Page 21 of Over the Edge

“I beat him up pretty bad. If I’d had a weapon, I probably would have used it—and he might not have survived. I found out later he reported me to the cops.”

“But ... why would he do that ifhewas trying to robyou?”

“He claimedIjumped him. He knew my street name, and he gave that to them, along with my description. I assume it’s still in a file somewhere.” He massaged his forehead. “The cops are gonna dig deep into the background of every person connected to this murder. Especially people in possession of stolen jewelry. They could find some of this.”

“Even if they do, it has nothing to do with today’s crime.”

Chad’s lips flatlined. “If you were the cops and someone like me was in the mix, wouldn’t you put me at the top of your suspect list? I don’t have an alibi, Dara.”

“They can’t pin this on you without any evidence.”

“The earring is evidence.”

“It’s circumstantial.”

“I’ve worked inside that house. There could be fingerprints.”

“You had a legitimate reason to be in there.”

He dropped his chin and focused on the floor. “I don’t feel good about any of this.”

Neither did she.

But one of them had to remain positive.

“Why don’t we put this in God’s hands and trust him to see us through? I refuse to believe an innocent man will be persecuted.”

He met her gaze. “The Bible tells us otherwise.”

It was impossible to argue with that.

“Is there anything more I should know?”

He hesitated for a millisecond too long. “No.” He pivoted back to the sink. “Let’s get the dishes done.”

Fighting back a wave of panic, Dara picked up a dish towel. Stared at his broad shoulders as the muscles beneath his T-shirt flexed while he scrubbed the dishes.

What wasn’t he telling her?

Something important, if her intuition was sound.

An insidious niggle of doubt nicked away at the confidence and trust she’d always had in the man who’d stolen her heart during their whirlwind courtship.

For what if their fast-track romance had failed to reveal secrets that were now poised to not only come back and bite him but threaten the foundation of their brand-new marriage?

PROBLEM SOLVED—for the moment.

Eric Miller tipped back his beer as the anchor on the evening news continued to report on James Robertson’s murder.

Not an ideal resolution, but it should buy him time to fix everything. With all the upheaval this would cause at Robertson Properties, routine audits should be low priority for a while.

Long enough for discrepancies to be addressed.

His phone rang, and he picked it up off the end table. Scanned the screen.

Nolan.

No surprise the man was checking in.

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