I sank into one of the chairs across from his desk. “I didn’t see Ray.”
“Do you want me to say I’m sorry about that?”
“No. I do want to apologize for not texting. I got distracted.”
“Of course you did.”
“That’s not really a good excuse. I know that. It’s just ... I did something stupid and forgot to text. I’m sorry.”
“Do I even want to know what stupid thing you did?”
“No, but I’m going to tell you. Things are coming together, but not in the way I expected.”
He leaned back in his chair, linked his fingers on his stomach, and waited.
“I broke into Ray’s yard. He had a privacy fence with a gate. I picked the lock and walked right in.”
I expected him to explode. Heck, I was hoping for it. If he could get it all out of his system at once it would be better for both of us. Instead, he remained unmoved.
“The yard is pretty much what you would expect,” I continued. “It’s a big trash heap. He has a detached garage. The door was open, so I looked inside.”
He didn’t as much as twitch a muscle.
“I didn’t go inside, other than right by the door,” I offered hopefully. “He had one of those sticks you use to pick up trash, and a pair of rubber boots issued by the county. The ones you pull over regular shoes that keep your feet dry.”
His eyes lit with intrigue. “I didn’t know Ray was on the hook for anything of late.”
“It’s possible he kept the equipment from a previous sentence, but that seems unlikely. I’m pretty sure you have to turn that stuff in, or pay for it if you don’t, when you finish your sentence. I don’t know anyone who would want to keep those boots.”
“That means he was performing community service recently.” Eliot rubbed his chin. “That’s ... interesting. I don’t know how that helps you with your story, though.”
The fact that he was talking to me at all — no temper tantrums — was a good thing and I ran with it. “That’s not all. When I was at Ruth Shepperly’s house, I saw the same type of boots in her foyer. Once I saw the raised seal on Ray’s boots, it became clearer.”
“Wait ... are you saying you think Ruth is part of this?”
“I think it’s entirely possible. She was holding back a bit. I thought she was just leaving out the embarrassing stuff about her relationship with Cal because she didn’t want to admit she was in love with a drug addict. But I think there might be more to it.”
“Such as?”
“What if she was still involved with Cal? What if she was involved in all of this because he got her involved? The fact that she’s never divorced him is strange. If she was really over him, wouldn’t she have walked away?”
Eliot held out his hands. “I can’t say. Love does strange things to a person.”
I sensed danger. “Yeah. It makes you do wonky stuff.”
“It tends to make me crazy.”
I tentatively met his gaze and found amusement rather than fury. I was confused. “Wait ... you’re not angry?”
“I’m not happy, Avery. I asked one thing of you.”
“I know. I got distracted. I’m sorry.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that something could’ve happened to you out there and I wouldn’t have known because you didn’t stick with the plan. All you had to do was text every ten minutes. I would’ve accepted dirty texts or even a random emoji.”
“Like an eggplant?”
His eyes fired. “I just want you to be safe and not do anything stupid.”
“I was perfectly safe.”
“You just told me you broke into a potential murderer’s yard and wandered into his garage.”
“I was barely in his garage. There was no way I was going in any farther because I’m sure rats live in there. And not the cute ones you see at the pet store. The big ones that run off with small dogs in their jaws.”
That cajoled a smile out of him. “You are ... unbelievable.” He shook his head. “Next time, keep your promise to text.”
“I will, at least to the best of my ability. It’s not as if I did it on purpose. I had the best of intentions.”
“You always do.”
We both knew that wasn’t true. “Not always,” I countered. “I did today. That should count. I mean ... I should get partial credit.”
“You’re not being graded.”
“You can totally grade me if you want.” I moved out of my chair and crossed to him, shoving his arms away so I could sit on his lap. He wrapped himself around me as I settled. “I really didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I know.” He rested his chin on my shoulder. “I was worried. I wanted to go after you.”
“But you didn’t.”
“Because I knew it would drive you crazy.”
“Kind of like I drive you crazy.”
“You definitely drive me crazy.” He brushed his lips against my cheek. “I don’t want to argue. You’re okay. You have a new hunch.”
I twisted to look at his face. “Ruth called Jake right after I left. She told him she was worried I was going to question her daughter. What if she was really worried about me discovering she hadn’t been separated from Cal at all?”
“I don’t know what to make of any of it. You talked to her. What did you think during the conversation?”
“I thought she was mostly telling me the truth.” And that’s what truly bothered me. “I thought for sure that the only thing she was holding back was a few stories about how she tried to reconcile with Cal. You don’t stay with someone for ten years if you don’t care about them.”
He pushed my hair over my shoulder. “Love is one of those things that can’t be explained. You can’t control who you fall in love with. Ruth wouldn’t be the first woman
