Page 141 of Kiss of Deceit

“They get on the helicopter once the body is moved,” she answered stiffly.

Dani gaped at her. “Are you serious?”

“Fuck this,” Miles added, running his hands through his hair. “I’m not going anywhere. I have people I care about here. I’m not leaving so they can get hurt.”

I didn’t interject, listening to everyone else talk. A chill traveled under my skin, and I couldn’t place why. Something was wrong—more than the dead body in front of me.

“We will not allow these killers to dictate what we do,” Susan snapped.

“Let’s take a moment,” Harry argued, worry glinting his gaze. “If we let anyone else leave, we could all end up dead.”

They all continued to argue, their voices rising. Dani didn’t add anything else, her focus remaining on the murder scene. Fear swam in her eyes, her chest heaving as she crossed her arms. I frowned, her reaction making the back of my neck prickle.

She’d been to every crime scene since the killings began happening. Twice, she was attacked. During all those times, I’d never seen the fear in her eyes that she was revealing right now. Was Monty’s murder hitting her harder? My pulse thudded. Or was she feigning her reaction? Guilt sliced through me as I tried shaking off that thought. Dani had been through more horror than anyone should ever have to experience. Questioning her made me an asshole.

Yet, my mind kept wandering over everything.

This happened last night…when she was gone. My stomach churned as I recounted the moments when she’d returned to the house early this morning. She hadn’t been acting any differently. But she was exceptional at masking her true feelings, even from me.

My pulse thrashed when I remembered how she spoke about Monty at my bar earlier yesterday. She was convinced being in this town wouldn’t help Monty. That he wasn’t someone who could change.

The bloody scene at the bridge flashed through my mind. She killed Tristin and Leon to save herself. It was in self-defense, and she seemed torn apart about having to do it. Now I was questioning her reaction to that and everything else.

She couldn’t—wouldn’t kill someone to stay in Winterlake.

Would she?

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

dani

Kole knew.

Well, maybe he didn’t know, but he was suspicious.

Did I overplay my emotions when Monty was found? I’d been so damn exhausted, I allowed myself to get lazy. Everyone was so upset at the scene, I didn’t think anyone would pay much attention to my reaction. I should have known better.

I was waiting for him to confront me, and he was about to get that chance. We’d spent all day at the police station but now were headed back home for the night.

Kole opened the door for me, and I stepped into the frigid cold, raising my gaze to the sliver of the moon. Adella nudged my shoulder as we started walking.

“You got another day. Gonna spend it in bed with Kole?” she teased.

“Something like that,” I muttered, feeling his stare on my back.

The moment we were alone, Kole would ask me if I was the one who killed Monty. I’d been debating all day on how I would respond.

“What do you think Susan will choose?” Adella asked, tearing me from my thoughts.

“I’m sure she’ll make the right decision,” Kole replied from behind us.

Susan told us she would decide by tomorrow morning if the interns would stay or not. Apparently another dead body with a threat wasn’t enough. Which was aggravating. There wasn’t more I could do to make sure I stayed in Winterlake.

“What was that?” Kole froze, his eyes darting toward the trees.

Adella and I both stopped, my heart sinking when someone stumbled out from between the buildings. Kole stepped in front of me as I grasped my knife that was in my pocket.

“Riggs,” Adella gasped. “What happened?”