Cold Case At Camden Crossing by Rita Herron

Author:Rita Herron
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: ROMANCE - - SUSPENSE
Publisher: Harlequin Intrigue
Published: 2013-11-02T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

After leaving Simmons, Chaz stopped by the butcher shop. J.J. stood behind the counter, his apron bloody from cutting meat for the morning shopping crowd.

He’d always thought it odd that J.J., who’d been a popular football player, had come back to help run his father’s store. He’d called his deputy on the way over and asked him to run a check on McMullen and had learned some interesting stuff.

The former football star had a record.

J.J. looked up at him, a wary look creasing his beefy face. He handed the woman her order, then she went to the register to pay J.J.’s father.

Chaz crossed his arms. “We need to talk.”

J.J. shot his father a wary look, but his father motioned for him to take a break.

J.J. led him through the back work area, and Chaz grimaced at the bloody meat on the stainless-steel tables. The meat-cooling locker stood to the right.

A good place to hide a body.

“What do you want?” J.J. asked.

Chaz decided to use the direct approach. “Someone tried to kill Tawny-Lynn Boulder last night. Where were you?”

The man’s mouth fell open, then he shut it, his eyes livid. “You think I tried to hurt her? Why the hell would I do that?”

“Just asking.” Chaz lifted his brows, waiting.

J.J. ran a hand over his apron and heaved a breath. “Listen, it wasn’t me.”

“You know who it was then?”

“No. I just mean I wouldn’t hurt Tawny-Lynn.”

“You left college because you were arrested for assaulting a girl.”

Shock streaked J.J.’s face. “That was bull. Someone at a party gave this girl some coke. She went crazy and accused me of coming on to her. But I never touched her.”

“Then why did you leave school?”

“Because her father was rich and, at that point, I’d blown out my knee and couldn’t play ball.” He gestured at the butcher shop. “As you can see, my family doesn’t have money like yours. I couldn’t afford a fancy lawyer, so the court-appointed attorney, some kid barely out of diapers, talked me into a plea.”

Chaz gritted his teeth. “What about Peyton Boulder? She left you for another guy, an older man. That make you mad?”

J.J. glared at him. “Yeah, it made me mad. But not enough to kill her. For God’s sake, I loved her.”

“All the more reason for you to try to win her back. Maybe you chased down the bus, accidentally hit them, then pulled her out. When she wouldn’t go with you, you lost your temper.”

“That’s not true. I wasn’t even in Camden Crossing that day,” J.J. growled. “I was...never mind.”

“Where were you?” Chaz asked.

J.J. looked down at his apron, then his bloodstained hands. For God’s sake, he could have cut the girls up to pieces and stored them in his father’s meat locker until all the commotion died down.

“Where were you?”

“I don’t have to tell you anything,” J.J. said.

“Sheriff Simmons said one of the cheerleaders gave you an alibi. If I talk to her, is she going to change her story?”

A frisson of fear streaked J.

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