Page 169 of Snowbound Threat

She chews on the inside of her cheek, then crosses her arms. “I handled yesterday poorly. I was caught off guard and didn’t treat you as I should have.”

Beckett crosses her arms. “You weren’t the only one caught off guard. At least, you knew I existed.”

Lauren purses her lips as she nods. “You’re right.” She shifts her attention from staring down at the mug to Beckett. “My dad talked about you a lot, and I always wanted to meet you. I just didn’t understand why you didn’t want to meet me, too.” The pain is evident as she bites down on her bottom lip and redirects her gaze.

“He told you that I didn’t want to meet you?”

“Not in so many words. But after my mom passed, I begged him to let me come live with you guys. My grandmother was great, but honestly, she was never happy my mom had me.”

Beckett’s expression softens a bit. “For the record, I would have loved to have met you. What happened between him and your mother was before I came into the picture, and I never would have held that against him.”

Lauren nods, and I see the acceptance on her face. “I shouldn’t have said what I did about the baby. He did tell me about that, but not in the same context I used when I threw it back in your face.”

Beckett’s expression turns stormy, but she doesn’t respond right away. “Is that why you’re here? To apologize?” she finally asks.

“Partly. I got fired last night. Apparently, Lucian knew who I was and put two and two together that I’m the reason you were there.”

“You’re lucky he only fired you,” I comment.

“True. Just like you both are lucky to be alive, too.”

“We know that,” Beckett says.

“So, what’s the other reason you’re here?” I ask her.

“I want to know who killed my dad,” she replies. “I want closure. Justice. A place to put all of this anger in my heart.” She closes her eyes. “I can’t put it behind me until I know.”

“Is that why you sent me that photograph?” Beckett asks.

“I’ve been reading the articles written about you. I saw that you were mentioned in working alongside a team of search and rescue guys out of Texas, and I thought you’d go straight to them for help.” She offers me a pointed look. “If I’d known you’d show up in the lion’s den personally, I wouldn’t have sent it.”

“But you did,” Beckett replies. “And we got nothing. Except for the fact that Lucian claims he had nothing to do with Paul—your father’s death,” she corrects quickly.

Lauren nods. “I suspected him at first, but I think it was someone who wanted to get back at Lucian. I think Dad got caught in the middle.”

Dad.Hurt flashes over Beckett’s face. Will she pull away if I reach for her? Since I’m not sure I want to find out, I resist the urge.

“What did he do for Lucian?” Beckett asks. “I’m assuming you know what kind of man you were both working for?”

“Dad was a good man,” Lauren snaps. “Whatever he did—it wasn’t anything terrible. Like I told you before, he even took me with him a couple of times.”

“That doesn’t mean he wasn’t hiding something,” I say.

Lauren glares at me.

“Look, I’m a cop and the only one not biased in this case. I can appreciate that you want to see him as a good guy, and I hope he was, but the goal here is to find the truth. Not tell you what you want to know.”

She takes a deep breath. “Fine.” After taking a drink from her coffee, she slips both hands into her lap. “So, what is the next step?”

“Next step? What makes you think I want to know anything else? I told you yesterday, I’m done.”

Lauren stares at Beckett in shock. “Are you serious?”

“Look, not only did I lose my husband, but in the last couple of days, I’ve learned that he has ties to a known criminal like Lucian, was lying to me about where he was going, and hid you from me for two years. Why do I want to know more?”

I open my mouth to argue. To point out that she deserves to know the truth just as much as—if not more than—he deserves justice for what happened to him. But since I sense I’ll be stepping into the middle of an argument that I don’t need to be in, I keep my mouth shut.

For now.