Page 13 of The Engagement Party

The officer looked at Alex then Mitch before returning his focus to her again. “Why don’t the two of us step over here and have a talk first?”

Yes. That.She nodded, intending to spill, then...

Mitch’s fingers tangled with hers and he whispered low enough that only she could hear. “Don’t.”

His desperate plea sounded like a death rattle.

Mitch, why?

The rumbling in her chest exploded. Panic crept up her throat and tingled in her hands. They were a package deal. If she left, he left. That meant the horrifying opposite was also true. She couldn’t leave him here even though staying was the worst decision possible.

Swallowing a lump of fear and every ounce of common sense that screamed at her to run and not look back, she forced a smile in response to the officer’s concerned expression. “We’re fine.”

“You sure?” The officer frowned at her until she nodded. “Take this.” He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a card. “If you need anything, call me. But contact marine transport and make the necessary arrangements about the removal. Pack up tonight and be ready to go.”

She saw the name Dylan before tucking it in her pants pocket. One glance and she’d lost the last of her nerve. The trust she’d developed with Mitch, never tenuous, still had limits. She’d spent so much energy treading water through turbulent emotional times over the last few years, keeping them both afloat, but she would not let him drag her under. He needed to start talking and fast.

The officer’s gaze lingered on the car’s trunk for a few minutes before he walked away without opening it. Long strides took him down the small hill. With every step, Sierra felt her last layer of protection being stripped away and discarded.

Loving Mitch might actually kill her this time.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t call for him to return,” she said without dragging her gaze away from the officer’s retreating back.

“It’s complicated,” Alex said.

She wassodone. “Wrong answer.”

Mitch squeezed her fingers. “It’s my fault.”

She didn’t know what that meant. “What is?”

Mitch’s glassy-eyed stare didn’t change. “The man in the trunk is dead because of me.”

Chapter Ten

Ruthie

Ruthie followed Cassie and Will around the second floor of the house as Cassie asked questions about the property on their time-wasting search for evidence relating to the open garage door. The garage was outside, not in... though that suggested being inside might be safer.

She stopped before they got to the third floor when she heard a revving noise and bolted down the stairs, followed by Cassie and Will, reaching the garage in time to see a boat’s wake as it left the island. She turned to ask the gathered group what happened... then she saw Sierra’s face.

Shattered.That was the only word Ruthie could think of. Mitch, Alex, and Sierra all wore the expression. A milky-pale combination of shock and disbelief. None of them moved. Only Sierra bothered to look around. Her gaze traveled from Alex to Mitch and back again, growing in fury with each pass.

Something had happened. Something bad. The kind of horrible, unexpected thing that caused the air to go still and the trees to shake and bend as they telegraphed impending disaster.

Ruthie took a deep breath and dove in, silently hoping all of her plans hadn’t blown up while she’d tried to pull out ofCassie’s confining orbit upstairs. “We saw a boat. Are you guys okay?”

Sierra ignored Ruthie and the fact they were all together again. Her entire focus centered on Mitch. “Who is it?”

“On the boat?” Ruthie asked.

“We need more information here. Fill us in.” Will adopted his serious work voice. The one Ruthie had heard him use on online conference calls to settle differences between team members.

“Don’t make me call the police back here.” Sierra reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked like a business card. She shook it in Alex’s general direction. “He gave me his number and I will use it.”

Will frowned. “Police?”

“Wait a second.” Cassie clapped, as if trying to referee the debate rather than ease the anger thrumming off Sierra. “Did the person who opened the garage leave on the boat?”

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