Page 37 of The Gentleness of Rage

Slate found he couldn’t disagree. Nobody should be so terrified. It’s why he supported every effort made by Phoe to raise money for the Trusts.

Jaelynn was watching warily as the cops entered behind him. No sooner had Slate stood by her chair than she grasped his hand tightly.

“Jaelynn, I’d like to apologise for the fright we gave you. But we need to speak to you about a murder that happened. Last night, the body of Ariel Waddle was discovered, and I’m sorry to say she’d been murdered. Can we ask you a few questions?” Ben said.

“Yes.”

“How did you know Ariel Waddle?” Ramirez asked.

“I didn’t. I met Ariel once on Monday evening when she came into the bar and accused me of stealing her job. But I hadn’t. Slate and Mac had offered me it because I’d helped them out two Fridays back.”

“How did you help?” Ben inquired gently.

Jaelynn graced him with a suspicious look. “I needed a drink after a terrible workday. But there was only one waitress on, and she was really struggling, so I stepped up and helped.”

“Did you expect to get paid or given a job?” Ramirez questioned, and Jaelynn scowled.

“No, people help sometimes because they just want to and are good people. That may be hard for you to understand,” she snapped, and Slate smirked.

“Not at all, Jaelynn. These are questions we must ask. You might have noticed something that you don’t think is important, but it is,” Ramirez said.

Jaelynn bit her lip. “I did notice an oddity when we left the strip club. I thought I saw a man in a baseball cap watching, but he vanished before I could register his looks,” Jaelynn admitted.

“Can you recollect any details?” Ben asked.

“No, he was gone too quickly. At first, I believed I’d imagined it, but I know I hadn’t.”

“Okay, can you remember anything odd at the Haunted House? Could you walk us through what happened?” Ramirez said.

Jaelynn related everything she could about the Haunted House to the cops and then spoke about their date after and what time Slate dropped her off. She basically confirmed everything Slate had told them and couldn’t add anything else.

As she talked, Slate wracked his brains to think of any details, but there was zilch. Slate’s focus had been fixated firmly on Jaelynn. Slate was puzzled. What were the odds that Ariel’s body would turn up where he’d been on a date?

A chill ran down his spine.

“You just thought of something,” Ben said.

“Yeah. Jaelynn panicked at the Headless Horseman and headed back the way she’d come. If she hadn’t done that and we’d not veered off, Jaelynn and I would have walked past the dump site,” Slate replied.

“Wait, you diverted?” Ramirez asked.

“Yes. We should have walked over the bridge, which would have taken us directly past the scene, but Jaelynn refused to cross it. Instead, I took her the long way around, which is on camera, so you’ll see us. But yeah, we should have passed close to Ariel,” Slate confirmed.

“What’s with those looks?” Jaelynn demanded.

“Because, babe, we were close to the killer,” Slate explained.

Slate swapped glances with the others and shook his head. Jaelynn didn’t need to know what he was considering. Because honestly, Ariel’s body being near to them screamed a warning to Slate. Somebody had followed them there and dumped it. It was too much of a coincidence.

He could see Ben and Ramirez thinking the same. Someone had tried to set Slate up for murder. The question was, who? A Venomous Fang? Another enemy? Why had they come after him?

“Thanks, Jaelynn. We won’t put your name in the system, and we’ll let Chief Howser know. He’ll accept it as Howser does a lot for the Trusts,” Ramirez said, getting to his feet.

“You okay while I show these guys out?” Slate asked Jaelynn.

“I’ll be fine. I was starting the filing. You can go back to work, Slate,” Jaelynn stated.

Slate studied her. Jaelynn remained pale and shaky. No way was he leaving her. He bent over and tilted her head up to face him.

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