Ryan said nothing. But he studied her.
Averting her gaze from the handsome detective she might have married, she stared out at the streetlights that barely illuminated the neighborhood and rubbed her arms against the chilly night air. “I know you think it would be easier for you if I went home to South Carolina and maybe even took Mom and Dad with me. But I would be no use to my employer in my current frame of mind. I won’t be until this is over. If this is all resolved before my bereavement leave is over, then that’s different. I’ll be settled and can be of use to my employer.” But she had a feeling that she would end up staying no matter what.
“I don’t think my investigation would be easier without you,” he finally said. “Obviously you’ve run across information that could help us, but I’m worried about you, Tori. I can’t...” His frown lines deepened, then he appeared to rein in his emotions.
What was he going to say? I can’t lose you, too? She wasn’t sure her heart could take this painful dance she and Ryan found themselves in. Bad enough she might not come out of this ordeal unscathed beyond the agony she already suffered at losing Sarah.
“I promise I’ll stay alert,” she said. “In fact, I’ll try to go through Sarah’s home again and be more thorough this time. If I can’t find anything to help us, then I’ll move to a safer location.”
“Good. In the meantime, we’ll bring Dee James in for questioning.”
“No, please,” she said. “Let me handle him.”
Ryan stiffened.
She’d better reel him in. “If you want me to share information then please let me handle gathering it. I think this guy is spooked. If you bring him in, he’ll lawyer up and you won’t get a word out of him. But if I approach him alone, he might be willing to talk. I don’t think he had anything to do with what happened today.”
“How can you be sure?” Ryan asked.
“I can’t, but something in his tone on the phone let me know that he cared about my sister. As I’ve already said, I got the feeling he knows something, but he could be scared and might even run. In fact, he could already have disappeared.” She hoped that wasn’t the case.
“All right,” he said. “I’ll give you two days to try to make contact again.”
“Come on. You know it could take me that long to hear from him. Give me a week.”
He huffed an incredulous laugh. “Are you kidding me? A week is too long. Two days, plus you have to bring me with you if you arrange a meeting. Anything face-to-face and I’m there with you, Tori. It’s much too dangerous otherwise. Do you understand?”
She chewed on her lip. Could she agree to that? “Fair enough.”
“I’m only agreeing to this because I believe that you’re right that he could clam up if I brought him back to the sheriff’s offices for questioning.”
She saw in his eyes that he hoped she wouldn’t make him regret this decision. Tori turned and unlocked the door, disarmed the alarm system. Ryan conducted his usual bungalow clearing and this time, he didn’t linger but instead wished her a good evening and left.
She closed the door and locked it, rearmed the system, then peeked out the window. Ryan was talking to the deputy through the vehicle window, his gaze searching the area as he talked. The neighbors had to be wondering what in the world was going on. But that was good. They would be more vigilant about keeping their eyes on the house. That way, they could spot anyone lurking around looking for trouble, out of view of the deputy parked at the curb.
Tori kept all the rooms dimly lit. Nothing harsh and bright, but just enough so there were no dark shadows. She wanted to see every corner. This way she’d prevent any of those too-stupid-to-live moments she often saw in movies when someone crept forward from the shadows.
After the day she’d had, Tori should crash along with the adrenaline in her body, but she wanted to dig back into Sarah’s emails. Might as well make a big pot of strong coffee.
She’d contact Dee James tomorrow.
Propped in Sarah’s cushiest chair, Tori opened up her emails again and started reading where she’d left off, looking for more about the environmental activities or any other interesting and potentially suspicious mentions.
It was right to stay here and do this. Ryan couldn’t investigate this like Tori could. So they would solve this case as a team. And that also felt good and right.
Unfortunately, warm feelings for him flooded her at the thought. She recalled the gentle kiss they’d shared earlier that day and knew without a doubt they both still cared deeply for each other, though neither of them could afford to act on those feelings. Somehow she had to shut down any rekindled emotions that remained for him, which would be hard to do given their current collaboration.
Tori focused back on the emails. She struggled to stay awake, despite the strong coffee. She imagined Sarah’s fingers typing the emails, or her smile and eyes as she stared at her laptop. Sarah had been a loving, giving person. The best person that Tori had ever known. The saying that only the good die young seemed true in Sarah’s case. Her death was such a huge blow, such a wrongful loss. Tori sniffed to rein in her emotions and the resulting leaky nose.
If Tori was going to help in securing justice for her sister she had to push past the melancholy.
Then she spotted it.
An email sent three weeks ago. In the email, Sarah had added a short line at the bottom about sending Tori a package in the mail. A small intake of breath escaped. She remembered seeing the email now, but just hours after she’d received it, she’d been assigned to a stakeout that lasted for days. Tori—the amazing sister
