Page 279 of Duty and Desire

“Her husband died at that time, according to our coroner. His body was found, stabbed to death, in his apartment.” The sheriff glared at Abby.

Detective O’Connell cleared his throat. “Along with a kilo of coke, which apparently he’d been taking for a while.”

The sheriff snarled at the detective. “Shut up.” He looked at Abby. “Anybody else able to corroborate your statement?”

“I was there,” Noah said. “The whole time.”

“Me, too,” Raine added, smiling smoothly. “I’m interested in Tabi’s business and might invest. We all met up and then came to my place for pizza. It was a lovely evening.”

Abby stared at the group. They were all covering for her? Her heart warmed. For Noah, too.

The sheriff stood straighter. “You’re all lying. You’re all in this together.”

Raine snorted. “We just met last week, Sheriff. For the first time. Feel free to conduct background checks on all of us. You won’t find any connections, because there aren’t any. No way would a bunch of strangers commit or cover a crime together. That’s just silly.”

Detective O’Connell looked around and then grasped the sheriff’s arm. “He’s right. The alibi is solid. Let’s go.”

“For now,” the sheriff snapped, turning and storming from the room.

The detective looked at each one of them in turn. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but I will find out.” Intelligence shone in his too blue eyes.

Tabi winked at him.

His head went up, he gave her a look, and then he followed the sheriff.

“Is it just me,” Noah murmured, “or does our detective there not like his boss very much?”

Abby frowned. “Is he?—”

Noah shook his head and leaned in for a kiss. “No. Human.” He took her hand and helped her up. “Can we do group Thursday? This has been emotionally draining.”

Mariana looked around, her gaze bewildered. “I think that might be best.”

Raine smiled at her. “I’ll stick around, doc. Maybe you and I could chat.”

Noah drew Abby from the room and into the hall, pulling her into his arms. “You okay?”

She leaned back, her heart full. “Yes. I take it you thought making him disappear would create too many problems?”

“Yep. This is the best route.” Noah leaned down and kissed her, taking his time. Taking a lot of time. When he lifted up, she’d forgotten every concern she’d ever had. “I love you, mate.”