Page 46 of Dark Side of the River

“What the hell,” he whispered as he swallowed, his throat going dry as he read.

Cooper, I wish there was a way to say this, but I can’t

That was all she had written. He picked up another one.

Cooper, I wish I wasn’t such a coward, but I’m not good at goodbyes. It’s not you. It’s me. You’re th

Again it ended, this time in the middle of a word. He picked up another note, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

Cooper, thanks for taking me in when I needed a place to stay. But we both know this isn’t going anywhere. Maybe this is a mistake but I need to

He put the note down with the others. Were these her attempts at a suicide note like the one that was found next to her body that day? Why practice a suicide note this many times? He picked up the last one.

Cooper, I know you won’t approve of what I’m about to do. But I deserve to be happy. Maybe it’s a mistake, but what do I have to lose? Maybe this time I’ll find lo

He felt a start.Maybe this time I’ll find lo...She’d scratched outhappinessand writtenloand stopped.Maybe this time I’ll find love?These weren’t suicide notes, he realized with a start. She was leaving because she’d found someone else!

Cooper hadn’t realized that he’d been holding his breath. Slumping back onto the couch, he put his head in his hands. He had so many regrets when it came to Leann. For the past two years, he’d beaten himself up with guilt, believing that he was the reason she’d taken her own life.

If she’d been leaving for another man, there was no way she would have killed herself. He sat up. Who? Why hadn’t she just told him? He glanced at the notes piled up on his couch. She’d been trying to when... When... When what happened? Her lover had shown up?

He picked up the last note, heart pounding as he realized that if she hadn’t killed herself, there was only one other explanation. She’d been murdered.

As the notepaper caught the light, he saw something that stopped his heart dead. Holding it up to the light, he saw the faint pale blue of the large gas company logo, CH4, under Leann’s writing.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

COOPERWALKEDINTOthe sheriff’s office early the next morning, closed the door behind him and turned to face the man he’d once called his best friend. Stu was already on his feet. “If this is about last night—”

“That’s another conversation. There’s something you need to see.”

“I don’t have the time to—”

“Make the time,” Cooper said, moving to stand on the opposite side of the desk from him. He dropped Leann’s book on the desk.

“What’s this?” Stuart asked, frowning.

“You don’t recognize it?”

“I can see that it’s an old book, one that looks as if it needs to be pitched into the trash.”

If he’d had any question as to how well Stu had known Leann, he didn’t anymore. “It was Leann’s favorite book.”

Stu’s frown deepened. “Seriously, Cooper, I don’t have time—”

“She didn’t kill herself.” He flipped the book open and dumped out the notes.

The sheriff gave him an impatient pointed look. “The prosecutor never thought she did kill herself.”

Cooper sighed. “I didn’t kill her, but someone did. The man she was leaving with.”

“What are you talking about?” He dropped back into his chair.

“Look at the notes.”

Stu picked up one and read it. “What are these?”

“She was practicing letting me know that she was leaving. What you found was never a suicide note.” He picked up the other notes and spread them out on the sheriff’s desk in front of him. “No one practices writing a suicide note unless they aren’t serious about killing themselves. She was trying to tell me that she was leaving with someone, someone I wasn’t going to approve of.”

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