Page 39 of Wicked Games

“Do you have any enemies who would want to do something like that?”

“Sure I do, but not because of anything I did. People get jealous and that’s enough. Detective LaSalle doesn’t think he meant to kill Theo, that money was the main goal and something happened. I did what I was told and wasn’t there at the drop. I couldn’t see anything, so I don’t know if his theory is right or not.”

“You mean something startled him,” I say, trying to picture it and failing. If all he wanted was the money, what could have freaked him out so badly he shot a little boy?

“That’s what LaSalle thinks, and he was there, standing a few blocks away in a building that was about to be torn down. He didn’t see anything either. One minute the fucker was checking the newspaper box for my bag, the next Theo was dead. Nothing has made sense since the day Theo was kidnapped. There’s no reason.” He sets his beer down and rubs his eyes.

I’m sorry I brought it up, and probably for nothing. If the cops can’t find who kidnapped Theo, I sure as hell won’t. But Hattie might have known something I don’t, and if I can figure that out, I might be able to figure out if they targeted the Lockwoods or if it was just bad luck.

“Are they still looking? Do they have a list of the other kids that were at the park that day?”

“If they do, they haven’t told me. At this point, there’s not much more they can do. What about your sister? Are they going to find whoever killed her?”

“Probably not. Her case is a lot like Theo’s. It could have been a random mugging or it could have been personal.”

“Why do they think it was personal?”

“She was a reporter and a lot of people didn’t appreciate her blasting their business all over the internet. I hope it was just a random mugging because I don’t like the idea of someone targeting her. Even if she did like to write the truth, she didn’t deserve to die like that.” A tear drips down my cheek and Seth brushes it away with his thumb.

“They don’t have any leads?”

“No, but they aren’t looking very hard. On the other hand, what are they going to do? She was in an alley that didn’t have security cameras in it. We don’t know why she was there. Meeting someone who said they had information? Someone she wrote about? But why would she do that? Maybe whoever it was knew they wouldn’t be seen. But if that’s true, who?”

“Do you know what she was working on around that time?” he asks, rubbing my leg. I’m grateful he’s not shutting me down. The only person I’ve been able to talk to about this is Bill, and I have a feeling after telling him Hattie lied, he’s not going to want to talk much anymore.

“Not really. I was keeping to myself because I knew Darren was thinking about leaving, and I was trying to get up the nerve to leave first. I should have, but I was stupid.”

“It’s not stupid, but sometimes we hang on to things we shouldn’t hang on to.”

I scoff. “You loved Brooke until she left. It’s not your fault you didn’t know what she was thinking. Do you know how long she was seeing Rowan Vale?”

“No. I mean, I can guess, but I don’t know when it turned into more than just them being friends. She didn’t act differently at home. When she was home. Maybe you’re right. Maybe Violet had more to do with our divorce than I want to believe.”

“Have you slept with her?”

He quirks his lips. “Are you asking for Brooke or yourself?”

I get off the couch, stack our plates, and grab our empty beer bottles. “Brooke. I don’t think we’re doing anything that gives me the right to ask that for myself.”

Narrowing his eyes, he says, “You have a right to know my sexual history considering that you are now a part of it.”

“Was that supposed to sound good? That didn’t sound good. Anyway, you don’t have to answer.”

I walk into the kitchen and he follows me, carrying the pizza box.

“You don’t think a man and a woman can be just friends?”

“It’s none of my business,” I say, tossing the beer bottles into the garbage.

He sets what’s left of our pizza on the island and backs me against the sink, the plates between us. “It’s your business if we’re doing something.”

“Didn’t I just say I don’t think we’re doing anything that would make it my business?”

“What if I think we’re doing something that makes it your business?”

“Really?” I ask, surprised. “I thought this was going to be a summer fling.”

Nibbling at my lips, he murmurs, “Do you want this to be a summer fling?”