years since he’d thought about back then, only a few times here and there over the years when it would crop up out of nowhere, and he’d have to fight the hate and anger.
