“No,” he said, shaking his head.
“Do you think it could have anything to do with Heather?”
He turned to look at me. “Are you suggestin’ that Emily asked him to come home and murder Heather?”
Was I? The thought had occurred to me, but only in a fleeting way, and it refused to stick. Ultimately, I just couldn’t imagine Max doing such a thing. “No, but she requested something he couldn’t refuse.”
“Agreed.”
“Bart gave Jerry a job,” I said, the new worry popping to the surface.
Marco sat up straighter. “He what?”
“It didn’t come directly from Bart—Jerry said a foreman asked him if he’d be interested in a job—but it sure sounds fishy. With all the guys who need work around here, the foreman just happens to ask a seventy-year-old man if he wants a job as a gofer?”
He frowned. “You’re right. It does sound fishy. What did you say when he told you?”
“That I was happy for him, of course. I’ve never seen him so excited and proud, and I hope it’s on the up an up…”
“But?”
“I turned to face him. “What if Bart plans to hurt him to get to me? What if he knows I’m fond of him?”
“How would he know that?” he asked.
“How did Abby Donahey know I gave Jerry a coat?” When he started to say something, I added, “Yeah, she brought it up as evidence that I was a good person.”
He laughed. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It’s not that. It’s just weird to know strangers are gossiping about me. But if Abby knew, you can bet your boots Bart knew.”
He was silent for a moment. “We’ll keep tabs on the situation, okay? We won’t let anything happen to Jerry.” Then he added, “He had our backs with Carson Purdy. We’ll certainly have his.”
“Thanks, Marco.” It took everything in me not to reach out and snag his hand.
After a few seconds, he set his mug on the porch railing and asked, “Do you have anything to look into tomorrow before you go into work?”
I yawned. “I have an appointment with Bingham tomorrow at ten.”
“Bingham?”
“Tiny told me that Heather went out with him before she got back with Wyatt the last time. I doubt he killed her, or he would have moved the body. Same with Bart.”
“So why go talk to him?”
“Because he’s an observer, and I suspect he’s always been hungry for power. Which means he likely watched everything going on in Drum, especially anything that had to do with a Drummond.”
“You think he might have information other people won’t?”
“I know you probably think it’s dangerous…”
“Maybe for someone else, but Lula just asked you to be one of her baby’s godmothers, and she’d be furious if he hurt you. Not to mention Bingham seems to treat you differently since the whole Lula and Greta mess. Make no mistake, he has no loyalty to you, but he has a new respect for you. If anyone can talk to him, it’s you.”
I stifled a yawn. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
He grinned. “Just don’t expect him to tell you much. He might be open to a trade, though.”
“A trade of information?”
“Who knows with him. Just keep it in mind. You can expect a whole lot more game playin’ with him.”
“I suspected.” The people in this town were good at it. “I have two other leads to follow after that. Dick Stinnett. Ruth thinks he was at the going-away party. The second person is May McMurphy.”
“Molly’s sister?”
“She was at the party too, and she dated Dick after Heather left. I’ll approach her after I talk to him.”
“Do you know where to find Dick?”
“Ruth said she thinks he works at a used car lot in Ewing.”
He nodded. “We’ll figure out which one tomorrow.”
“You can’t openly help me with this, Marco,” I said gently. “You yourself said if I get caught doing this, I could be charged with interfering with an investigation.”
He was silent for a moment. “I know.”
And I could tell it was killing him, not only because he was worried about me, but because he loved investigating. The department never gave him much of a chance. They underestimated him, or maybe they knew he was good and they only sidelined him because half the department was in someone’s pocket.
I stood and reached my hand out to him. “Let’s go inside.”
He took my hand and stood, clutching the blanket with his free hand as he looked down at me.
Heat rose up in me as I stared into his eyes. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted him to kiss me back. I wanted to take him to his bed and do more than sleep next to him. But I couldn’t do any of that for a whole host of reasons. Most of all, because every romantic relationship I’d ever been in had been poisoned, and I couldn’t bear to lose Marco.
“What are you thinkin’?” he asked in a careful voice, his face swathed in shadow.
I swallowed the urge to tell him the truth, worried I was lying by omission, but I didn’t want to risk scaring him away. “I’m thinkin’ how grateful I am to have you as my friend. You have filled my life with happiness, Marco. Thank you.”
He grinned. “Hey, you’re not so bad yourself.”
Grabbing his mug, he ushered me inside. “Do you want to watch a movie before we go to sleep?”
I was exhausted, but I wasn’t ready to let him go yet. “Yeah. I’ll even let you pick.”
He must have had mercy on me because he picked a Sandra Bullock rom-com he seemed to like. We settled onto his large sofa with another blanket covering us, sitting side by side, his body heat soaking into me.
You have to accept this, Carly. This has to be enough.
But I was so very tired of settling.
Chapter Nineteen
We fell asleep on the sofa. I was pretty sure I’d only made it about fifteen minutes into the movie before
