Page 98 of Kiss of Deceit

I couldn’t trust anyone here.

I took a sip of the hot coffee, meeting her gaze. “How long have you lived here?”

“Umm, about six months.”

I decided to pry a little more, curious on how she would react. “Why did you move here? Seems kind of desolate for someone so young.”

Panic swept over her features for a couple moments before she turned around, pretending to wipe down the counter. “Lucas. I met him online and decided to move here to be with him.”

Her lie was solid, but her tells were blatant, especially when I knew the truth. I inched closer to her, wondering how well she would answer other questions.

“He’s gone now,” I said softly. “Why not move away?”

“I like it here.”

“Why?”

She glanced up, her brows furrowing as she frowned. “The people here are nice.”

The door chimed, interrupting our conversation. My heart dipped when Susan strode in, tugging her winter gloves off.

“Large vanilla latte, please,” she ordered, barely giving me a glance as she walked to the counter.

“Sure,” Hallie answered with a small smile. I didn’t miss that she seemed relieved I couldn’t ask any more questions.

“I’m glad you’re up early.” Susan turned her attention to me. “I’ve already been to the station. We have a lot to do today before I go to the clinic.”

“The clinic?”

She blew out an annoyed breath. “I’m taking over Natalie’s therapy appointments. My time will be split, so I expect you to put in extra hours.”

I stared at her, a chill running down my spine. If she was doing Natalie’s job, it meant shekneweverything. Of course she did. It was why she showed up immediately after Natalie was murdered. The job title was needed to keep running this experiment.

“Of course,” I answered when I realized she was staring at me expectantly. “I’ll help you set up your computer when we get to the station.”

“Already done,” she said briskly. “Natalie’s email is no longer in use. I’ll give you mine when we get to work.”

My stomach sank. That meant I couldn’t log in on Natalie’s computer anymore. I’d been hoping to look at the files one more time. Not knowing about Kole’s crime was driving me crazy. I needed every detail I could get.

Hallie handed over the coffee, and Susan grabbed it without uttering so much as a thank you. Natalie didn’t have many friends here—and now I realized why—but with how Susan acted, she was going to quickly become hated in town.

“Ready?” Susan asked me, heading toward the door.

“My shift doesn’t start for another hour?—”

“What else are you doing?” she cut me off sharply. “I think your time will be best spent working until this town is safe again. Wouldn’t you agree?”

I bit my tongue. I had planned to scout out the factory this morning, but clearly that wasn’t happening. I muttered a goodbye to Hallie before following Susan into the cold. The sidewalks were still shoveled off from the snow that fell a couple days ago, but from how dark the sky was, I had a feeling it wouldn’t be long until fresh snow blanketed the ground.

“Dani, wait.”

Miles’s voice came from behind me, and I turned around to see him rushing closer. I’d only seen him a few times since he was attacked that night at the police station, but he seemed like his injuries were better. I ignored Susan’s irritated grumbling, giving Miles a smile in greeting.

“Hey,” he said between heavy breaths. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure.” I glanced at Susan. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

She pursed her lips but didn’t comment before storming away. Miles waited until she went into the police station before looking at me. Exhaustion was seeping into my bones, and I was anxious to get into the station to try and learn more, but from Miles’s tone of voice, it sounded important.