Page 10 of Fatal Intent

“Yes, sir.” Less than a minute later, the cop returned with a middle-aged man dressed in a pin-striped three-piece suit.

Rayne’s eyebrows soared. Who went to a police station dressed in a three-piece suit at five in the morning?

Grant smiled at the newcomer. “Good to see you, Vince.” The two men shook hands. “How’s the family?”

“Great. Thanks for asking.” The lawyer sobered and turned to the detectives. He held out his hand to each man. “Vince Hargrove. I’d like a few minutes to confer with my clients. Turn off the camera when you leave.”

Sanders scooped up his pad and pen. “Sure. We have nothing better to do than wait around to interview your clients.”

“Who needs to catch a killer?” Conner muttered as he headed for the door.

The men left the interrogation room, slamming the door behind them.

Vince chuckled. “I know how to clear a room.” He held out his hand to Rayne. “I’m Vince. You must be Rayne.”

“It’s nice to meet you, sir.”

“No need to be polite at this time of morning.” He laid a yellow legal pad on the table and pulled out a pen. “Zane said the two of you landed in a bit of trouble. Tell me what’s going on.”

For the next few minutes, Grant laid out the morning’s disaster in as few words as possible.

Vince frowned. “How serious was the relationship between you and Ms. Baker?”

Grant flinched. “Enough to raise the detectives’ suspicions.”

“Wait. Is this the woman you were telling me about, the one who threw you over for your best friend while you were working undercover?”

A slight nod. “You see my problem.”

Vince rubbed his jaw. “When was the last time you saw either of them, Grant?”

“Ten months ago.”

Rayne froze. Ten months? She and Grant had met two months ago. Was he on the rebound?

“Did you speak to them?”

“Of course not. What would I have said to them? ‘Hey, I didn’t receive an invitation to your wedding. Must have been lost in the mail.’”

The lawyer pointed at him. “Lose the attitude. That will cause the detectives to look at you with even more suspicion. You know they’ll look at you hard for this, my friend.”

“I didn’t kill her. I didn’t know Selena was in the area, much less that close to my house. If she had contacted me, I wouldn’t have met with her because I had no interest in rekindling a relationship with her.”

“Would your answer change if you knew she regretted betraying you and wanted to get back together?”

“No. Never. I’ve moved on. Selena had no place in my life.”

“What about you, Rayne? Did you have any contact with Selena?”

Grant squeezed her hand gently as she shook her head. “I never met her and did not know she was part of Grant’s past.”

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I should have told you about Selena, but she was gone from my life when I met you.” A genuine regret that he hadn’t divulged the truth to her filled his eyes.

Why should he apologize? She and Grant weren’t really a couple, despite the detectives’ assumption. Not that she wasn’t interested. Something about Grant Bowen fascinated her on every level. “You have a right to your privacy.”

Just as she did to hers. Would he lose interest in her if he knew about her past?

“One thing we can expect is the detectives assuming you might have gotten rid of a rival for Grant’s affections,” Vince said.