Captivating Witness by Melinda Di Lorenzo

Author:Melinda Di Lorenzo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

It took a few seconds for Reggie to process Brayden’s statement. And even when he repeated it, and she was sure she’d heard him right, she still couldn’t really believe it.

“I don’t understand. Nadine more or less grew up here,” she said.

“Did you know her personally?”

“Not really. I mean, we weren’t friends, and I can’t say I’ve talked to her since she came back. But Whispering Woods only has the one elementary school—where I heard Nadine took a job, actually—and the one high school, so we crossed paths lots of times.”

“Weird that she happened to turn up again now.”

“It’s been a month or so, I think.”

“So maybe a coincidence.”

“Maybe.”

“What about this guy?” Brayden swiveled the laptop on the bed. “You recognize him.”

“Yes. That’s her dad. He came into the diner occasionally before he died.”

“He’s the shared parent. This man is definitely Tyler Strange’s dad, as well.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

“So...”

“The man had two families.”

“At the same time?”

Brayden shrugged. “There’s a six-year gap between Tyler and Nadine. I didn’t see any divorce papers myself, but I do know the split came well after Tyler’s sixth birthday.”

Reggie studied the screen for another moment. “So this probably means that the whole reason for Tyler’s visit to Whispering Woods was that he found out.”

“Seems likely.”

“So what now?”

“I question Nadine. Try to figure out if she’s also the reason he came back, and see if she can connect her brother to Garibaldi.”

Reggie sat on the edge of the bed, grabbed Brayden’s coffee and held it out as she asked, “How?”

“Thanks.” He took a small sip. “How do I question her, you mean?”

“Mmm-hmm. I mean, it’s not like you can walk up to her in an official capacity, right?”

“No. But I did tell you once before that I have some experience with subtlety. I promise it wasn’t a lie.” He threw her a wink that was distracting in the sexiest way possible.

She pushed aside the immediate need to let her toes curl pleasantly and instead picked up her own coffee and replied, “I know it wasn’t, Detective. But I’m just trying to think of an easy way to get her to talk to you without a need to fabricate another story about how we met.”

“We could tell her we’re thinking of having a baby and want to ask some questions about the school.”

Heat crept up Reggie’s cheeks. “Yeah, I’d prefer to take a route that doesn’t make her think I’m crazy.”

He slid sideways and wrapped his free arm around her waist. “Do I have to remind you so soon that I need crazy?”

Reggie rolled her eyes, but still pressed her face to his bare shoulder, a question popping out before she could stop it. “Was she not crazy enough for you?”

“Who?”

“Your worse-than-mine story. I assume it was a woman?”

“Oh. You actually want to hear it?”

“Of course. I showed you mine. You have to show me yours,” she teased.

“Guess I should give you the background first. Through most of high school, I dated this girl named Chandra. Off-again, on-again kinda deal.

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