AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Who else might want Vanna dead?”
“Everyone,” Tate muttered. “She was a greedy bitch who took advantage of her position. There were lots of people who would want her out of the way.”
“In Pike?”
Tate hunched his shoulders. “Who knows?”
Kaden clenched and unclenched his hands. Why was the truth so damned elusive? Was Vanna cursing him from her grave? She knew he didn’t approve of her. Maybe her revenge was to ensure he never had the answers he needed to put the memory of his brother to rest.
He shook away his gruesome thoughts. “What happened to Burke and the judge?” he abruptly demanded.
Tate blinked. “I was about to ask you that.”
“Me?”
“It’s apparent you decided we were somehow guilty of the death of your brother’s fiancée.” Tate leaped on the chance to turn the blame on Kaden. He was nothing if not predictable. “Did you come here to punish us?”
“I loved my brother, but I barely knew Vanna,” Kaden growled. “Certainly not well enough to seek revenge for her death.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“I’m not the professional liar,” Kaden reminded the slimy toad.
Tate flushed, but he couldn’t argue. The man had made a career of lies, secrets, and empty promises. He wouldn’t know the truth if it bit him on the ass.
“Fine. If you didn’t hurt the judge or Burke, I don’t know who did,” Tate muttered. “Or why. My job was always to try to clean up Pike’s messes and that’s what I did.”
Kaden stared at him in disbelief. If the man was telling the truth, surely he realized he was in danger?
“You should consider turning the investigation over to the professionals, Erickson,” Kaden warned. “As much as you might want to cling to your position as mayor, it will be a wasted effort if you end up dead.”
Tate stumbled backward. “Is that a threat?”
“Just a suggestion.” With a shake of his head at the man’s inability to accept his lies were about to be exposed, Kaden stepped toward the desk and scooped the papers into his arms before heading toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Tate called out.
“There’s a killer out there who tried to hurt Lia,” Kaden said. “I’m not waiting around for him to try again.”
“What about those files?”
Kaden didn’t bother to glance over his shoulder as he left the office. “I’m done screwing around. They’re going to the FBI.”
* * *
Lia settled in the leather seat of the Jeep and heaved a deep sigh. She’d been ready at promptly eight o’clock that morning to leave the hospital. Not only was she feeling better, the doctor had come by to say she was being discharged that morning. Four hours later, the nurses at last appeared with a wheelchair they insisted she use until they rolled her out the front doors to where Kaden was waiting.
Pulling on her seat belt, she held her breath until they left the parking lot and veered into the heavy traffic. As if a part of her feared one of the doctors might run out and insist she return.
“At last,” she muttered.
“Hospitals suck,” Kaden sympathized, turning his head to send her a rueful glance. It was the first time they’d been alone since she was whisked away from Grange to Madison.
A shiver raced through Lia as she met the smoky gray gaze, excitement feathering down her spine. It was no wonder the hospital staff had fluttered around him the moment he arrived, she ruefully acknowledged. And not because he was a famous stuntman. Kaden could have been a dog walker and still been the center of attention. There was a raw, compelling energy that sucked in everyone around him. And, of course, he was outrageously gorgeous. What woman wouldn’t tingle in pleasure at the sight of the fierce male features that were framed by his long hair and the hard body that was shown to perfection beneath the leather jacket and faded jeans? The intricate tattoos were just the icing on a very fine cake.
One she wanted to lick from top to bottom.
Clearing the lump that threatened to form in her throat, Lia forced her thoughts in a less dangerous direction.
