“It doesn’t matter. The point is you had no business talking with a potential suspect,” he chastised.
I held up my hand. “Now wait just a minute! How do you know I wasn’t there to talk with Mr. Jenkins about an insurance policy?”
“Were you?” He tapped his foot impatiently on the wood floor.
“Well…” I drew out the one-syllable word for about five seconds. “Not exactly.”
“Charlee, what the heck are you doing interfering in a police investigation?” At his raised voice I took a step back. Menacing Cole had returned.
“Who said anything about interfering?” I raised my tone to match his.
“Charlee.” He blew out a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. I wondered if he was counting in his head again, trying to cool down so he didn’t blow up at me. Which really was not warranted, and it offended me that he thought I was trying to screw things up.
“You need to stay out of this,” he eventually got out with slightly less frustration.
“Or what?” I replied tauntingly. “Are you going to arrest me?” Okay, as soon as that left my mouth, I knew it was stupid, but this man seemed to bring out the worst in me.
He took a step toward me, fire in his eyes. “Is that what you want?”
Refusing to back down, I closed the space between us, looking him boldly in the eye. “No, Cole, I don’t. I’d like you to not come barging in here accusing me of interfering in your investigation. Because up to this point, I’d say I’ve done a pretty good job of helping.”
His eyebrows rose. “Is that so?”
“Yes.” I tipped my chin defiantly and held up my hand. “First,” I raised one finger, “I found Earl’s body. And second—”
“But you—”
“No, I’m not done yet,” I cut him off. “And second,” I repeated, and raised another finger. “I found a suitcase full of cash. Probably laundered, am I right?” I leaned a little closer.
He wrapped his hand around mine, cutting off my train of thought. “Yes, you did both of those things,” he acknowledged, softening his voice, as he lowered my hand, but didn’t let go. “And while those two things were helpful—”
“I sense a but coming.”
He fought a smile. “You need to let me do my job.”
“I am,” I said honestly. I was just… helping.
“And I know you probably think you’re helping.” He was reading my mind now. “But you’re not.”
I tugged my hand from his. I wanted to say that the only reason I was poking around was because I didn’t trust that he was going to find out who killed Earl, and that Fern would be blamed. Or even if Fern wasn’t blamed that they wouldn’t figure out who did it, and then there would be a murderer walking around free.
That wouldn’t go over well for tourism here. Or my dad’s next election campaign. Not that he’d have any problem winning another uncontested race.
“I am letting you do your job. And last I checked it wasn’t a crime to talk to people.” I tried to keep the defensiveness from my tone.
“You’re right, it’s not. But this is a murder investigation, Charlee.” He was back in cop mode. “And this is about your safety. I would hate for something to happen to you.”
I looked into his deep blue eyes, trying to gauge the sincerity of his words. He barely knew me. I had a hard time believing that he cared, even though part of me wanted him to. I think this was more about finding the killer and being hailed the hero again.
And in the highly unlikely scenario that something did happen to me, that wouldn’t go over well with my parents. And let’s face it, everyone in Rockfish Bay knew that the Kings basically ran things around here.
“I understand,” I replied neutrally.
“Do you?” I could tell he didn’t believe me.
“Yes,” I nodded. “I promise I will try my very best not to interfere in your investigation.”
He tilted his head back and rolled his eyes. I smiled sweetly.
The moment was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. “Excuse me,” I stepped around him and answered the door.
“Preston, you’re early.” I winced when I realized how that sounded. “I mean, come in.”
“Here, these are for you.” His mouth stretched into a wide grin as he handed me a bouquet of red roses.
Oh dear. I took them and forced a smile. “Thank you, they’re beautiful.” I turned and almost ran into a frowning Cole. “Oh, sorry.” I moved around him. “I need to put these in water.” His frown intensified.
I headed to the kitchen, and behind me heard Preston ask, “Hello, Sheriff, what are you doing here?”
“I just stopped by to speak with Charlee for a minute,” Cole answered.
“Everything okay?” Preston sounded concerned.
“Yes,” Cole said quickly.
I definitely didn’t need the two of them chatting it up. With the flowers in water, I hurried back to the entry. “Are you ready for our date?” Preston took in my appearance.
At the word date I did my best not to grimace, but couldn’t mistake the snort that came from Cole.
“Almost,” I smiled cheerily, mortified inside. “I just need to put on some pants.” And finish curling my hair, but I guess a ponytail would have to do. With that, I spun on my heel and raced for the dryer. Behind me I heard Cole chuckle. I had a feeling I was going to hear about this later.
Chapter Nine
On the drive to the restaurant, Preston peppered me with questions. I really should have come up with a better reason to ensure we drove separate vehicles. But when I’d mentioned it, claiming I didn’t want him to be late for court, he’d insisted that he would have me back in plenty of time.
And without another alternative, I’d politely agreed. However, being that this was my third social encounter for today, and all three had been endured under a certain amount of stress, I was developing a headache.
“Charlee?”
“Huh?” I
