Karen Whiddon - Texas Secrets, Lovers' Lies

Scary thought. Just like with Mama Bell, Shayna had shut Zoe completely out of the truth about her life.

Drugs. Alcohol. Sex with random men.

Zoe’s mother had been a party girl. Zoe could only hope Shayna hadn’t gotten mixed up with the same type of people. After all, that was the reason Zoe’s mother had ended up dead, with her killer in prison.

Zoe made a mental note to check online later and make sure nothing had changed. The last time he’d come up before the parole board, he’d been denied.

Meanwhile, Cristine watched her like a hawk. A concerned, slightly ditzy hawk, but closely nonetheless.

“I’m still going to talk to the police,” Zoe repeated. “Now, please excuse me.”

Cristine stared and then nodded. “Let me come with you.”

Glancing around the crowded room full of people she should recognize but didn’t, Zoe shook her head. “Thank you, but that’s not necessary. You’ve got plenty to occupy you here. I’ll handle this on my own.”

Cristine dipped her chin, swallowing hard. “But you are signing up to help search, right?”

“Of course.” Zoe forced a smile and gestured to the line at the sign-up table. “Judging from the size of this turnout, you should have a ton of people show up tomorrow to assist.”

Cristine bit her lip. “About that. Will you help me organize it?” she blurted. “I want Shayna found, and no one else besides you and Mrs. Bell is taking her disappearance seriously.”

Surprised, Zoe considered. What Cristine said made sense. Still, until she got a better feel for things, Zoe preferred to go it on her own. “I don’t know,” she finally said. “It looks to me like you have everything pretty much under control.”

Then, before Cristine could say anything else, Zoe turned and hurried away.

Rushing outside, she nearly ran into Brock. Immediately, she felt a tingle of excitement low in her belly, which she ignored.

“Leaving already?” he asked, blocking her way and making no effort to move.

She tried to catch her breath, nodded and kept her expression impassive. It wouldn’t be a good thing if Brock learned how her body still reacted to him. “I thought I’d head over to the police station and see if I can light a fire under them.”

“Good idea.” He fell into step beside her. “It’s a short walk. Do you mind if I go with you?”

Would wonders never cease? Suddenly everyone wanted to go with her to the police department. First Cristine, and now Brock. She had to wonder if ulterior motives might be involved.

Glancing at Brock, his ruggedly handsome profile strong and rigid, his massive shoulders stretching the cotton of his button-down shirt, Zoe again quelled her inner quivering. She tried to be objective—as if they hadn’t shared a past—and debated asking him if he knew about Shayna and the sheriff. In the end, she decided against it. She wasn’t yet positive it was the truth.

“If you want,” she answered, turning away, unable to keep looking at him, hating how badly that hurt. “Though judging how you’ve been acting since I got here, I can’t help but wonder why you’d want to go anywhere with me.”

He touched her shoulder, making her jump and face him. From his expression, he wasn’t too happy about her statement.

Tough. She’d only spoken the truth.

“Look, Zoe,” he began, his husky, Southern-accented voice both familiar and exotic. “Though I’m of the opinion Shayna took off with some guy for an extended vacation, I still want her found. Just because we weren’t getting along doesn’t mean I’m not worried about her.”

Interesting. Now she definitely had to wonder what he was hiding. And he was hiding something, of that she had no doubt. “I’m glad to hear you say that,” she said, deciding to test his veracity. “The way I see it, we’re going to have to put our differences aside so we can work together. Don’t you agree?”

His face revealed his surprise, and he slowly nodded. Of course, he had no idea that the look in his eyes plainly communicated the opposite. Work together? He might as well have given her a hell, no. At least that would have been truthful.

“I have to admit I could use your help sometimes,” she continued, again speaking only the truth. “I’m getting too many conflicting stories.”

He gave a heavy sigh. “I have a feeling I know what you mean.”

“Do you?” Now would be the perfect time to find out his version of the truth. “What exactly happened between you and Shayna?”

“That’s private, between me and her. None of your business.”

“It is my business if it has something to do with her disappearance. What happened, Brock?”

He took a deep breath and then shook his head. “Look, Zoe, you turned your back on me, on us and on this town. People around here might be more forgiving, or they might tell you all of this is none of your business. I don’t know why Mama Bell called you or even why you came. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve amply demonstrated you don’t give a damn about any of us.”

His words hung there, lodging in the empty space inside her heart. She shriveled a little at his tone, but then she’d known coming back wouldn’t be easy. He might not like it, but she knew she needed to probe into the relationship between her missing friend and her former fiancé. If she wanted to gain insight into what had happened to Shayna, she would have to ask difficult questions. And if Brock wanted her found, he’d have to answer them.

They started walking, side by side, close but not touching in any way. She felt unsettled, as though his body exerted some sort of gravitational pull on hers. “What do you mean, you know what I’m talking about?”

Not looking at her, he responded. “Shayna had gone wild. Cristine was her partner in crime. They were into drugs, alcohol and one-night stands. I couldn’t exactly stop her, but I could make her keep it out of my apartment. She couldn’t wait to move out.”

Again, nothing should have surprised her, but she found it hard to reconcile the Brock she’d once known putting up with the kind of behavior Cristine had ascribed to Shayna. And what had her best friend been thinking? None of this even remotely made sense.

But then again, people changed. Everyone did. Including her. Except for one thing. Who would have guessed that she’d still get that internal zing straight to the heart every time she even looked at Brock?

As they neared the building that housed the Anniversary police station, Zoe had to wonder if it wasn’t entirely possible Brock knew about Shayna and the chief and had come along to enact some sort of testosterone pissing contest.

But then again, pulling something like that off surrounded by armed officers of the law would be more than foolish—it would be downright suicidal.

She needed to calm her overactive imagination and find out what the Anniversary police department was doing to help find her friend.

And she suddenly realized this was one thing she’d be better off handling by herself. As it stood, she suspected Brock’s motives for the abrupt about-face. After all, why would he want to work together with the woman who’d basically left him at the altar? Especially if—she shot a quick sideways glance at him—Shayna had been cheating on him constantly?

“Wait.” Without thinking, she touched his arm, nearly gasping at the sizzle that ran up her fingers straight to her heart. “I think I’d rather do this alone.”

“Of course you would,” he responded, the crease between his brows revealing his displeasure. Though he didn’t move, she could see him visibly withdraw.

Fighting the odd urge to apologize, she nodded. Good. Maybe now she could breathe. After all, there was no sense in letting him get too close. He might be the man who’d made her friend disappear—and still she was attracted to him.