Page 68 of Call Back

“I changed my mind,” I said, still in the elevator as I kept my gaze on Owen. The doors started to close, and I snapped out of my daze, telling myself that I had to sell this. I reached out an arm to keep the doors open. “Sorry. I’m just a little surprised to see Owen here so late.”

“I’m here on police business,” Owen said. He was sniffling, and I noticed his nose was red like he had a cold.

“Oh! I’m interrupting. I can go.”

Brady shook his head. “No. Owen was on his way out.”

“Yeah,” Owen said. “I’m not feeling so great. I plan to go home to bed.” His voice sounded mostly normal, but it had that tight, strained sound that often comes with a cold. I suspected he would be incapable of yelling without his voice distorting.

No. My imagination was kicking into overdrive. Wouldn’t he look at me differently if he’d just threatened to shoot me less than half an hour ago?

I stepped out of the elevator, and Owen’s gaze scanned my body up and down. “Did you get sprayed by a dirty puddle?”

I knew I was drenched, but I glanced down, and sure enough, I had dirt and grease stains on the knees and on the outer edge of my right thigh. Think of something! “My car broke down,” I said. “And I was trying to figure out what was wrong.”

Concern filled Brady’s eyes. “Why didn’t you call me? I would have helped you.”

I smiled, trying to push all my negative thoughts away and play the girlfriend role. “I’m a grown woman in the twenty-first century, Brady Bennett,” I teased. “I don’t need a man to save me.”

“I know you don’t need one,” Brady said softly. “But there’s nothing wrong with asking for help.”

“Well, Momma and I sorted it out, so no worries.”

“What was wrong with it?”

“I’m not sure, but we checked all the usual issues, then called Momma’s AAA and had it towed.”

“How did you get here?”

“I borrowed Momma’s car.” I glanced up at Owen. “Are you here about Emily Johnson’s murder?”

He looked startled. “Yeah, in a way.” The words ended in a cough.

“I hope you get the monster who did this,” I said in all sincerity.

He seemed caught off guard by that too. “We’re working on it.”

I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed Brady on the cheek. “I’ll let you two get back to your police business. I’ll just go inside and get ready for bed.”

Brady offered me a smile. “I’ll only be a few minutes.”

“Take your time.”

I walked past Owen, feeling his gaze on me as I went inside.

“Why are you acting so weird?” Brady asked in a hushed voice.

“Are you really sure about this?” Owen asked.

I’d walked into the hallway that led to the bedrooms, moving slowly, acting unhurried, but as soon as I was out of sight, I texted Colt that I was at Brady’s. I considered telling him about Owen but decided I’d tell him tomorrow.

I hustled into Brady’s bathroom and turned on the shower before hurrying back out into the hallway. No way was I going to miss this conversation, but I wanted them to feel they didn’t have to hold back. That there was no way I could hear them.

“Do you have any idea how hard it was to get all the information in there?” Owen asked.

“Thanks,” Brady said. “I’ll never tell anyone I got it from you.”

“You won’t have to because it will be too damn obvious. How’d you know, anyway?”

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