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He grinned and gave her a wink. “Day’s not over yet.”
Nineteen
On the way to Jesslyn’s, James made a call to nail down the exhumation while Cole worked to contact Julie Darwin. Ten minutes later, he pulled into Jesslyn’s drive and cut the engine, thankful the call to Commander Hill had been productive. The man was going to fight to get the exhumation scheduled ASAP. “I’m really curious about this myself,” his supervisor said. “This case is about the wonkiest I’ve ever heard of and I’ve heard of wonky.”
Wonky was one word for it. James shook his head, glanced back at Cole, who had to be getting tired of his bodyguard role, and waved.
Cole waved back, a signal that all was well and Lainie could exit the car.
He hurried her into the house and she stopped just inside the door, pulling her phone from her back pocket. “It’s work. I need to take this.”
“Go ahead. I’m just going to crash on the couch for a few minutes.” He was loath to admit his back was hurting, but the knowing look she shot him said she was aware.
She tapped the screen and stepped into the kitchen while Cole shut the door behind them.
“Buzz will be here in a few minutes,” Cole said. “I talked to Julie Darwin and she said to come by her office first thing tomorrowmorning and she’ll be happy to see us. Apparently, she’s on a business trip and won’t be home until late.”
“First thing tomorrow? On a Sunday?”
“She’s making a special trip to the office just for us.”
“You tell her what we wanted to talk to her about?”
“No, just that we had some questions for her.” He lowered himself in the chair opposite the couch and rubbed his chin. James knew that look. “What?”
“Just thinking.”
“I can tell. Spill.”
“I can’t decide if Adam is alive or not. We haven’t had a chance to discuss this, but are you not having a single doubt that Lainie’s wrong?”
James sighed and leaned his head back against the sofa. “I don’t know, Cole. In spite of a few moments of doubt that she pushes away as soon as they happen, she still insists it couldn’t be him, but frankly, all the evidence points to the opposite. And I’ve always been one to follow the evidence.”
“Yeah. Same here. You think she’s just in some kind of denial thing?”
“Maybe. But Lainie was there that night. She lived it. She saw Adam after she shot him. Heck, she tried to save him.”
“Maybe she succeeded.”
James’ eyes locked on Cole’s. “Maybe. But if she didn’t, who benefits by making her and the rest of the world think she did?”
A sound at the entrance to the room pulled his gaze to see Lainie there, holding her phone, betrayal in her eyes. “I’m not in denial, thank you very much. But Iamgoing to take a shower, so y’all can go on home.” She did a one-eighty and headed down the hall.
James stirred to go after her and Cole waved him back onto the sofa. “Let her stew about it. She’s smart. Even she has to realize why we’d consider the fact that Adam might be alive.”
She stepped back into the room. “I’m not stewing, nor am I reallyin denial. I’ve admitted the thought has occurred to me that he could be alive, but I keep going back to that night.”
“Thought you were gonna take a shower,” Cole said.
“I am, but something’s bothering me. Aside from your doubts, Cole is right. Even I can see how you would have to consider every possibility.”
Cole raised a brow. “Well, thank you for that.”
James waved her over to the couch. “I want to show you some security footage before I leave. You were right. Someone changed your tires in the parking lot of the hospital.”
“Seriously?” She sat beside him, her gaze on his phone.
“Yeah.” He tapped the screen and she studied the video.
