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Tanner rushed in then. “I think we caught a break in Orly’s case.”
Caden glanced at Tanner then turned back to Hallie, but the moment and his words were lost.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Go.”
Caden lowered his gaze and pushed a hand through his hair. “Hallie -.”
She had no idea what else there was to say. “Just go.”
Caden met her gaze, holding it just long enough to make her breath hitch. Then he left, and it felt like he took all of the oxygen in the room with him.
***
“What’s going on?” Caden hadn’t missed the tortured look in Hallie’s eyes the entire time he was in that room with her. He’d hurt her, both with his words and his actions, and he had no idea how he was going to make it up to her.
“It’s her.” Orly clutched a newspaper close to her chest with Luke beside her. “I’ve been staring at this picture and I’m certain. This is the woman I saw Russell kill that night.”
Caden closed the distance between them and slipped the paper out of her fingers. He read the headline. “Molly Edgar, sole heir to Edgar Pharmaceuticals, missing for six months.”
“She’s not missing,” Orly said. “She’s dead.”
Caden handed the paper back to Orly and looked to Luke, then back to Orly. “I thought you didn’t see her face when she reached out to you.”
“I didn’t. But that’s the room I saw her in. I’m sure of it. It’s the same lamp and that was the unique artwork on the wall next to her. That’s exactly where she was standing when...” Her voice broke off as a pained expression came over her face. Luke pulled her into his arms and Caden hated making her relive that awful time in her life. “I’m sure of it,” she said, looking back at him. “That’s the woman Russell Graham killed that night.”
Caden nodded. “At least now we have a name and a face. I’ll look into her case. If we can link this Molly Edgar woman to Russell Graham, it would go a long way in building a case against him.”
“Who’s Russell Graham?” Hallie asked.
Caden turned to the sound of her sweet voice. He hadn’t wanted this to affect her, but there was no point in keeping it from her either. Whether Hallie knew it or not, he wasn’t going anywhere, which meant Orly was going to be a part of her life. “Orly’s ex. She saw him kill a woman in cold blood, but he’s gotten away with it so far due to his connections as a captain in the L.A.P.D.,” Luke said.
“He chased Orly across the country, then had her twin brother that no one knew about kidnap her, only to kill him and stuff Orly in a casket to be flown out of state so he could torture information out of her.”
Hallie gasped at Luke’s words and Caden shot him a warning glare. The last thing Hallie needed was another reason to be scared out of her mind. “Don’t worry,” Caden said. “I’ll look into this woman and see if she’s connected to Russell in any way.”
Hallie nodded, but didn’t look convinced. He couldn’t blame her for losing faith in him, but he was going to fix things with her. Starting right now.
“We’re almost done cleaning up here,” Garrett said. “I want to get everyone out before I put the final nails in the plywood on the window in the door so it's not disturbed with everyone leaving.”
“Okay,” Orly said, handing the newspaper to Luke. “We’ll pack up the leftovers and be out in a few minutes.” She extricated herself from Luke’s arms, and went with Hallie and Skyla to the back office.
“You don’t think it’s her,” Luke said, once the women were out of earshot.
“I have no idea, but I won’t give her false hope either. I know you want this guy behind bars, and believe me, so do I. But a missing woman - that’s going to be a stretch, unless we find her body. And even then, any evidence or DNA that could lead back to Graham, will likely be compromised.”
“She still looks over her shoulder. Wakes up screaming, thinking she’s back in California with that bastard. She won’t go back to that damn grocery store where she first saw Nelson. She just needs closure.”
Caden knew all this, but there was nothing he could do until they found a solid lead. “I want to give her that more than anything. But we have to be realistic. If Molly Edgar is really the woman Russell Graham killed that night, it’s going to take a miracle to connect her death to him at this point.”
“We’re ready,” Orly announced, Hallie and Skyla following behind her. Luke gave him a grim nod, then went back to grab the food, while Skyla packed up whatever was left of the booze. No one had really drank, but Caden thought it was nice of her to have come and brought it anyway.
Avoiding his gaze, Hallie went to the register and started packing her stuff. But Caden couldn’t leave things the way they were between them. He said he’d leave her alone if she wanted him to, but she never said that was what she wanted, and until she did, he wasn’t going anywhere. He stood on the other side of the register, not wanting to crowd her. “I’ll drive you home.”
“My car is here,” she pointed out, still not looking at him. “I’ll be fine.” There was anger in her tone, but more than that, he heard pain. So much pain. And he’d done that.
“We’ll easily get your car to you by morning.” Unable to stay away from her any longer, he rounded the counter and placed a soft hand on her arm. She spun around and glared at him. But he didn’t budge. He could take her anger and her pain. He just couldn’t take being apart from her. “Let me take care of you tonight. Let me be there for you the way I should’ve been three weeks ago.”
Her emerald eyes darkened like angry storm clouds. “Don’t. Don’t do that. You don’t get to lie to me, tell me I was just a job to you, and then waltz back into my life as though nothing happened.” Her voice cracked, but it was his heart that was breaking at hearing her pain.
