Enemy Waters by Justine Davis

Author:Justine Davis [Davis, Justine]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: suspense
Publisher: Harlequin Romantic Suspense
Published: 2011-06-02T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Nell chided herself mentally for, even for an instant, allowing herself to hope that it was true, that somehow it had all been some huge, horrible mistake, that Tris was indeed alive and searching for her.

It was even more foolish than allowing herself to believe Cooper Grant.

He was on his feet, too, now, and she backed away another step. She was back to plan A, and she had to be sure she could get away from him.

“Nell, I don’t know what you think happened that night, but—”

“No, you don’t,” she snapped. “But I was there. I know exactly what happened.”

“It was an accident. Like I said, it happens.”

“There was no accident.”

His frown deepened. It was beginning to register with her that he seemed genuinely puzzled.

“But he didn’t know it was your brother. It was dark, and your husband thought he was a burglar. And your brother told me your husband feels terrible about shooting him.”

Her breath caught. She nearly stumbled backward a step. “What?”

“And about scaring you so,” Cooper added. “It was a simple, if awful, case of mistaken identity.”

She didn’t believe for a minute Jeremy felt truly awful about anything. But that didn’t matter. Something else he’d said did. A lot.

“Wait,” she said, barely able to take in enough breath to speak. “Are you saying Jeremy admits he shot Tris?”

“Of course.” He looked even more puzzled. “Why wouldn’t he, when it was an accident?”

“It was no—”

She broke off repeating the assertion it hadn’t been an accident. She needed to know more, she needed to know exactly what Jeremy’s story had been.

“What,” she asked slowly, “do you think happened that night?”

“Nell—”

“Just tell me. Please.”

She said it all the while wondering if he’d tell her the truth. Then realized that he probably would, now. He had no more reason to lie to her, did he? No more reason to ingratiate himself, to be charming and affable, to even flirt with the plain little brown bird she’d become.

Finally, with a half shrug, he answered her. “Your brother said he came over to your place late to help you plan a surprise birthday party for your husband, who woke up unexpectedly, thought he heard a burglar. He got a gun, there was a scuffle, it went off. Understandable, really. Awakened abruptly by a strange noise in the dark, a moving shadow and a gun. Not a great combination in inexperienced hands.”

She took in a deep breath, trying to steady herself. “That’s the…official story?”

“Yeah. For once the news reports were fairly accurate. Except for the obvious, that they assumed your brother was going to die.”

He gave her a look that she guessed was supposed to be comforting. Once, just hours ago, she would have welcomed it.

“It isn’t your fault, Nell. Under the circumstances, anybody would have assumed he was dead or dying. And he nearly did, but the medics brought him back and got him to the hospital in time. Barely.”

“You think I didn’t check? He had no pulse. He wasn’t breathing.” She heard her voice start to rise and stopped, fearing she was on the edge of hysteria.

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