Page 139 of Five Mountain Daddies

And then there’s his sister, Cora. I remember what she was like back then. Shy, but smart, and just starting to get pretty. She’s gorgeous now, absolutely stunning. I want her, fucking badly in fact, but something’s holding meback.

I should go home. Go back to my life. Forget about Cora, forget about those lips, those breasts, that perfect perky ass. I shouldn’t imagine what it would be like to lick her pussy until her toes curl and sweat drips off her perfect skin. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it for the rightreason.

And that’s to find my old friend’s killer. I start up the engine of my car, banishing the thought of Cora in my bed. If I’m going to do something stupid, I’m doing it the rightway.

But as soon as I start driving again, I start thinking about Cora, and I know everything’s already too mixed up to beclean.

5

Cora

Idrop the folder down in front of Wyatt and he raises aneyebrow.

“You cameprepared.”

I slide into the booth across from him. “I’m not messing around,” Isay.

He sighs. “Can we at least order something to eat before we divein?”

“Sure,” I say. “I’m notunreasonable.”

He laughs softly. “I doubt that’strue.”

I grin at him as he flags the waitress. He orders a Denver omelet and a coffee, and I just ask for toast with jam and a coffee. I’m not much of a breakfast person, and besides, I’mnervous.

I haven’t felt this nervous in a long time. Sitting across from Wyatt in the Great American shouldn’t be so nerve-wracking, but it really is. I’ve been meticulously taking notes over the last month, ever since Atticus turned up dead, trying to investigate absolutely anything I couldfind.

Problem is, I don’t know what’s relevant. I’m not trained in any of this. And whenever I find something I think is important, I call the local PD, and they just brush meoff.

I nudge the folder toward him. “Take a look,” Isay.

He laughs again, shaking his head. “You’re not messingaround.”

“No. I’m really not.” I hesitate a second. “Someone killed mybrother.”

“Yeah,” he says softly. “I know.” He opens up the folder and starts to leaf throughit.

The waitress comes back with coffee. He barely acknowledges her, which I actually like. She’s young and pretty, younger than I am, and she keeps giving him that look. I know what that look means, and while I have no right to feel jealous, I still like that he seems totally oblivious toit.

He’s totally lost in the papers I gave him. There are some interesting things in there, notes about Atticus’s relationships, clippings from local newspapers, everything I could dredge up fromonline.

Wyatt holds up a paper. “Why’s thishere?”

I lean forward. It’s a tweet Atticus sent out two weeks before his death. “Seemed important,” Isay.

“It’s a 2Pac quote,” Wyatt says, slipping it back into the stack, shaking his head. “Look, Cora, there’s a lot of stuff here. Some of it might be important, but most ofit…”

I bite my lip. “I know,” Isay.

“I understand,” he says quickly. “You’re stressed, angry, rightfully so. It’s just, I’m only getting back into this. You need to hold myhand.”

I take a deep breath. I think about holding his hand, touching his skin, running my hands down the stubble on hischeeks…

“Okay,” I say. “Where should Istart?”

“Give me a rundown of what happened. At least, whatever you knowabout.”

“Right.” I take a sip of coffee. He watches me while I talk, his eyes never wavering from myface.

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