Brenda Novak - Discovering You

“You mean since he’s gotten off once,” she said. “Criminals do that all the time. They’re given a second chance, and then they reoffend, right?”

“If I were you, I’d get a security system. And keep an eye out. But try not to let this ruin your peace of mind.”

She had to laugh. Could he be serious? She’d get a security system, but that wouldn’t stop Sebastian from getting to her if he was determined enough. All he’d have to do was follow her to Cassia’s preschool or the store, where she’d be defenseless.

“India?” Detective Flores said when she didn’t respond.

She couldn’t answer him. What was there to say? They’d let Sebastian go, and now he’d come looking for her. She’d testified against him. In his world, there was no greater sin, no greater betrayal.

“When?” she said as she wiped her cheeks.

“When...what?” the detective asked.

“When did you release him?”

There was another long moment of silence. Then he said, “Yesterday.”

Now she didn’t want Cassia to come home, not when the child would be so much safer with her grandparents.

That meant Sebastian hadn’t cost her only Charlie; he’d cost her Cassia, as well.

5 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Epilogue Extract Copyright

Rod cursed as he stared down at his new cast. The doctor had indicated that the worst of his injuries hadn’t occurred during the fight. He’d busted his hand trying to break his fall from the bike, but hitting Liam after had led to a second fracture—a stress fracture. The doctor couldn’t believe he’d been capable of using his fists, although Rod didn’t remember feeling he’d had any choice. When Liam came running back to him, he’d assumed he had to get up and defend himself. He wasn’t about to let Crockett, or anyone else for that matter, beat his ass.

So now he was looking at six weeks without the use of his right hand. He knew the routine, had been through it before—with a broken ankle from a waterskiing accident, a broken left wrist from when he’d been hit by a wild baseball pitch and a broken transverse process, one of the small bones coming off his spine, from when he’d rolled his four-wheeler.

Fortunately, his leg wasn’t broken, too. It just felt like it.

I could help get the dirt and gravel out of your leg...

As Rod passed India’s house on the way home, he remembered that offer and wished he’d taken her up on it. Maybe then he’d be able to go back there and get lost in her all over again. He was eager for any distraction absorbing enough to take his mind off his aches and pains—as well as the ominous news he’d received a few minutes earlier, when Chief Bennett had called to warn him that Liam Crockett’s sister was urging her brother to press charges.

If they sued for medical expenses, he’d have another fight on his hands, and this wouldn’t be physical, so he wasn’t as likely to win. His reputation—and the reputation of his family—would work against him, which was doubly unfair, since he hadn’t done even half the shit he’d been accused of doing.

Once he’d parked in his drive, his phone buzzed. He’d received a message from Cheyenne, Dylan’s wife. She was planning to bring him dinner tonight. He liked it when she cooked. She tried to mother them the way Dylan fathered them. But she wasn’t coming until six, and it was only two. Rod supposed that if he couldn’t spend the afternoon with India, he should try to get some work done. Dylan had sent him home, wouldn’t let him stay at the shop, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t mow the yard. At least he’d have something to show for the day.

He went inside to change into a pair of basketball shorts, which wouldn’t be as hot as his jeans. But then he noticed his laptop sitting on the coffee table and decided to take a minute to see if he could learn a few details about his new neighbor. He was more than a little curious, especially after last night.

Groaning as he eased into a recliner, he logged on to the internet. When he typed the name “Dr. Charlie Sommers” into a search engine, he thought he’d be lucky to find a brief obituary that would tell him how India’s husband had died.

But he got a lot more than that. Link after link filled the screen.

Renowned Heart Surgeon Shot in Bed

Wife Knew Gunman Who Killed Husband

Dr. Sommers’s Parents Hire PI

Secret Affair or Spurned Lover?

Sebastian Young Charged in Sommers’s Murder

Doctor’s Wife Claims Innocence

Wife’s Ex-Boyfriend Murders Heart Surgeon?

Surgeon’s Murder Trial Ends in Hung Jury

“Holy shit,” Rod muttered as he read the accompanying articles. No wonder India didn’t talk about how her husband had died. Her ex-boyfriend had broken in late at night and gunned him down while they were both sleeping and their young daughter was in the other room. According to one journalist, who’d reported on the trial, India stated under oath that she’d awakened to the sound of her ex-boyfriend’s voice demanding Charlie get out of bed. When she realized it wasn’t a nightmare and managed to open her eyes, she saw Sebastian Young standing at the foot of the bed, holding a gun.

Charlie, disoriented and barely awake, had reached for his cell—and was shot. The gunman then threatened to kill India’s daughter if India didn’t pack a bag and leave with him. She complied as far as gathering her things but pleaded and argued with him for the next few hours. It wasn’t until the housekeeper arrived the following morning, and the carpet cleaners rang the bell shortly after, that Sebastian dragged India out the back door. India claimed that he demanded she leave her child, which she wouldn’t do. She thought he was about to shoot her when the housekeeper stumbled on the bloody mess in the bedroom and started to scream. Fortunately, Sebastian didn’t pull the trigger. At that point, he panicked and ran.

What a story! Rod rubbed his chin as he searched through even more links. The trial had lasted for three weeks but ended in a hung jury. Some questioned whether India could’ve been involved, whether she might’ve killed her husband and blamed Sebastian, or manipulated Sebastian into killing her husband for her. Although there’d never been any charges filed against her, the suspicion lingered, which became more and more apparent as he continued to read.

Rod hoped to learn the DA’s decision on whether to try Young again, but he couldn’t find any word of it. The most recent articles were over a month old.

What had happened since? Was this Sebastian still in jail, awaiting a new trial? Or had he been released? And if he’d been released, where the hell was he? Was India worried that he might come back? Was that the reason her in-laws had her daughter?

She must have been severely traumatized. Not only had she lost her husband, she’d been villainized by the press and her detractors, too. “It’s always the spouse,” one neighbor had said.

At first, no surprise, the police had focused on India. The money she stood to receive, and the value of Charlie’s life insurance policy, had given her more than a million reasons to get rid of him. There was even some mention of the type of people she’d associated with before her marriage, as if the friends she’d once had proved that she wasn’t a good person.

They weren’t the sort Rod would’ve expected. One had belonged to an outlaw biker gang. She’d been with him for about a year—until he tried to run her over with his truck and she had to get a restraining order against him. Then she’d gotten involved with Sebastian, who’d robbed a store and spent four years in prison for it. Everyone pointed to that as proof that she must’ve known he was dangerous, that she must’ve wanted to get back with him when he was released from prison.