Page 32 of Fatal Vision

Chapter Six

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GOD SHE LOVEDher best friend. Jaya was the absolute opposite of Shelby in every way, but they were like a magnet and steel. Since the age of six, they’d been inseparable.

Sort of like her and Colton.

Now as Jaya finished braiding the left side of Shelby’s hair and wrapping it around her head in a cool twist, Shelby thanked her lucky stars for her friend once more.

“I called you six times and texted a dozen,” Jaya said. She’d already helped Shelby into clean clothes. “I was worried about you after your mom told me you were here withhim. Alone.”

Jaya had been the one to make sure Shelby rocked all of her beauty pageants. She’d been the one to take her from fancy Miss Oklahoma to tailored, conservative FBI agent.

Jaya had also been the shoulder Shelby had cried on over Colton. The number of times too many to count.

“I don’t even know where my phone is,” Shelby admitted, playing with a stray hair as she stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. She had propped a hip against the vanity to support herself while Jaya worked her magic on her hair. Her strength was back this morning, her leg more cooperative. She’d even left her walker next to the bed and made it to the bathroom with only a little support from Jaya. “Probably still in my suitcase. I think Colton threw that in the closet.”

“He looks like hell.” Jaya placed the hair clip in Shelby’s hair, a cute little butterfly, and gave her a hand mirror to inspect the back.

“Don’t we all,” Shelby murmured.

“Speak for yourself.”

Jaya led Shelby back into the bedroom, plunking her in the chair that was no longer near the window and going to unpack Shelby’s suitcase.

Colton had moved the chair, but Shelby could still see out. Her fingers twisted her braid, her insides cold as she thought about someone wanting to kill her. Did it really have anything to do with the serial murder case she’d been investigating? Or was she completely off base and it was about something else? If only she could remember.

“I smell food,” she said when Jaya emerged from the closet.

“I brought groceries. Figured you didn’t have any.”

“You came to make sure I was okay, first and foremost.”

“That too. I thought you might need help burying the body.”

“What body?”

Jaya grinned. “Colton’s. Duh.” She put her comb and brush back in the cosmetic bag she always carried. It was covered with rainbows and unicorns. “Are you sure about this? Having him here?”

Shelby sank back into the chair, the scent of eggs, toast, and bacon making her stomach growl. “Did I say anything to you about my case? Or why I asked Colton to come home?”

Jaya raised one beautifully arched brow. “Are you kidding? You never talked about work. Your boss, yes. Such a fine, fine specimen, that one. But the cases? No. I didn’t even know Colton was part of an investigation, and honestly, I’m a little pissed that you didn’t tell me. Now you’ve got him here, living with you. Is that safe?”

Shelby tugged on her braid, trying to clear the cobwebs that were tangled up in her memories. “I thought he could shed some light on the case. It’s not like I was investigating him.”I don’t think.

Jaya fiddled with her cosmetic bag. “He went nuts after you were shot. Your dad wouldn’t let him in your room, and the hospital harassed him to make him leave. He canvassed the whole town, nonstop, going door to door and getting in deep with some of the local bikers, trying to find anyone who knew anything. I guess he never got any leads. Then one day, he was just gone.”

“He’s changed,” Shelby said. “I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something about him is different.”

Salisbury lay on the bed, watching them, his eyes going back and forth as each of them spoke.

Jaya ruffled his fur. “He hasn’t, Shel. He’s still the same loser you kicked out of this house. I know it’s easier to remember the good times, and to get all sentimental, but he broke your heart more than once. You did the right thing divorcing him.”

“Maybe.”

“Oh my God. You’re caking on him again.”