Page 45 of Everyone Loved Her

Just as I considered going inside, I saw a sheriff deputy’s truck pulling out to the barn apartment, and I hesitated as I saw Blaze get out of the driver’s side door. If anyone knew where Garrett was now, he would. I charged down the steps, and headed toward him, waving him down. He rolled his eyes, his shoulders dropping.

Yikes.

He raised a peculiar eyebrow at me, pausing at the entrance of the barn. “What can I help you with?”

“Did anything come of the funeral?”

“What do you mean? If you ask me,youwould know just as well as I would about the whole funeral.” He chuckled, shaking his head, though there was something off in his voice.

“Yeah, I know about the whole drunk Garrett incident, I was just wondering how the case was going, I guess.” I shrugged, trying to be nonchalant, but my heart was racing. “And if you know if he’s okay?”

“Beth...” his voice trailed off as he glanced up toward his apartment, before letting out a sigh and turning back to me. “I don’t think I should be sharing any information with you.”

“What, why?” I demanded, offense filling my voice.

“Well, for starters, we’re still not sure if you or Garrett were the last person to see Sarah. On top of that, your alibi is not exactly rock solid, Beth. You seem to have a grudge against this town, and honestly, the information I just got… I don’t know.”

My mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me right now?”

“Listen,” Blaze put his hands up in some sort of surrender gesture. “I don’t know what you want me to say. You’re a criminal defense attorney for heaven’s sake. You know as good as Ido that things aren’t always black and white with these cases. We can’t rule anyone?—”

“Just stop.” I shook my head at him. “I can’t believe youactuallythink that I could be involved.” I turned to go, my chest burning with frustration.

This is ridiculous.

He grabbed my wrist before I made it too far, his grip startling me. “Beth, don’t go running off like that.”

I ripped my arm away. “What do you expect me to do when you’re accusing me of being involved in a murder, Blaze? I didn’t have anything to do with Sarah’s death. I want answers, just like you. That’s it. I feel horrible over what happened—like why didn’t I go after her when she cut out and said she had to go to the bathroom? Iknewsomething was up,” I continued, my voice straining as the guilt returned. “And why didn’t I look harder for her? Why didn’t I call the police? I mean, yeah, I had no idea what she was doing—or where she was going, but I knew that something was wrong with the way her phone was blowing up.”

Blaze’s face didn’t budge. “We haven’t been able to find her phone and still are waiting for the documents from the phone company—and for the record,” he hesitated for a second. “Idon’tthink you did it. I just have to be careful. There’re some things that aren’t making a lot of sense.”

“Like the fact that Sheriff Myers ignored that I saw Garrett in the same area as Sarah would’ve been?”

He shrugged, but there was hesitance. “I don’t know. There’s also the estranged relationship that she had with Lucas. Something is fishy with that whole mess. I know that Lucas is involved in some shady dealings that happen around here—but that doesn’t make him a murderer. There’s also TyMiller, too. No one can account for where he was. But there’s more.”

“Like what?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“I can’t tell you all the stuff we’re investigating, Beth. You know that, and as much as I respect you, I need to walk the straight and narrow on this.” The way he said the last bit caused me pause.

“I get it,” I said, forcing a somewhat pleasant smile. “I know that you have to keep it confidential.”

“Yeah.” His voice had a hint of defeat in it. “I’m sorry, Beth. But you know, if you hadanythingthat might help with the case, that would be great.”

My mind flickered to the information about the phone that Garrett had given me, and I opened my mouth to say something—and then stopped. There wasnogood way to present that information and not be suspicious. Besides,ifGarrett had found a phone, wouldn’t that mean the investigators missed it? That would be a major misstep.

“You got something to tell me?” Blaze’s voice was sharp. “Because, you know, impeding an investigation is a real thing.”

I met his gaze, his hazel eyes boring into mine. “Um, no.”

“That sounds really confident,” Blaze snorted. “But can I take a stab at what you might have on your hands?”

I furrowed my brow, my heart jumping to my throat. “What’s that?”

“A .45 caliber pistol, just like the one used in the murder of Sarah Armitage. And I’ll bet,” he leaned in, his voice low. “I knowexactlywho gave it to you.”

I shook my head, struggling to make sense of it. “I don’t…I…”

Blaze laughed. “For a lawyer, you’re a horrible liar. So, whydon’t you do usbotha favor. You go inside, get that gun, and bring it to me. We can say you found it, stumbled across it in the pasture—I don’t care to pin this on you. Your momneedsyou, Beth. This guy, whatever he’s done, doesn’t.”

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