Page 57 of Crash and Burn

“I'm sorry,what?”

Maggie didn't answer. She couldn’t. When she found her voice, she barely managed to get the words out. “They told me Aunt Abbie died in her sleep, but now they think she was murdered. Something about the way the DNA and evidence is on one side—like he slept on the pillow more than one night. And on the other side the skin cells and traces of lotion are rubbed in, like maybe she struggled …”

“They think she was murdered?”

Maggie nodded and began to cry in earnest then. “That’s what it looks like now.”

“What did the autopsy say?”

She shook her head against his chest, getting her tears on his t-shirt. She hadn’t cried or broken down despite having her home broken into or finding serial killer trophies in her home. She’d even suspected Abbie of falling for a serial killer. But this? It was the last straw. And Maggie felt like shit for thinking poorly of Aunt Abbie just because everyone else around her seemed to have no morals. “There was no autopsy. She was in her 70s and, at the time, it looked like a relatively peaceful death.”

He held her close with one arm, and murmured, “I’m so sorry.”

She watched as he ran one hand through his hair. He’d requested today off and at the time she’d pressed him to go to work, but she was glad now that he wasn’t leaving. Though she didn't know if he could truly afford the time off anymore, she trusted him to make his own decisions.

Her heart twisted and she swallowed hard at the thought that Abbie had been murdered. It was worse than anything she'd imagined before. Previously, the victims had been people she didn't know. But this was too close to home—it was literallyin her own home. It seemed now, the only reason it was her home wasbecauseAbbie had been murdered.

Sebastian's arms went around her and held her tight. Only then did she realize she was sobbing. Maggie took a few minutes to get herself together then realized she didn't know what she should do next. Looking to Sebastian, she said, “I don't quite know what to do now. I'm not an investigator. I don't work for the FBI. I can't solve this case. But I want to!”

He stayed silent for a moment and it all poured out. “I need to find her killer. I … I told you I thought she might have been sleeping with the killer and I … I feelso awfulfor thinking that.”

“It was a reasonable assumption.”

“No, it wasn’t! I only thought it because—” She cut herself off. This was what happened when she cried. She tended to tell people what she really thought.

Sebastian waited a beat, then whispered, “You can tell me.”

“You’ll realize that I’m stupid.”

He shifted rapidly, looked at her like she was … well, stupid. “How would I ever think that? I see you moving to a new town, starting your own business. You’re a lawyer, and a damn good one from what I’ve heard. We all lock our keys in our cars sometimes, Maggie.”

She wanted to laugh, and just wound up snorting a little. “Yeah, did you think you should marry someone then find him fucking your best friend in your bed?”

Silence.

Yeah. She was stupid. Stupid for trusting Ryan and Celeste. And stupid for telling Sebastian just how stupid she was now.

“They what?” He didn’t seem to believe her.

“Yeah. About a week before the wedding. I mean, that’s when I walked in on them.” She paused, and sniffed. Better to tell the whole thing now. “He said he still wanted to marry me—”

“He thought you’d beokaywith that?” Sebastian shook his head as if to rid an awful thought.

“They both did. Said it was the first time and it was a whim. But I’d found her earring in our room before, and Celeste said she must have dropped it when she came over.” Maggie heaved a breath. Hopefully, Sebastian didn’t think she was as dumb as she felt for not realizing all of it sooner. “And even if it was the first time? That wasn’t forgivable. So I lost my fiancé and my best friend in the span of ten seconds.”

“That sucks—”

But she was on a roll. “And my father the next day when I started announcing that the wedding was canceled.”

“Your father? Why?”

“Because he thought I should forgive Ryan. He said the wedding was too expensive to cancel and that all marriages had some adultery in them.”

“What!”

Shit. If Sebastian didn’t cut things off because she was stupid, he’d do it because she was so messed up. But it was a little too late to take it back now. “So, I guess my parents’ marriage wasn’t the good one I thought it was.”

“Your mom passed a while ago, right?”

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