Stephanie Doyle - Suspect Lover

Slowly, Dominic sank back down on the holding cell bench.

“It wasn’t an affair,” Dominic mumbled. “It was a pass. That was it. Nothing happened.”

“She made a play for you, though. Not something you would be thrilled to know about your wife. Then she does the other partner and…”

“Anne and Denny? That’s not possible.”

“So everyone tells me. But I found a magazine in Denny’s office with her prints all over it. There was Ford’s home number in Denny’s cell. A call made to his house from said phone. And right now, the jilted husband is in the interrogation room crying like a baby.”

“He confessed?”

“No, but I think it’s just a matter of time,” Mark figured. “The pieces fit. He wanted to get back at Denny for shacking up with his wife. He wanted to get back at you for being someone his wife hit on. Denny’s dead. You’re in jail. He keeps the company for himself and probably ditches the wife.”

Dominic considered the theory, but it was hard to swallow. “You have to know Anne. It just doesn’t seem like her to have an affair with someone like Denny.”

“Yeah, Ford thought he disgusted her, but you never know what goes on in a woman’s mind. Take Nora, for instance. What type of guy do you think she would be attracted to? Not that I care. I’m just trying to make a point here.”

But Dominic ignored the question. Anne and Denny. Anne hated his scruffiness. She hated the way he endlessly talked about his programs. She hated Denny. So what made her get in bed with him? Was she trying to get back at Steven for something?

No.

A stillness crept over Dominic and he suddenly he could hear his heart beat, hear the sound of his breath entering and leaving his body. “You were right,” he told the detective who was still rambling on about Nora’s taste in men.

He stopped when Dominic spoke. “Right about what?”

“This wasn’t about the program.”

“I told you that.”

“This was about revenge.”

“Yeah, I know. Keep up. Ford took revenge against the men who his wife obviously wanted more than him.”

“No,” Dominic said bursting out of the cell as soon as the door swung open. “This is about revenge. But not Steven’s.”

“An indoor pool. A house on the beach. A bestselling sister-in-law. I’m really going to have to start visiting more.”

Caroline smiled at Nora, who immediately made herself comfortable on the couch.

It did feel good to be home. And this was home. She knew it. It was the difference between the dread she’d felt standing inside the foyer of her house in Leesburg and the hope she felt now. Steven was in police custody, the truth would come out and it would be over.

As soon as Dominic walked through the door, she was going to propose to him.

She thought of their first wedding in Vegas. Quick. Efficient. She hadn’t wanted anything else. Plus, she didn’t think he would have gone for it if she had.

Things were different now. There was honesty. Openness. She wasn’t going to be polite about what she wanted out of their marriage anymore. Her days of walking on eggshells were over. The coward inside her was officially dead.

She thought about how Dominic admired her serenity. She wondered how he would feel about her fire.

“You ever been a bridesmaid, Nora?”

Nora’s brow lifted in an exact imitation of Dominic’s. “You thinking of putting a big pink bow on my ass?”

Caroline laughed. “Maybe not pink.”

“I’m in. Anything that makes him happy. I’m in.”

“Because you think you owe him,” Caroline said. “You know he probably wouldn’t like that.”

“Can’t help it. I do. He gave me my life back.”

“You know he came to see you. When you graduated from the academy, he was there. And one of the reasons he wanted to win this government contract was so that he would have a chance to visit you more often. He was going to try.”

Nora’s surprise was evident, and her slow smile told its own story. “Thanks. For letting me know. If I start calling him bro, do you think it will freak him out?”

“I do,” Caroline replied. “And I think you absolutely should. I’m going to go for a swim to try and work off all this extra adrenaline. You want to join me?”

“As in exercise? Tonight? I already had to run to chase you down a flight of stairs. That’s enough physical activity for me for a week.” Nora found the remote and began flicking through the channels on the flat-screen.

“If you get tired there’s a guest room upstairs.”

“I’m cool. My bet is Hernandez will either call or stop by once he has news.”

After changing into her suit, Caroline made her way to the pool, switching on the underwater lights but opting to leave the rest of the room in the dark. She’d found that way she could see the stars more clearly. The rain clouds were finally passing and the stars in the night sky twinkled.

She took pleasure in diving into the water in one clean leap. Hands piercing the surface. Body plunging afterward. No thought. No hesitation.

The water greeted her like a warm massage. She wondered how long she could stay under water. How long could she escape from the noise. How long could she continue to fly. Not too long.

Halfway to the other end of the pool, she kicked off the bottom and found air. Sucking it into her lungs, she dove under once more, determined to swim the rest of the length of the pool. She focused on the light shining from the center of the stairs underneath the water.

Suddenly the lamp went out and she poked her head up. Her first assumption was that the bulb had gone.

That assumption was wrong.

“Hello, Caroline.”

“Anne.” She huffed, trying to recover the air she’d denied her lungs. “What are you doing here?” Caroline didn’t hesitate and climbed the stairs out of the pool.

Anne held a towel out for her. Carefully Caroline took it as ideas ran through her head. She must know about Steven. Maybe he’d already been charged with murder. It was certainly enough to make a wife angry. Desperate. Caroline knew.

Feeling vulnerable and slightly exposed in the bathing suit, she wrapped the towel around her breasts and slicked the wet hair off her face. “What are you doing here?” Caroline asked again.

Anne simply smiled. “I hear Dominic’s back. You must be thrilled.”

“I am.” She didn’t have to wonder what the strange sensation swirling throughout her body was. It consumed her and turned her knees to mush. It was her old friend, fear. “Did Nora let you in?”

Cautiously, Caroline turned her head, but she couldn’t see up to where the couch was on the second level.

“Yes, she’s upstairs watching TV. She told me you were down here.”

The feeling rolling through her gut increased, accompanied by a roaring in her ears. Nora wouldn’t have sent this woman downstairs. She would have wanted to know what the hell she was doing here in the first place and why she wasn’t down at police headquarters supporting her husband.

Anne had done something to Nora. It was the only explanation. And it explained everything else.

“You and Steven are in this together.”

“Wrong!” Anne shouted and then chortled arrogantly. “Come on, Caroline. You’re a mystery writer. Surely, you can do better than that. Steven? You think he was behind this? Please. Steven couldn’t find his way to the executive washroom if I didn’t lead him there.”

Caroline took a step back. “I’m not in the mood to play games, Anne.”

“But aren’t you curious? I mean you’re going to die, Caroline. Don’t you want to know why?”

It wasn’t until she actually said the word die that Caroline saw the gun in the woman’s hand bumping against her hip. Focusing on the glint of steel, she couldn’t look away.