Page 10

COULTER

The smell of Kylie in her apartment, among the bridal magazines and save-the-date cards was fresh in my mind.

And I could see her behind the wheel of the boat on the dock, wearing the purple bikini I’d given her for her eighteenth birthday.

It turned my stomach that we’d been searching for evidence of her blood, or any clue that would explain her death.

She couldn’t be dead. Part of me just wouldn’t accept it. It was all wrong.

“Hey Siri, call Spence,” I barked at my phone.

My oldest brother was my go-to when I needed to tell someone how stupid I’d been. He was the responsible one that stayed sober enough to drive himself home last night. Hopefully he was still there .

“Hey Colt, how’s it going?” He answered, cheerily. “I just got to Dad’s. You need help with the tilt trim on the flats boat? I wish I’d known. I’ve got some hydraulic fluid in the truck. I could’ve saved you a trip.”

Shit! I hadn’t even gotten the hydraulic fluid I said I’d gone out for. And double shit that Spence was already at Dad’s with the crew within earshot. “Nah, I’ll take care of it.”

“Alright, we saved you some bacon and eggs. Hurry back.”

“I’m on my way.” I started to end the call, but the guilt nagged at me. “But I didn’t go to West Marine. I went by Kylie’s place.”

“What for?” Spence’s voice rose.

“Please don’t let on to anyone else. I already feel like an idiot.” I took a deep breath, shaking my head. “I went to see if there was anything weird there. But then the detective showed up.”

Spence’s long pause was a sign that he was weighing his words. “Okay, and…”

I appreciated his measured tone. “And… we didn't find anything. But she wasn’t happy to find me there. She told me to stay out of the investigation.”

“That sounds like good advice. Did it all turn out okay?”

“Yeah. I promised," I said. “But something’s off about the whole thing. I’m pretty sure she thinks so, too.”

“Get on back here and I’ll meet you down at the flats boat. We’ll knock that tilt trim repair out.”

Spence was standing beside his Silverado when I turned into the lot. He accosted me as soon as I stepped out of my truck. “ What the fuck, dude?” The disappointment in his voice was all too familiar. “What were you thinking?”

“I needed to go,” I said, pushing past him.

“No, you didn’t.” He handed me the bottle of hydraulic fluid from the toolbox in the bed of his truck, scowling. “You need to listen to me. Waylan already told me that the detective gave you a hard time at the station. Don’t be stupid. Stay the fuck away from there and let them do their job.”

“Okay, okay,” I threw my hands up in surrender. “I get it.” I trotted behind him down to the dock. “The tilt trim motor is fine, by the way. I made that up.”

“Well we’re going to pretend like we’re topping it off while you think long and hard about what an idiot you were.”

“You don’t have to rub it in,” I said, regretting I’d ever involved him at all. “I really do get it.”

Spence glanced up toward the house, where there was no one watching. He lowered his voice anyway. “I don’t think you do. If you’re right, and Kylie’s death wasn’t an accident, you’ll be a prime suspect.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

“I think you’re not thinking ,” he said through gritted teeth.

“If you do know that, you’re even dumber than I thought you were.

” The look of disgust on his face hit me harder than his angry tone “If they don’t have any evidence, they’ll use whatever they can to pin it on you. This is serious, Coulter.”

“Waylan wouldn’t let that happen,” I insisted.

“Waylan told me he got kicked out of the interrogation room for trying to defend you! If that train leaves the station, he won’t be able to stop it. ”

A chill ran through me. I’d seen enough true crime shows to know he was right. “Fuck.” I shook my head. “I’m pretty sure Faith believes me though. Maybe it was a good thing I was there.”

“Faith? Now you’re on a first-name basis with the detective who might be trying to frame you for Kylie’s death?”

“She’s not trying to frame me!” My heart pounded in my chest.

Spence’s head swiveled and he stared at me a long second before his lips curled in a smile. “What does Faith look like?”

“What? Why?” I asked, feeling my cheeks flush and hating them for it.

His intense stare didn’t stop his smile from spreading. “Is she hot?”

Suddenly I felt like I was in high school all over again. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“She’s hot,” he said, holding my gaze. “If she wasn’t, you would’ve answered the question.”

“Okay, so what if she’s hot? She's trying to solve Kylie’s murder.”

“Murder?” he leered at me like I had two heads. “Will you just shut the fuck up already.” He pretended to twist the wrench on the tilt trim motor. “The best thing you can do is go with the accidental drowning theory and let it rest.”

It was too late for that. “If it wasn't an accident, I want them to find who did this.” And I would do anything I could to help .

“Let it be, little brother. You’re gonna need a lot more than Faith to get you out of this if you keep on.”