chance to evaluate Saunders’s story. You know how she is.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. It wasn’t your call to make. I can’t help wondering why you were the one singled out, though.”
“Lena Saunders knew Johnny. At least, that’s what she claims. When she saw my name in the paper attached to the Courtland case, she decided I was the one she wanted to talk to.”
“And the nut-job that showed up here tonight?”
“Evidently, she wanted to set the record straight. She basically disputed everything her sister told me. She says that Ruth is the one who helped their mother.”
“So which sister is telling the truth?”
“What is truth?” Evangeline murmured.
“Huh?”
“Nothing. I was just remembering something Lena told me.”
“If her story checks out and we find Rebecca Lemay’s prints at the crime scene, I guess we can pretty much eliminate Sonny Betts’s involvement in all this.”
“It’s starting to look that way,” Evangeline agreed. The memory of everything she’d learned the day before suddenly came rushing back and she felt exactly the way Rebecca Lemay had described her premonition—like trying to breathe underwater. Her chest tightened and for a moment, panic bubbled in her throat. Johnny had been on Sonny Betts’s payroll. She’d seen the evidence with her own two eyes, and yet Evangeline knew it would take a long, long time before she’d ever be able to fully accept his betrayal.
“I found out some other things about Sonny Betts,” she told Mitchell.
“Oh, yeah?” He turned and studied her face.
She glanced around. The living room was clearing out, but she still didn’t want to take the chance of someone overhearing her. “I want to talk to you about it, but not here.”
“Sure, kiddo. Just name the time and place.” His gaze was still on her and he frowned. “You sure you’re okay?”
“I will be. I have to be, don’t I?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Even a tough girl like you deserves a day off now and then.”
Evangeline knew he was trying to tease her out of the dark space she’d crawled into that night and she appreciated the effort. She did. But she was still too shaken from finding out about Johnny, and then seeing J.D. in Rebecca Lemay’s arms. She didn’t want to think about what could have happened, how she might have failed her son yet again.
Mitchell glanced over her shoulder at the front door, and his playful grin vanished. “What the hell is he doing here?”
Evangeline turned and saw Declan Nash on her front porch.
She couldn’t believe it. What
He opened his ID for the officers at the door, then stepped inside her house and glanced around. The way his gaze swept over her belongings so intently stirred a curious mix of anger and vulnerability in Evangeline.
He was still dressed in a suit even at this hour, and she thought,
And then he spotted her and she felt that same blend of anger and vulnerability as their gazes briefly locked.
He said something to one of the cops, then walked over to where she stood with Mitchell. She made the introductions, the two men shook hands briefly, and with a curious scowl, Mitchell drifted away.
“Your partner isn’t exactly the friendly sort, is he?”
“Most of the time he is. You just took him by surprise showing up here like this. I have to admit…” She finally let her eyes meet his again. “I’m a little taken aback myself.”
“Sorry,” he said. “Under the circumstances, I didn’t think it appropriate to call first. Besides, I wasn’t sure you’d take my call anyway.”
“Probably not,” she freely admitted. “I guess that’s a moot point now, though, because here you are. So why don’t we dispense with all the crap and you just tell me how you heard about what happened here tonight?”
“I can’t do that.”
She folded her arms in annoyance. “Let me guess, then. You either have someone watching my house or your contact at NOPD put a little bug in your ear. Either way, you’re not wanted or needed here.”
“Thanks.”
“No offense, but this isn’t any of your concern. It’s a local matter, and as you can see—” she motioned toward the cops at the door “—NOPD has the situation under control.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“How are you holding up? How’s your son?”
“We’re both fine. Now if you don’t mind—”
“Did you know the woman who broke into your house?”
She rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the wall. “God, you’re relentless, aren’t you?”
“About some things, yeah.”
Their gazes met again, and Evangeline thought, what the hell? He’d find out sooner or later anyway. Evidently, he had a pipeline straight into the police department. “Her name is Rebecca Lemay. She may have been the same woman who was following Paul Courtland before he was murdered. Looks like you were right about that one.”
“What’s her connection to Courtland?”
“Nothing you need to be concerned about.”
He gave her a bemused smile. “You guys give new meaning to the word
“Oh, really? Wait until I run you off the road and cuff you to keep you away from Sonny Betts. Then we’ll talk about territorial.”
Mitchell came back over to have a quick word with Evangeline. “We’re wrapping things up,” he said. “But I don’t think you and J.D. should stay here until you get these locks changed. Why don’t you two bunk over at my place tonight. Lorraine won’t mind.”
“Thanks, but we’ll be fine here.”
“You sure? Better safe than sorry,” he warned.
“We’ll be fine,” Evangeline insisted. “She won’t come back tonight.” But she wished she was as certain as she sounded.
She walked Mitchell out to the porch where they conversed for a few minutes with some of the other cops. When she came back into the house, Nash was standing at the bedroom door, gazing in at her son.
Nash watched as she closed the distance between them. She looked dead on her feet, and he had the strongest urge to pull her into his arms and hold her close. Where that idea came from, he had no idea, but suddenly he remembered the scent of lavender that had drifted up from her hair that day in the park.
She was tired, but he could still see a spark of defiance in her eyes, as if she’d somehow read his mind. “What are you doing?”
“I thought I heard him cry,” he said.
She brushed him to the door. Pausing for a moment on the threshold, she quickly crossed the room and stood by the edge of the bed for a long time before she finally came back out.
“He must have been dreaming.” She pulled the door behind her. “It’s been a rough night.”
“For both of you.”
“I don’t care about myself. I’m just glad…” He saw her shiver. “It’ll be daylight soon. I really don’t think we’ll have any more trouble tonight.”
“I don’t think so, either. But I’d really like to hear what this woman said to you.”
“Why? I already told you, it’s nothing to do with you.”
“Maybe I want it to be.”
She turned at that. “Why? What are you talking about?”
