Page 16 of Dead Man's Alibi

He used the backs of his fingers to wipe them off her cheeks.“I know.”

She inhaled, wishing she could stop shaking.Stop crying.Stopfreaking out.“I just keep reliving it, Nate.They took him away in handcuffs, and everything changed.Everything was a nightmare.For years.So many damn years.I lost…”Everything.

“I know.Look, maybe you can’t believe me.I think I get that.Maybe this is what you have to do for a while.Be mean and ice me out.Or, hey, cry it out.I’m not going to dissolve over a few tears.Have the emotional response you need to, Sam.That’s fine.I’ll survive.”He took her by the shoulders, looked right into her eyes.“Because you’re not losing anything.I promise.”

Something in Sam eased.Not all of the tension.Not all of the fear or worry or feelings of being cursed.

But if Nate promised… well, maybe it could be okay.

Chapter Seven

Main Street Diner

Jill got tothe diner early.Grandma had been up whistling and rustling in the kitchen at six, and Jill hadn’t been able to fall back asleep, so she figured she might as well get an early start.

She’d had a mug of coffee with Grandma and watched the sun rise, wrapped together under a blanket against the morning chill.

Not a bad way to start the day.Then she’d gotten dressed and driven into town.Cal hadn’t replied to her email with the scene she’d sent him anyway.Maybe after she ate something, answered some emails, she’d go over to Honor’s Edge and try to track him down.

Or was that too pushy?She chewed on her bottom lip, staring out the diner window, trying to decide.

She felt a kind of shadow cross the table and looked up, half expecting to see Cal there.

But it was Detective Jake Hayes.Not just passing by her table, but standing there, looking directly at her.

A little sliver of unease moved through her, but she managed to smile politely.“Oh, good morning, Detective.”

“Call me Jake.”He smiled.“Would you mind if I joined you for a few?”

Even though his smile was kind, Jill couldn’t help but tense.A detective wanting to join her fora fewdidn’t feel innocuous.And she just… never could get it out of her head that he’d been so condescending last winter about Cal’s traumatic amnesia.Maybe she shouldn’t hold it against him—Cal didn’t seem to—but she couldn’t quite let it go since she thought of it every time she saw him.

“I’m not questioning you,” he said when she didn’t answer.

Which was good to know, but… “Then what are you doing?”

His smile crinkled the skin around his eyes.There was just a hint of gray in the dark hair at his temple.“Ah.Hm.Community outreach with the pretty women of the morning diner crowd?”

It was kind of funny, and she found herself smiling.He had to be at least ten years older than her, if not more.But she couldn’t deny that he was handsome and had a nice smile.And, yeah, maybe she was a sucker for being flirted with.Because she really had been cooped up on that mountain with just her grandmother for too long.

And what was wrong with a little flirt when she hadn’t even been on a date in something like four years?

As long as it really was a flirt and not more trouble on the horizon.Well, she might as well find out either way.She gestured at the seat across from her.

He slid into the booth and pointed to her computer.“I read one of your books.”

She blinked in surprise.“You did?”

“Sure.It’s not every day you meet a famous writer.Felt like I had to make an effort.”

She was pretty sure thefamouswas meant to flatter, since she was nothing of the kind.“I hope you’re not bringing it up to tell me you hated it.Or maybe that it’snot your kind of thing.”

He chuckled, shook his head.“No.Do people really do that?”

She sighed.“Yeah, people really do that.”

He shook his head.“I guess it’s like that thing when people find out I’m a detective and have to tell me about all the times they’ve been unjustly targeted by law enforcement.”

She wrinkled her nose.“People really do that?”