“I can’t.”
“Why not?” he asked. “Because I think we’re worth taking a risk for.” He took her by the hand and tugged her upstairs.
“We don’t have time for sex.”
He laughed. “I’m a guy. I can be done in a couple of minutes if I need to, but no, as much as I would love to have sex with you right now, that’s not what I need to show you. Sit.” He pointed to the bed.
“I’d rather stand.” She folded her arms across her middle and stared at him. “What’s this all about?”
He pulled open the top dresser drawer and took something out. He held a box in his hand.
“Oh, my God.” She went to sit on the edge of the bed but missed, landing her ass on the floor with a thud.
He raced to her side, helping her up. “Are you okay?”
“No,” she said. “Is that what I think it is?” She pointed to the jewelry box with a shaky finger. Her heart pounded in her chest so fast she thought it might explode.
“It’s your engagement ring,” he said, flipping open the box.
She gasped, covering her mouth. The half carat white diamond sparkled as if it had just been cleaned. It sat high in a six-prong silver setting. “I tossed that in a big pile of watery mud. How did you find it?”
“It took me three days of digging and sifting, but I got lucky.”
“You sure did,” she said, reaching out to touch it, but she snapped her hand back. “I can’t believe you found it, much less kept it.” She glanced up at him with tears burning in her eyes. “Why didn’t you sell it?”
“If I did that, it would mean I had let you go, and I couldn’t do that. I know I was an asshole at Levi’s party, but I was protecting my heart. I can’t do that anymore. My heart wants what it wants, and it wants you. I love you. I always have, Callie. From the day you walked into that bar and challenged me to an intellectual debate. You make me want to be a better man.”
She covered his mouth with her hand. “Stop talking.” A wave of dizziness washed over her system. The room spun. She felt as though she might be sick. Taking in a few deep calming breaths, she battled the nausea, shoving it out of her mind. “You sound like you might propose again, and I don’t want to have to turn you down.”
He chuckled. “I’m not asking you to marry me. I know it’s too soon for that. All I’m asking is for you to consider staying in Langley for three months after we catch this killer. If after that time you really don’t think we are perfect for each other, then I’ll take this ring and sell it. But if you do realize we should be together, then this ring goes back on your finger.”
Well, that was a lot to digest in one morning. She blew out a puff of air. Three months. She could do three months. “Are you expecting me to live with you?”
“That’s up to you,” he said. “I certainly wouldn’t say no to the prospect, but if you’re not comfortable with that, I’d be happy just to have you on the island dating me, officially, with the world knowing. No secrets.”
She laughed. “Yeah. That kind of fucked us the first time.”
“Is that a yes?”
“I think I’ve utterly lost my mind, but yes.” She pressed her hand on his chest when he moved in for a kiss. “However, as much as I love the view here, I’m not going to live with you.”
Jag smiled like a teenage boy who just saw a naked girl for the very first time. “I’ll take it.”
She jumped to her feet. “Now get the fuck to work so I can do a deep dive into research.”
“Lock the doors behind me and don’t you dare leave this house.” He kissed her nose. “And promise me you won’t talk to Kara.”
“I won’t promise that,” she said. “But I will let you know if I do.”
“I guess I have to live with that.”
She followed Jag to the front door, giving him a proper kiss before making sure everything was locked up tight. She shivered when she walked into Jag’s home office. All the victims stared at her as if they were begging her to bring their killer to justice.
Flipping open her laptop, she made herself comfortable behind the desk. She pulled out a notebook and started organizing her thoughts, pushing the tiny excitement about her decision to stay for a while to the back of her brain.
Every ten or fifteen minutes she’d check her emails to see if any of her requests had come through. Nothing yet. Meanwhile, she did her own searches, and one of them consisted of looking up the dead college roommate.
But so far, Callie had found nothing other than what had been reported.
Jag had promised if Matt or the cold case detective found anything, he’d let her know, but so far, she hadn’t heard from Jag either, and it had been over an hour since he’d gone to work.
Well, that wasn’t too long.
She’d never been the most patience person, and today it was being tested to the limit.
Her email dinged, and a message from the college came through with an attachment. Butterflies filled her gut as she clicked the icon.
She scrolled through the digital yearbook until she found Carol Armstrong. She found seven different images, all equally disturbing because of the uncanny similarities.
“Oh, my God.” Callie expanded one of the images with Carol and her roommate in an intimate embrace. Their arms wrapped around each other, Carol had her lips smacked on her roommate’s cheek. It could be seen as close friends, but Callie’s gut told her it was more than that.
Callie pulled up another picture and studied Carol’s features. She had long blond hair. Kara had short
