Page 1 of Dead Man's Alibi

Chapter One

Nate & Sam’s House in Marietta

Nate Bennet staredat the man on his porch and genuinely could not parse the words he’d just said.

Because that’s about how long she’s been dead.

Dead.Jules Hyatt.Who had been an obnoxious, frustrating, pain-in-his-ass client.He’d spent months dealing with her while he’d investigated her husband for cheating on her, but Jules had spent most of those months hitting onNateand not takingnofor an answer.

Now, she was dead.

And Detective Jake Hayes wanted to ask him questions about it.

Nate stood frozen in his own doorway as scenes of every interaction he’d had with the frustrating Mrs.Hyatt flashed through his mind.Particularly those last few weeks.She’d thought she was in danger, and he’d brushed her off because she kept resisting going to the police.Because she’d been such a pain.

And now she was dead, and if a detective was here, it wasn’t exactly a natural causes or accident situation.

Unsteady, Nate shoved a hand through his hair and moved out of the doorway.“Come in,” he said to Hayes.

Sam gripped his arm, not moving out of the doorway so Jake could enter.“Nate, you don’t have to do this tonight,” she said earnestly.

He looked down at her.He felt dazed.Like he wasn’t quite here.Like she wasn’t.

She’d saidyesto his marriage proposal, and now Jake was here with questions about adead womanNate hadn’t helped.

“We just got back from Cal’s party,” Sam told Hayes with condemnation in her tone, referring to Nate’s brother’s celebration for passing the Montana bar.“And…” She looked down at her hand.

Nate’s eyes followed hers.To where the engagement ring he had literallyjustput on her finger not five minutes ago winked in the light.

It seemed completely incongruous to this moment.Because Nate was much better versed in death than he was in life.Jules Hyatt being dead honestly felt a lot more sensible than happy, celebratory parties followed by Sam agreeing to marry him.

When he managed to look away from her hand, the ring, he met Jake’s hard gaze.

Yeah, the detective no doubt didn’t care forthatdevelopment.

But this wasn’t about Sam or even Jake.It wasn’t about engagements or old jealousies.A woman Nate had failed to help was dead.He needed to do everything he could to help get answers.

Nate gently pulled Sam out of the way so Hayes could step inside.“Come in.I’ll answer whatever questions you’ve got.”

But Sam was having none of it.“You don’t speak to cops without a lawyer.Lesson number one.Especially cops who hate your guts.”She glared at Jake.

Jake didn’t so much as look at her.“You were at Cal’s party.Can I assume you’ve been drinking?”he asked, his tone devoid of any kind of censure.

Normally, it would have still rubbed Nate the wrong way—most things Jake did accomplished that—but Jules was dead.Dead.

“I had a whiskey and a glass of champagne over the course of a few hours.”Nate shoved his fingers through his hair again.The party felt like a lifetime ago already.“I’m fine enough to answer questions.I’m fine.I want to help however I can.We don’t need lawyers.We need answers.If you want to ask me questions, you have… suspicions about the nature of how she died.”

Jake’s response was a noncommittal kind of sound.

“You’ve talked to her husband, right?”Nate said.

He’d never witnessed even a hint of violence from the guy, but a soon-to-be-ex-husbandhadto be the primary suspect.

“I’ve got his information if you need it.”He looked around the living room like he would find it there, when it would be at the office or in his laptop or…

“That won’t be necessary.”

Right.Hayes probably had everything he needed.For as much as he irritated the hell out of Nate, he was a good detective.Nate blew out a breath.He needed to get his head on straight.Focus.