Page 18 of Jina

CHAPTER FIVE

It was bad enough to learn the dead man on her farm had been wearing a black fleece hoodie, but the flash of suspicion in Cole’s eyes stabbed deep. How could he think she had killed that guy, hid the body, and then went on to become a cop?

Granted, she’d put several guys down on the mat at the gym. But that was a long way from killing them. She hadn’t even killed Rory, despite his attempt to rape her.

“Let me know when you get a positive dental ID,” Cole said.

“Will do.” The ME ended the call, leaving a long, strained silence stretching between them.

“I didn’t kill him.” The words popped out before she could take them back. She didn’t appreciate having to defend herself.

“Maybe you didn’t mean to kill him,” he said. “You admitted to wounding him by shooting your father’s gun. Then you followed his blood trail. He could have fallen over a tree root and bashed his head against a rock. He died, so you panicked and buried him.”

“That is not what happened.” Yet she could easily hear some prosecutor pressing this theory of the case in front of a judge. And what proof did she have that she hadn’t killed anyone? Especially after she’d slammed the laptop into Rory’s head. As if that act of self-preservation wouldn’t come back to bite her in the butt. “Believe what you want, but I did not kill him.”

Neither of them spoke for several minutes. When Cole pulled into the driveway of a small green-sided ranch house, she decided that going inside would be a bad idea. In a swift movement, she pushed open her door, grabbed her bag, and got out of the car. Without looking at Cole, she turned and walked down the driveway to the street.

Not having a phone meant she couldn’t call for a rideshare. But she could walk to the nearest business to borrow a phone. She hadn’t wanted to go to Madison to see Shelly for fear of the bad guy following her, but maybe she could see her sister if she took a method of travel that would be difficult to track.

Like a bus.

Too bad she had no idea where the closest bus station was located. Would she have to go all the way back down to Milwaukee to catch a bus ride to Madison? Probably.

“Jina, wait.”

She shook her head and kept walking. Then she abruptly stopped as she remembered his intent to interview her sister. What was she doing? She needed to wait until that task was done before heading out.

She reluctantly turned to face him, hating that she’d reacted rashly. “I’ll stay while you chat with Shelly. After that, I’m out.”

“Obviously, you can do what you want,” Cole said. “But considering the danger, it would be better for us to work together on finding the shooter turned arsonist.”

“Why bother since you’re already trying to figure out how to arrest me for murder? Or aggravated assault. Manslaughter. Maybe assault with a deadly weapon.” She knew there were several different charges that he could recommend the DA press against her. “Any of those charges would result in me serving jail time, not to mention ruining my career.”

“I haven’t arrested you for anything,” he pointed out.

“But you’re thinking about it.” She held his gaze, and to his credit, he didn’t deny it. “I didn’t kill him, accidentally or on purpose. And I absolutely did not hide his body on my parents’ land.”

“Maybe you and Shelly can help me figure out who did.”

She tightened her grip on her overnight bag, resisting the urge to throw it at him. Despite her strenuous workouts in the MMA gym, she wasn’t prone to violence. Giving in to a stupid childish impulse now would only make things worse.

A good fighter always remained in control.

Taking a deep calming breath, she closed the distance between them. “We can talk to Shelly. Just be prepared to be disappointed.”

He nodded and led the way up to the small ranch house. He unlocked the door, pushed it open, then stepped back so she could enter first.

The interior was clean and comfortable. She had to give him points for not being a total slob like her teammate Flynn. She headed into the kitchen where Cole’s laptop was sitting on the table, an empty coffee cup beside it. Apparently, he’d been working this morning, much like she had been.

Before the fire that had damaged Mr. Glen’s two-story home.

Her anger and frustration with Cole thinking the worst of her faded. Finding this guy who’d hurt Mr. Glen was her top priority.

Clearing her name was secondary. Not that she planned to accept her fate without fighting back. It abruptly occurred to her that she needed to fill Rhy and Joe in as soon as possible.

It wouldn’t help to wait until her position on the tactical team was compromised. She preferred owning up to her mistakes.

And being honest with Cole about the stalker she’d shot twelve years ago had been one doozy of a mistake. If she’d just kept her mouth shut, he wouldn’t be looking at her with suspicion.

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