Discovering You. Brenda Novak

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      “Money is motive.”

      Tears began to roll down her face and drip into her lap. “So is obsession. Sebastian was obsessed with me!”

      “I get that,” he agreed. “But it isn’t motive we need so much as evidence.”

      Charlie was dead, and yet Sebastian was free to go anywhere he wanted. How had it come to this? “What if Sebastian somehow finds out where I live?” she asked. “He could turn up at my house again.”

      “I wish we could keep him behind bars,” the detective replied, “but we can’t.”

      She was glad Flores didn’t point out that she was the one who’d given Sebastian her address the night Charlie was shot. She’d felt sorry for him, wanted to help an old friend get into rehab. She’d never dreamed Sebastian would read more into her actions, that he’d start trying to reconcile with her. I’ll never be happy without you, he’d said that night.

      So he’d made it impossible for her to be happy...

      “Have you told the Sommerses?” she asked dully.

      “Not yet. I’ve been trying to figure out how to break the news to both of you. I knew how it would make you feel.”

      She felt there was no justice in the world. That was how it made her feel. Then there was the helplessness. What now? How would she defend herself—or Cassia—from Sebastian if he tracked her down?

      “I doubt he’ll bother you,” the detective was saying. “He’d be crazy to risk his freedom again.”

      “You mean since he’s gotten off once,” she said. “Criminals do that all the time. They’re given a second chance, and then they reoffend, right?”

      “If I were you, I’d get a security system. And keep an eye out. But try not to let this ruin your peace of mind.”

      She had to laugh. Could he be serious? She’d get a security system, but that wouldn’t stop Sebastian from getting to her if he was determined enough. All he’d have to do was follow her to Cassia’s preschool or the store, where she’d be defenseless.

      “India?” Detective Flores said when she didn’t respond.

      She couldn’t answer him. What was there to say? They’d let Sebastian go, and now he’d come looking for her. She’d testified against him. In his world, there was no greater sin, no greater betrayal.

      “When?” she said as she wiped her cheeks.

      “When...what?” the detective asked.

      “When did you release him?”

      There was another long moment of silence. Then he said, “Yesterday.”

      Now she didn’t want Cassia to come home, not when the child would be so much safer with her grandparents.

      That meant Sebastian hadn’t cost her only Charlie; he’d cost her Cassia, as well.

       5

      Rod cursed as he stared down at his new cast. The doctor had indicated that the worst of his injuries hadn’t occurred during the fight. He’d busted his hand trying to break his fall from the bike, but hitting Liam after had led to a second fracture—a stress fracture. The doctor couldn’t believe he’d been capable of using his fists, although Rod didn’t remember feeling he’d had any choice. When Liam came running back to him, he’d assumed he had to get up and defend himself. He wasn’t about to let Crockett, or anyone else for that matter, beat his ass.

      So now he was looking at six weeks without the use of his right hand. He knew the routine, had been through it before—with a broken ankle from a waterskiing accident, a broken left wrist from when he’d been hit by a wild baseball pitch and a broken transverse process, one of the small bones coming off his spine, from when he’d rolled his four-wheeler.

      Fortunately, his leg wasn’t broken, too. It just felt like it.

      I could help get the dirt and gravel out of your leg...

      As Rod passed India’s house on the way home, he remembered that offer and wished he’d taken her up on it. Maybe then he’d be able to go back there and get lost in her all over again. He was eager for any distraction absorbing enough to take his mind off his aches and pains—as well as the ominous news he’d received a few minutes earlier, when Chief Bennett had called to warn him that Liam Crockett’s sister was urging her brother to press charges.

      If they sued for medical expenses, he’d have another fight on his hands, and this wouldn’t be physical, so he wasn’t as likely to win. His reputation—and the reputation of his family—would work against him, which was doubly unfair, since he hadn’t done even half the shit he’d been accused of doing.

      Once he’d parked in his drive, his phone buzzed. He’d received a message from Cheyenne, Dylan’s wife. She was planning to bring him dinner tonight. He liked it when she cooked. She tried to mother them the way Dylan fathered them. But she wasn’t coming until six, and it was only two. Rod supposed that if he couldn’t spend the afternoon with India, he should try to get some work done. Dylan had sent him home, wouldn’t let him stay at the shop, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t mow the yard. At least he’d have something to show for the day.

      He went inside to change into a pair of basketball shorts, which wouldn’t be as hot as his jeans. But then he noticed his laptop sitting on the coffee table and decided to take a minute to see if he could learn a few details about his new neighbor. He was more than a little curious, especially after last night.

      Groaning as he eased into a recliner, he logged on to the internet. When he typed the name “Dr. Charlie Sommers” into a search engine, he thought he’d be lucky to find a brief obituary that would tell him how India’s husband had died.

      But he got a lot more than that. Link after link filled the screen.

      Renowned Heart Surgeon Shot in Bed

      Wife Knew Gunman Who Killed Husband

      Dr. Sommers’s Parents Hire PI

      Secret Affair or Spurned Lover?

      Sebastian Young Charged in Sommers’s Murder

      Doctor’s Wife Claims Innocence

      Wife’s Ex-Boyfriend Murders Heart Surgeon?

      Surgeon’s Murder Trial Ends in Hung Jury

      “Holy shit,” Rod muttered as he read the accompanying articles. No wonder India didn’t talk about how her husband had died. Her ex-boyfriend had broken in late at night and gunned him down while they were both sleeping and their young daughter was in the other room. According to one journalist, who’d reported on the trial, India stated under oath that she’d awakened to the sound of her ex-boyfriend’s voice demanding Charlie get out of bed. When she realized it wasn’t a nightmare and managed to open her eyes, she saw Sebastian Young standing at the foot of the bed, holding a gun.

      Charlie, disoriented and barely awake, СКАЧАТЬ