AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Grace embraced Kennedy and said something to her quietly.
“Okay,” Kennedy said. “It's decided. Let’s go.”
The four of us headed for the police cruiser. I noticed Kennedy’s car was parked in the drive. I’d been too distracted to pay attention earlier. She went to her car and indicated that she’d follow us. In the cruiser, I drew in several long breaths and released them slowly, knowing I needed to calm myself.
“You should come and stay with me tonight,” I said to Grace. “I don’t want you home by yourself. Or I could come there if you’d rather. Tess is with Maddy this week.”
“I’ll come to your place.”
Grace’s easy acquiescence both surprised me and made me uneasy. My friend may not be particularly assertive, but she was no pushover and she had a spine of steel. The fact that she was willing to concede on even a small point like this said a lot about how freaked out she was. I didn’t like her fear, but I had to admit, I was relieved she hadn’t argued.
“Good.”
When we arrived at the police station, I sent Mehrtens to process the evidence and summoned Patton, a constable with a wisp of a mustache who was not long out of school, to take notes during the interview. The audio would be recorded, but we also needed a written record for our files.
“You can wait out here,” I told Kennedy, gesturing to one of the chairs outside the interview room.
“Can’t I come in to support Grace?” she asked.
I glanced at Grace. “Up to you, honey.”
She drew in a deep breath and gave Kennedy a look of gratitude. “I’d appreciate that.”
“No problem.”
I guided Grace and Kennedy inside, making sure Grace took one of the seats usually reserved for myself or my colleagues because I didn’t want her to feel like she was being treated like a suspect. I sat opposite and waited until Patton had returned with a coffee and a packet of M&Ms for Grace before beginning.
“For the recording, please repeat what you told me this morning,” I said.
Grace complied, giving a basic rundown of the chain of events that had led her here.
“Do you know anyone who might want to harm you?” I asked, resting my forearms on the table as I leaned across it so I could read every flicker of her expression.
“No,” she said, but her eyes darted to the left.
“No ex-lovers, former friends, or guests who took a dislike to you?” She’d had a thought. Something important. But she was keeping it to herself.
“No scorned ex-lovers, and I haven’t had a major falling out with any friends.” She interlaced her fingers around the mug of coffee as if warming them. “As far as I know, I haven’t had any unhappy guests. My online reviews are all good.”
“Any other enemies?” I prompted. “Anyone at all? It could have been the slightest thing that set this person off. It might not have been something that happened recently.”
Grace squeezed her eyes shut as if she was in pain. I wanted to reach for her, but I couldn’t. She opened her gorgeous hazel eyes, and they seemed to have lost a little of their light. “I used to have a stalker.”
34
GRACE
“Youwhat?”Nate looked like his head was about to explode.
I winced. “I used to have a stalker back when I lived in Auckland. His name was Darrel Weich.”
His expression twisted into something that just about broke my heart. Defeat. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I heard his unspoken question too.Do you ever tell me anything anymore?
This was just one thing in a long list of secrets I’d kept. Not out of any sense of malice, but to protect myself. If he’d known about the incident with Darrel when it had happened, he’d have come straight to see me in Auckland, and then I’d have had to explain why I was living with a husband he didn’t know I had while also trying to keep my heart safe from him. Because if there’s one thing I couldn’t resist, it was when Nate got protective of those he loves. If he’d gone all overprotective alpha male on me, I’d never have been able to convince myself to keep my distance. Before I knew it, I’d have been back in Destiny Falls, watching him live the happily ever after I longed for, with another woman.
But no matter the reason, I’d lied to him. That had to hurt.
