Page 80 of Lead Me On
“It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that Jesse was with me that day. He couldn’t have killed her.”
Greg sniffed. “You want me to go to my boss and tell him I’ve cleared a murder suspect on the word of his sister? Maybe I’ll also mention that I used to sleep with you.”
“Regardless, I—”
“‘Hey, boss,’” he mimicked, “‘my ex-girlfriend is a skank from a family of criminals.’ That’d be a great note in my file when promotion time comes around.”
“All right,” she snapped. “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings, Greg, but this is more serious than your damaged pride. We’re talking about somebody’s life.”
“We’re talking about a few lives, Jane. Two women are dead, maybe three, and from what I hear there’s plenty of evidence that your brother did it. So get the hell out of here. Now.”
“He didn’t do it, and I’m providing you with evidence that he didn’t! On Monday evening he was withme.We met with his attorney and then stopped at the grocery store before having dinner with his grandmother. You can check with his attorney. You can check the security cameras at the store. He was withme.”
“And how late did dinner run? I’ve got a feeling Grandma doesn’t eat at nine o’clock.”
Jane clenched her teeth together. She didn’t know the exact time of death. Mr. Chase’s contact had revealed only that she’d died about twenty-four hours before she was found.
When her fingers went numb, she realized that she’d twisted them tightly together. “Can you at least look into it? Please? Look at the evidence with a new eye. Just assume, for a minute, that it wasn’t him.”
“We treat every case with the same objectivity. Nobody is out to get your brother. If he didn’t do it, he won’t be charged.”
“Oh, please. Don’t give me that.”
“Jane,” he snapped, then paused to take a deep breath. “I’m sure his lawyer will be contacted with anything important. I couldn’t show you favoritism even if I cared to. And I don’t.”
Hoping to see some glimmer of reason in his eyes, Jane stared at him for a long moment.Please help me,she pleaded silently. But Greg’s scowl was back.
“Who’s that guy, Jane?” He jerked his chin in the direction of the truck. “Are you working your way back to your roots?”
Jane set her shoulders and calmly turned to leave.
She should have waited to break it off with him. Why had she been in such a hurry? If she’d held on for one more week…
But the thought made her shudder, and her instincts had just been confirmed. He’d liked her well enough when she was sleeping with him, but now she was trash. Just trash.
She slipped into the truck.
“Jane? You okay?”
“Yes.”
Chase pulled away from the curb, but she could feel his attention on her. “That didn’t seem to go well.”
“He was posturing. Maybe when he gets into the office he’ll take another look at the files.”
“Mmm.”
She’d claimed to be okay, but was she? Jane closed her eyes and took an internal inventory. She’d just revealed part of her past to Greg. And she felt…okay. It was the part of her past she would have been forced to reveal if their relationship had continued.
Yes, he might spread it around, let other people know where she came from, but her family was hardly the worst of it.
She was okay.
“So,” Chase said, “is that the kind of guy you usually date?”
“Yes.”
“Doctors, lawyers, that sort of thing?”
