I fought the urge to stick my tongue out at my mom.
“I’ll drive,” Luke said when we were out of earshot of my parents.
“I can just follow you, then you don’t have to drive me home afterward.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Get in the truck.” I heard the smile in his voice as he held the door open for me, something he’d always done when we were together.
I conceded and jumped up into the most pristine vehicle I’d seen outside a new car lot. Was I supposed to take my shoes off?
“This is nice,” I said when he slid into the driver seat.
“It’s all right.” He shrugged and started the engine. “Sorry to show up out of nowhere.”
“No, you’re not.”
“You’re right, I’m not. You said you needed to see me, so I came as quickly as I could.” He smirked. “Looks like your parents still love me.”
“Of course they do. You were the ‘perfect man’ that I was too stupid to lock down. They’re probably planning our wedding as we speak.”
Luke let out a laugh.
“I take it you’re not mad at me anymore?”
“I wasn’t really mad at you, Ry. In fact, I should apologize. I was much harder on you than I should have been.” He glanced over at me. “I just couldn’t believe you’d put yourself, and Shayla, in that position. But Shayla explained that she had chosen to follow you against your direct orders—albeit rather stupid ones. Still, they helped us find the probable killer.”
“Yeah, about that. Dave’s not the killer.”
“I know, I know. You think Patricia is, right?”
“Yeah, maybe. But I know for sure, one hundred million percent, that Dave is not.”
“I know you like to see the best in people, Ry, but that evidence in his truck makes him the most likely suspect.”
“In the back of his truck. Anyone could have put it there.” I paused. “Plus I have a source—”
“You have a source?” Luke quirked an eyebrow at me and turned onto a small side street.
“Yes, I have a source, and that source told me Dave has an alibi.”
“Then why wouldn’t he have given us his alibi when he was interrogated?”
How could I give him the information without outing Carmen’s relationship? “Um, well, probably because it’s potentially . . . rather damaging.”
“I’m pretty sure if I had an alibi, I’d tell the cops, regardless how embarrassing. Especially when I’m facing murder charges.”
He had a point. Apparently Carmen had Dave completely whipped.
“Just trust me. Dave’s not the killer.”
“Where does that leave us?”
I shrugged. “Clark? Or Jackson, maybe? Have you talked to either of them?”
“Not yet.”
“Was there any DNA in the gloves you found?”
“Actually, now that you mention it, there wasn’t.”
“None?” I asked.
“Not a single trace.”
“But if someone wore them to strangle Ronnie, wouldn’t there be traces of skin left behind?”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Luke said.
“Someone is trying to frame Dave. It’s so obvious. You’re the one who said I’m smart and observant. So listen to me.”
“You’re right, I did say that.” He glanced over at me. “And I meant it.”
He turned into the parking lot of a strip mall and shut off the truck.
“Pizza okay?”
The pizzeria was sandwiched between a massage place that probably offered happy endings and a bakery that displayed a yellowing wedding cake in its dust-covered window. Luke and his oddball places.
“See? You fit right in,” he said once we were inside, motioning to a woman whose shirt was so sheer her nipples were practically saying hello. I jabbed him in the side with my elbow. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”
We sat in the back in a booth hidden from the door, and a waiter handed us each a menu. “Special tonight is the Caribbean pizza. Mango, pineapple, ham, and peppers.”
“Ooh, that sounds good,” I said.
“We’ll take a large.” Luke handed the waiter our menus. “Oh, and two Bud Lights from the tap. Hers with lime.”
He remembered. Of course he did. My heart did a little flip-flop.
“Okay, so let’s go over the suspects again.”
“Can we talk about something else?” Luke’s eyes pleaded. “Just for a little while?”
I shifted in my seat. “Sure . . . like what?”
“I want to know what you’ve been up to—from your mouth rather than everyone else’s.” He took a sip of the beer that had just been delivered.
I squeezed the lime into my glass and licked the excess juice from my fingers, my face puckering for the slightest moment. Luke shook his head and laughed under his breath.
“Well after graduation I went to Denver State and got my degree in parks and recreation. Then I moved back to the mountains and joined the fire department.”
“And that’s when you reconnected with Troy.”
I took a gulp of my beer, letting the tart fizziness stream down the back of my throat. “Yep. And I worked for the town recreation department until all hell broke loose.”
“How’d you find out he was cheating?”
“I caught him with Giraffe Girl in my—our—bed.”
“Giraffe Girl?”
“It’s what I called her. She was tall and had a super long neck.” I shook my head trying to dislodge the mental image.
“I’m sorry, Ry. That must have sucked.”
I nodded and took another drink of my beer. It had sucked.
We sat for a while in silence, each sipping our beers and watching the people around us. Well, he was watching the people around us. I was watching him.
The way he brought his glass to his mouth, holding it gently with the same swankiness he’d use on a fancy cup of tea. How he’d dab at the corners of his mouth with his napkin. Like a proper gentleman. His parents had succeeded in raising a good man. Though they’d always been immensely kind to me, I suspected they never quite thought I was good enough for their perfect boy. And he was definitely perfect. What was wrong with me? Why hadn’t I just accepted his proposal?
Because I’m a self-sabotaging idiot, that’s why. If I wasn’t, I’d be this man’s wife, the mother of his children.
“You okay?” he asked. I nearly fell out of my seat.
“Uh, yeah. I was just thinking about the case
