Page 114 of Tangled Up In You

"We're not having a relationship. We're just having fun. Remember?"

"Well, it's not fun anymore," he said grimly. "Let me know what you decide. Or maybe I'll just find out one day when I walk by the store, and it's closed, or there's a new manager behind the counter. And what about Drew? He might need to know he's going to be out of a job. Do you want me to tell him?"

"No. Stop it, Adam. You're moving too fast."

"I'm not the one who moves too fast; that's you, Molly. You blew into my life like a whirlwind, and I've always known that you'd probably leave the same way. I have to go."

He was gone before she could say a word.

That conversation hadn't gone well. She wanted to blame it all on Adam, but she was at fault, too.

She hated that she even had a decision to make. She knew that whatever she decided, she'd hurt someone, maybe even herself.

ChapterTwenty-Seven

The restof Thursday and most of Friday passed in a blur of anger and disappointment and a lot of other emotions Adam didn't want to deal with. He hadn't seen Molly because he didn't want to see her. He needed to get used to not seeing her, because she was probably leaving. But he couldn't completely put her out of his mind. Not just because of their relationship, whatever the hell that was, but because he was still working on finding a connection between Mercer and Caroline's family.

He finally got a break late Friday afternoon when he found a link between Ethan Mercer and Erica Kenny, Ray Kenny's wife. They'd worked together in a Denver bar five years ago, shortly before Erica and Ray had moved back to Whisper Lake. Ray Kenney was Caroline's stepbrother, who had seemed happy with his inheritance, but maybe that was a lie. Or maybe it was his wife who wasn't happy.

He spent the next hour digging into Erica, who had been completely off his radar until now, and another piece of the puzzle fell into place. Erica had a sister—Brenda Dunn, the cleaning woman, who had neglected to mention that she had any connection to anyone in Caroline's extended family.

The picture grew clearer in his head. Brenda had worked in the house. She had found out about the diamond. Maybe Rebecca was in on it, too, and that's why she'd disappeared. He still hadn't been able to find Rebecca, but Brenda lived only a few miles away, and Ray and Erica were just on the other side of the lake.

Grabbing his keys, he headed to his car. He needed to find a way into the group, and he had a feeling Brenda was the weakest link. If he could convince her that the first person who talked would get off easier, he might be able to get her to open up.

Brenda lived in a small house not too far from downtown. He knocked on her door. It opened just a few inches, the chain still on. A middle-aged woman gave him a wary look.

"Brenda Dunn? I'm Detective Cole. We spoke on the phone last week."

"I don't have anything else to say."

"I do. Open the door," he ordered.

"I don't have to do that."

"Yes, you do, Brenda. You're in a lot of trouble. We need to talk." He put his hand on the gun at his hip as she took off the chain and opened the door. "Are you alone?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes. What's this about?"

"Step outside."

She moved onto the porch. "Are you arresting me?"

"Should I?"

She gave him a terrified look. "It wasn't my idea. I didn't know that anyone was going to steal the diamond. I just told them about it."

"Told who?" he asked. "Your sister, Erica? Her husband, Ray?"

"How did you know?"

"Your sister worked with Ethan Mercer in Denver, and he broke into the wellness store three times, looking for Caroline's diamond. You knew about the diamond, because you were in the house." He let that sink in, then added, "Someone is going to talk first, Brenda. If I were you, I'd be the first one to speak, because that person always gets a lighter sentence."

"I didn't hire Ethan. I told Erica not to do it." Brenda twisted her fingers together. "I never should have said anything about the diamond."

"How did you know about it?"

"I heard Caroline talking to Phoebe. I peeked into the room when I wasn't supposed to, and she had the biggest diamond ring I'd ever seen in her hand. She said she was going to give it to Phoebe. That there was no way Charles was going to have it. She'd made sure of that. Phoebe asked her how. And she said Rebecca had put a fake diamond in the safe for her."

---