Part 28 (1/2)
”I felt guilty, Hailey. It actually felt like I was cheating on you,” he added, lowering his voice. ”But then, I thought, that's nuts. You were away-with your husband.”
She ignored the reference. It was different. He knew she had a husband. He knew the score with her. He had no card to play there. She focused back on the morning of Natasha's murder. ”So Marshall sent you to the scene?”
”He called me first to find out when I'd stopped seeing her-that I had. Then he told me about Deputy Chief Scanlan. I'd heard the rumor before that, but we decided I should go down there to be sure someone else from the department hadn't been there-that there wasn't something obviously harmful to the department.”
Her hands trembled. ”And you didn't tell me?” She lowered her voice again. ”You screwed with my crime scene and you never told me?”
He pleaded with her with his eyes. ”I'm sorry.”
She shook her head.
”David asked me to keep it quiet. I did as he asked.”
She turned to leave.
”There's something else I've wanted to tell you. I don't know if it'll help.”
She didn't turn back, waited. Fury coated her skin like hot chills after a sunburn.
”She called maybe a month ago. I didn't call her back the first time. I didn't want anything to do with her, and it didn't sound like a business call.”
She waited.
”She called back a few days later. She was furious. She'd somehow heard about the list we had. She told me to send it to her so she could make sure we hadn't missed anyone.” He shook his head. ”She had a right to be p.i.s.sed.”
”h.e.l.l yes, she did.”
”The list wasn't my idea.”
She shook her head, turned her back. ”I don't care.”
”That last conversation, she made a comment at the end, something that I never quite figured out.”
Hailey waited.
”She said something about the list missing her most recent conqu-qu-quest.”
”What does that mean? That the guy has a stutter?”
He nodded. ”That's how I took it.”
Hailey remembered Tim's comment that he'd been struck by someone who had stuttered. ”Deputy Chief Scanlan?”
He shook his head. ”I don't think so. I've never heard him stutter.”
She frowned. ”But you don't know.”
He paused. ”No, I don't. Some people only stutter when they're upset. I've never seen him really heated.”
She started to leave but paused. ”Why didn't you tell me about the comment before?” Bruce didn't respond. Hailey waited, her pulse drumming. ”What about you, Bruce? Do you have an alibi for the night she was killed?”
He frowned. ”Yeah.”
She hesitated, suddenly not sure she was prepared for his answer. ”You were home alone?”
”Not quite.”
”You were with someone else?”
He nodded.
”s.h.i.+t,” she said, the word just slipping out.
”Hailey, you know-”
”Don't,” she said, cutting him off. It felt almost comical now. ”Don't say anything. Please.” She shook her head, lowered her voice. ”Don't f.u.c.k it up any worse than you already have.”
”Christ, this is a mess,” he said. ”I want to talk about this somewhere else. I'm done talking here. As for your case, Marshall knows about it. He's had my alibi confirmed. I am not a suspect in this case, but I'm also not partic.i.p.ating in the investigation of her homicide-because of the fact that we were-had been intimate.”
She felt the word ”intimate” hit her like a blow. Exhaled. ”I'm the lead investigator. I need to know who slept with her, G.o.dd.a.m.n it.”
He shook his head. ”Everyone slept with her, Hailey.”
”So that's supposed to make it better?”
”I'm not talking about us right now,” he said. ”You see someone else. I see other people, too. Anytime you want it to change, I'm ready.”
That was it. The whip had cracked and it struck hard. She rubbed the spot just above her left breastbone. She sucked in a breath, let it slide out through closed teeth. She couldn't make demands when she wasn't prepared to fulfill her end of it.
And yet she would. She knew she would. She didn't need to be with him. She could walk away. It was either only her or she was done. Those were her rules. That was the upside of the affair. It was all about her. Everything else was laced with complications-kids, family, but not this.
She didn't look back at him, couldn't. ”G.o.d, this place is like musical f.u.c.king beds,” she whispered as she left.
She walked back through the department, head down. All she could think was what right did she have to stake a claim to him when she would let him stake no claim to her?
None.
And yet she still knew she would do just that. She would have it no other way.
Chapter 31.
Jamie arrived at the station at 8:50 a.m. to see the front of the Hall blocked by news vans. She left her car down the block, left her police parking pa.s.s on the dash, and hurried to the stairs. The newscasters were each recording their bits off to the side of the main entrance, and Jamie recognized the start of a press conference. What the h.e.l.l was it about?
Her stomach knotted, she started up the stairs when the chief's press secretary walked out the gla.s.s doors. Behind him was the chief, Captain Marshall, and Hailey Wyatt. Chip Was.h.i.+ngton followed behind them. Hailey caught Jamie's eye and shook her head. Bad news.
Jamie stood back and waited.