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Schneider subsided, glowering.

Barrera said, “You’re claiming that last night, following the dinner at Pinch restaurant, you and Mr. Carey,who was freelancing for you” —she looked pointedly at Schneider— “met to go over the case. You theorized that Beacher hired you to cover his plans to murder his wife.”

“Correct.”

“How long were you and Carey together?”

Zach didn’t dare glance at Schneider’s face. “He got there late because he followed Mrs. Beacher home to make sure she arrived safely. We spoke until about eleven or so.”

“So, you don’t have an alibi,” Schneider said. “Flint is not your alibi.”

“I don’t have an alibi.” Flint had warned Zach not to volunteer any information, but Zach’s experience with law enforcement had never been adversarial. He saw an exit sign and headed for the off ramp. “Like I said, Flint believed we should go straight to Mrs. Beacher with our suspicions. I felt we should give Alton a chance to explain himself before going to the police. We agreed to discuss the situation again in the morning.”

“You suggested going to the police?” Barrera said slowly.

“Yes. I didn’t feel equipped to handle the situation if Alton really was trying to get rid of his wife. But I also wasn’t convinced that was what was going on. Then, after we saw the news this morning, I went to EDS PD and Flint contacted your department.”

Silence.

Barrera said finally, flatly, “You went to EDS police department?”

“Yes. I turned over my files and the threatening gag gifts Al—Beacher had received, to Lt. Bill Cameron. I brought him up to speed, including our—Flint and my—suspicion that Alton had been planning to kill Mrs. Beacher.”

“You gave all that evidence to Bill Cameron?” Barrera was not happy. Nor was Schneider. They exchanged speaking glances before refocusing their hard, bright stares on Zach.

“Yes. Bill said—”

“Bill?”Schneider said.

“Lt. Cameron informed me that Beacher was already under investigation by the feds—”

“Jesus Christ,” Barrera swore. “It’d be nice if someone bothered to communicate withusonce in a while. Seeing that it’sourcase.”

Zach said meekly, “As far as our theory about whether Beacher was ultimately trying to get rid of his wife, Cameron didn’t have much of an opinion. He seemed to think there was a question as to whether Beacher had faked his own death.”

Chapter Seventeen

He knew he should probably phone Flint. Let him know how the interview had gone.

But, despite Flint’s apology, Zach couldn’t forget the harsh words.

“The problem is, I’d have assumed you weren’t stupid enough to keep working for a creep who tried to bribe you into behaving like a two-bit rent boy. And I’d have been wrong.”

Flint was sorry about hurting Zach’s feelings, but it didn’t change what he thought of Zach’s choices. The fact that Flint was probably right didn’t help. So maybe he was being oversensitive, but Zach preferred some space between himself and Flint. At least for a while.

Anyway, let Schneider bring Flint up to speed. Unless Zach was very much mistaken, that was going to happen the minute Schneider had a chance.

Which, if Zach were honest with himself, was another reason he wanted some distance from Flint.

Why the idea that Flint might be in a relationship with Detective Schneider bothered him so much, Zach couldn’t say. It really didn’t make a whole lot of sense. It wasn’t like he’d been thinking of Flint as anything but—well, was thatstrictlytrue?

But even if Zach hadmaybestarted to see Flint in a slightly different light, Flint hadn’t given any indication he saw Zach as anything but—well, wasthatstrictly true?

Because while nothing had actually beensaid, Zach had sort of got the feeling that Flint was maybe starting to—

It didn’t matter because it wasn’t true. Zach had been reading between lines that didn’t actually exist.

That was that. By the time he finished reassuring Brooke—who did not seem to find anything he said remotely reassuring—and then listening to Bill Cameron read him the riot act, Zach wanted nothing more than a quiet evening at home. With the shades pulled and doors and windows locked and bolted.