Page 79 of Dead Man's Alibi

Olivia nodded, but her expression was confused.“But if you think the investigator did it, why are you looking into this guy she went on a date with?”

“I’m a detective, Olivia.It’s my job to find all the answers.And the fact of the matter is, Sam’s appearance here proves that some people are going to great lengths to try to prove Bennet’s innocence.I want to make sure they can’t accomplish that in a court of law just because I didn’t do my due diligence on everything.Jules deserves justice, no matter what.”

Because no matter what Cal Bennet said,thatwas Jake’s goal.If he enjoyed justice a little more when he hated the person getting it handed to them, well, Jake considered thathuman.

Olivia inhaled shakily.Her eyes had filled with tears, but she blinked them back.“That’s all I want.Justice for Jules.I don’t care who finds it or how, honestly.I just want it to happen.”

“The policehavefound it.Now we’ve got to work with the courts to ensure the perpetrator pays.Every little bit helps, Olivia.I know you know that, or you wouldn’t have agreed to dinner.”

She was fully looking at him now.“I don’t know if that’s true.”A clear and direct flirt.Perfect.An advantage he was damn well going to press.

He gestured at the menu.“How about a bottle of wine with dinner?”

She wrinkled her nose a little, then laughed.“I feel like I probably shouldn’t drink wine in front of a cop if I have to drive home.”

He smiled at her.“Well, I can always be your designated driver.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Driving back to Marietta

Sam had tobe careful following Jake back to Marietta in the dark.Too close, he would no doubt start to sense he was being followed.He might be a total ass, completely wrong about everything with this murder case, possibly even a murderer himself… though she still struggled to fully accept that.

Regardless, he was a good cop who would know if someone followed him if she wasn’t careful.

She still couldn’t believe he’d driven Olivia home, walked the clearly tipsy woman up to her door, and thenkissedher.Right there on the woman’s porch in the glow of the porch light.Easy and charming as he pleased.Steamy enough Sam felt like some sort of creepy voyeur.

She didn’t know if she wassurprisedhe was a sleaze ball, but she was having a hard time making sense of it.

Had his dinner with Olivia tonight just been personal?Or was he using charm and flirtation as some kind of angle?

Did it matter if he’d already turned Olivia against her?Didn’t that mean she had to find a new angle?

Should she give himsomecredit for not going inside the woman’s house when the invitation had been clear, if drunk?

No, she didn’t think Jake Hayes deservedanyfucking credit.

He turned onto the street she knew his house was on.It was a dead end, so if she followed, she’d have pass his house once and then turn around at the dead end and pass his house again.

So, first, she parked at the corner.It gave her just the right angle to see Jake’s truck pull into his driveway, and then into his garage.The garage door came down and closed.After a few moments, the light in the garage window went out, and one popped on inside the house.

What was she going to do now?Sit out here all night?She had to, didn’t she?Someone who was guilty wasn’t going to do their guilty shit during the day, were they?No, they’d do it in the middle of the night.

Sam didn’t know how on earth she was going to stay awake.She wrestled with ideas for a while.Take a little nap and hope he didn’t leave right away?Position herself right across from his driveway and hope the truck lights would wake her up if he left?

There was only one way out of the dead-end street, so if she at least turned onto it, parked there at the exit onto the main road, the headlights would have to hit her car no matter what.

If it was still dark out.If he was using headlights and not sneaking around.

Sure, it put her at risk of being seen—he might not recognize the car, but if he noticed someone was inside, he might take a closer look.

Sam decided it was worth the risk.This was all a risk and gamble anyway.And since it was, she figured she ought to let someone know what she was doing.She didn’t want to try to reason with Aly about not coming up to the ranch tonight, so she called Cal.

“Hey, just a heads up, I’m going to sit outside Hayes’s house for tonight.”

Cal’s long-suffering sigh echoed through the phone.“Sam…”

“Look, what’s the point in going up to the ranch?It’s no different.”