Safe From the Dark (13 page)

Colin
groaned internally, but some wickedly amused inner demon pushed him to point at
Evie.

“Why
don’t you ask them yourself? Dreyer, have you met Bright’s Ferry’s newest
deputy? Dreyer Morton, Evie Asher.”

Evie
gave him a look that could cut glass, but stepped forward, holding out a hand. Dreyer
ignored it, and Colin could see her biting her lip as she adjusted, pulling on
the cop demeanor with ease.

“Mr.
Morton, we’re questioning anyone who may have a connection to Mr. Daniels, no
matter how small.”

“If
that’s the case, you may as well line up the entire population of Bright’s
Ferry. For God’s sake, he’s the mayor. But leave my daughter out of it.”

Dreyer
towered over Evie, but she stood her ground, her back ramrod straight.

“We
have reason to believe that these…incidents…may have something to do with Mr.
Daniels’ romantic entanglements. Your daughter had a brief relationship with
Mr. Daniels last year, so we just needed to get her statement.”

“What
she had, Deputy Asher, was a brief moment of insanity. Otherwise, she would
never have embarked on an adulterous affair with a known womanizer half her age.”

“Careful,
Dreyer.” Colin had long since learned to ignore most of Dreyer’s blather, but
there was a limit. “First of all, it’s none of your business. Secondly, Althea
and I had a short, mutually satisfying relationship shortly after her divorce
and then parted ways. That’s all.”

Dreyer
looked like he was about to blow a gasket.

“The
divorce was a mistake. She would have gone back to her husband if you hadn’t
been there to seduce her away.”

Colin
could feel Evie’s eyes on him, fascinated, as he shook his head in disbelief.

“You’re
deluding yourself, Dreyer. That rich asshole you pushed her to marry had a
mistress in Boston for years. What do you think all of those business trips
were about? Besides, she’s remarried now, and as far as I can tell, blissfully
happy.”

“Married
to a man who can’t possibly give her or my granddaughters the life they deserve,”
Dreyer snapped, getting in Colin’s face. Colin refused to back down.

“You’re
a snob, Dreyer. Cal is a good man. He may not be a corporate hack – ”

“He
works in a hardware store!”

“He’s
a small business owner!”

Evie
cleared her throat.

Colin
got a grip on his temper. Much as he wanted to ram that gold-tipped cane down
Dreyer’s throat, physical violence wouldn’t help the situation.

“Your
daughter is a grown woman. Her choices in life are exactly that.
Her
choices.”

“When
it comes to my daughter being accused of murder, young man, I have a parental
duty to protect her interests.”

Evie
tried, once more, for diplomacy.

“No
one has accused your daughter of anything, Mr. Morton. We’re in the early
stages of trying to find out what happened so that we can prevent it from
happening again.”

“I’ll
tell you how to prevent it from happening again. Keep him,” and he pointed the
sharp end of his cane toward Colin, “away from my Althea. And the same goes for
you.”

Evie
stiffened, as Dreyer sneered at her.

“Oh
yes, don’t think I don’t know who you are. Your grandmother was a pillar of the
community. Her only mistake was in letting her daughter run off with that no
account boy. Laura Asher was stubborn, and too independent for her own good. If
your grandfather were alive, he never would have permitted it to happen.”

Colin
expected bloodshed from Evie as the vile, judgmental drivel spewed from
Dreyer’s mouth. What he didn’t expect was the shattered look in her eyes, and the
way she seemed to shrink into herself. He realized with a shock that she wasn’t
going to defend herself or her family. But, of course, Dreyer wasn’t done.

“And
it seems that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I have friends in New
York, Miss Asher. No wonder you’ve become a target for this so-called stalker. He’s
clearly seeking out women with loose morals, the kind that wreck homes and ruin
lives. You have experience in that area, don’t you?”

“Dreyer,
that’s enough.”

“I
think the town has a right to know what kind of woman is policing their
streets, Mr. Daniels.”

Colin
forgot that he was supposed to be playing peacemaker and grabbed the older man
by the lapels.

“If
you breathe one word to anyone, I will personally take this cane and shove it
so far up your ass – ”

“Colin,
stop.”

Evie’s
quiet voice, grave and calm, broke through the red haze clouding his vision. Dreyer
squirmed in his grasp and Colin dropped him. Shakily straightening his jacket,
Dreyer aimed poisoned glares at both of them.

“I’m
just protecting my own. Althea was a good girl until Colin came back to town.”

“She’s
still a good woman. And I may not have been in love with her, but I liked her. I’ve
always liked her. I respect her enormously.”

Dreyer
scoffed, “You don’t know the meaning of the word.”

He
started to march away, but Evie suddenly snapped out of her daze.

“Where
were you Monday night?”

She
hurried after him, blocking his path down the hill.

“My
private life is none of your business, young lady.”

“It’s
a simple question.” Evie’s voice was like ice.

“And
if I choose not to answer it?”

“Then
we’ll have to talk down at the station. I’m sure you don’t want that.”

“Unless
you’re charging me with something, Miss Asher, get out of my way. This
constitutes harassment, and I assure you that you’ll be hearing from my
lawyer,” he sputtered, and Colin was amused to see him shaken by Evie’s cool
glare.

“Why
would you need a lawyer? Have you done something illegal? Tell him I’ll be
expecting his call. We’re going to sit down and have a chat, Mr. Morton, with
or without legal counsel. Your call.”

Not
giving him a chance to respond, she marched back toward Colin. For a moment it
looked as if Dreyer would storm back to confront her, but he simply stomped
down the hill, stabbing the ground as he went, muttering darkly under his
breath.

For
the first time all day, Colin felt like smiling.

“I
want to kiss you so badly right now.”

He
didn’t miss the little flare of heat in her eyes, but she lowered long lashes.

“Well,
restrain yourself.” Her voice was prim.

But
it thrilled him to the core as she darted a quick look up at him. And smiled.

SOMETIMES
THIS JOB REALLY, really sucks
,
thought Evie as she stepped out of the Sheriff’s Department into the square
after a long morning of interviews.

Preparations
for the upcoming Harvest Festival were already in full swing, and a bandstand
was going up, along with rows of tents and a dance floor. The carnival rides
were still in pieces, waiting to be put together, but already a crowd of eager
kids had gathered near the roped-off area, puzzling out which gears and beams
belonged to which carnival deathtrap, and which should be avoided on a stomach
full of cotton candy and popcorn.

Evie
watched the fun, wistful – she’d never had a gaggle of friends like that. Her
father put her to work cooking and cleaning for him from the moment she was
tall enough to reach the stove or handle a broom. At least there was school,
where she could be around other kids her own age, but she was shy and awkward,
and never wanted to explain her family situation. As a result, Evie had had a
Cinderella-esque childhood, minus the Prince Charming or the magic pumpkins – school
dances were skipped to make dinner for Dad, boyfriends were avoided for their
own protection. Dad often couldn’t tell the difference between her and her late
mother, and Evie always tried to avoid his alcohol-soaked rages, with varying
degrees of success. She had quickly realized that she would have to be her own
fairy godmother, and the moment she graduated from her city college, she
applied to the Police Academy.

But
there had never been the kind of fun for fun’s sake that seemed to shimmer in
the air in Bright’s Ferry, and Evie longed to be a part of it. She wanted to
escort the local kids through the scary corn maze, gorge herself sick on cider
and apple pie, and dance with a cute guy who would hold her close and whisper
how pretty she looked under the lights of the Harvest Dance. Hot hazel eyes
flashed into her mind and she frowned.

She
did
not
want to try to figure out which one of her new neighbors was a
killer.

And
she
really
did not want to fall under the spell of Bright’s Ferry’s boy
toy mayor.

The
last couple of days of interviews had given her a clearer picture of Colin. He
worked hard, he played hard, but was almost always gone by morning. Tender and
compassionate, but unwilling to let a relationship go further than friendship. A
sexual force between the sheets. All of the women agreed on
that
point –
Colin had plenty to offer a woman, and knew exactly how to offer it. He liked
to be in charge –
no surprise there
– and women were putty in his hands.

Evie
had asked practical questions of the eight women she questioned –
How long
were you together? Was the relationship sexual in nature? Did anyone get hurt
when it ended? Where were you the night of the murder?
Through each
interview, Evie attempted to keep her tone calm and professional, trying to
ignore the irrelevant pieces of information she picked up as the women
recounted their flings with Colin, with little success.
Magnetically
attractive?
Check.
Sex god?
Check.
Body to make the angels weep?
Double
check.

It
was humiliating to note how similar her reactions were to those of Colin’s bevy
of former girlfriends. Her stomach fluttered as she took note of the one major
difference – all of her close encounters with Colin had been intense. No casual
friendship. No easygoing, fun-filled sexual romps.
What does it mean?
She
thought about the way he’d pleasured her, driving her upward with hands and
mouth as though he would never stop.

Enough,
Evie
, the inner
cop bitched,
stop thinking about him dragging you behind the gazebo to have
his wicked way with you and deal with the situation at hand. Hello, killer?

Evie
started toward Town Hall, sifting through the various interviews and pieces of
information of the last few days. The problem was that there were too many
suspects, and not enough at the same time. None of the women Colin had dated
seemed to bear him any ill will, although that would be easy to conceal. Dreyer
Morton was a possibility, but Evie accepted the fact that being a total asshole
didn’t necessarily make him a killer.

Millicent
Grayson
is
next on my list.
Unfortunately, the mousy little waitress was proving
difficult to track down. A stop at the restaurant had revealed that she’d been
home caring for her sick toddler, but she hadn’t returned any of the messages
Evie or Tony had left for her over the last couple of days.

There
were two options – they could either wait for the stalker to strike again and
hope to find more evidence to point them in the right direction, or they could
cast the net wider and hope for a break in the case. Given that Evie seemed to
be directly in the path of danger, she was putting her efforts into the second
option. Besides, she wasn’t going to sit around and wait for some deranged
lunatic to put a bullet in her skull because he or she was under the mistaken
impression that Evie and Colin were a couple. Evie firmly banished the thought
of Colin’s mouth on her skin and started up the steps of Town Hall.

Sometimes
this job totally sucks,
she thought again, sighing. There were still two people to interview from her
initial list, and Evie had a feeling that Colin was going to be a tad bit
upset.

“WOW,
YOUR OFFICE IS so swanky.”

Colin
looked up to see Evie lounging in the doorway, admiring the high ceiling and
polished antique furniture that hadn’t been upgraded in a century. As always,
his pulse jumped at the sight of her.

“Makes
me look like a grownup, right? I’ve got them all fooled.” He smiled and
gestured toward a chair.

Shutting
the door behind her, Evie returned his grin and sprawled in the visitor’s chair
across the desk.

“I
hear you’re a computer genius.”

Colin
leaned back, getting comfortable. He knew that there was no way this was a
social call, but if he could steal a few minutes of casual conversation with Evie
before she dropped whatever bomb she was planning to ruin his day with, he
would take it.
Pathetic, man
, he scolded himself, but without heat. The
funeral that morning had been difficult, and it was refreshing to sit across
from Evie without arguments, without accusations, in the relative safety of his
office – since the attacks, Tony had the place guarded like Fort Knox.