Page 8 of Off the Hook

She jotted something on her yellow notepad. “Why did she end it?”

I laced my fingers together in front of me on the table and squeezed, directing my anger there so it wouldn’t come out in my words. “Gee, well, I suppose she didn’t want to marry me.”

“And just a few days ago she told you that she was marrying Jake, after only dating him for six months. That must’ve made you angry,” she said, somewhat empathetically, but I got the distinct impression she was trying to trick me into saying something that she wanted to hear.

Before I knew what happened, my hands flew apart and slapped down on the table. The water in the cup in front of me sloshed from the impact. I gritted my teeth as tears stung my eyes. “What makes me angry is that you’re wasting time questioning me. I told you, I haven’t even spoken to Kylie in months, let alone seen her.”

“Calm down, buddy,” Waylan interjected with a pained look on his face that hardened to a scowl as he turned to Detective Pierce. “That’s enough. Do you have any real questions for him? We know Coulter didn’t have anything to do with this. He was with his family all evening.”

“With all due respect, Sheriff, I don’t think you should be here. You’re too close to this case. And quite frankly, you’re impeding the investigation.”

Waylan’s jaw dropped and he met her calm stare. “You’re about to overstep your authority, detective.”

“I don’t think I’m the one trying to overstep authority here, sir. I am the only objective person in the room. You need to let me do my job,” she said sternly. I would have thought it was kind of cute how she stood up to Waylan if it wasn’t me in the hot seat.

“You don’t seem to remember how you got this job in the first place,” Waylan said, shooting her a searing glare as he stood, smoothing the front of his trousers with his palms. “Ten minutes. I’ll give you ten minutes with him before I call him a lawyer myself.”

She blinked at Waylan but didn’t flinch as he flung open the door and stomped out. I had to admire her calm in the face of Waylan’s wrath. But I admired him more for standing up for me.

“Please understand, Mr. Rodman, we’re just trying to find out what happened. Thank you for your cooperation,” Detective Pierce said, her tone softening slightly as she watched me.

I sighed, nervously rubbing my hands together. “I have nothing to hide. I’ll do anything I can to help, but I don’t know anything.”

“Let’s go back to your breakup.” She leaned forward, pen poised over her notepad.

Great.I straightened in my chair. “That was six years ago and completely irrelevant, but okay. What do you want to know?”

“How did it make you feel when Kylie told you she was engaged?” Her eyes narrowed slightly, as she watched for my reaction.

“Like shit, of course. But not mad. The reason I wanted to see her was to tell her that I wanted her to be happy.”

“And where were you yesterday?” she asked without even acknowledging what I’d said.

“At a family dinner with all my siblings and my father, at his house at the marina.” I sighed, leaning back slightly.

“What time did you get there?”

“I don’t know exactly,” I said, scratching my chin. “Maybe 5:30? It was getting dark.”

“And before that? Where were you before you went to your father’s house?” she continued, insistent.

“Home.”

“Alone?” She raised an eyebrow.

“I live alone.” I shrugged. “That a crime?”

She ignored my sarcasm. “Did Kylie have any enemies? Anyone who would have wanted to hurt her?”

I shook my head, a little relieved she was asking about someone other than me. “Not as far as I knew, but I haven’t known much about her personal life for years.” Regret filled the empty pit in my gut. I’d never be able to tell Kylie all the things I’d thought about after she broke it off. That I missed her terribly. That no woman ever felt like she did in my arms. That I’d held out hope that she’d find her way back to me every time she broke another guy’s heart. Neither of us had dated anyone for more than a few months, until she found Jake.

“Do you know who she hung out with?” Detective Pierce asked.

“She and Amber were thick as thieves until Amber moved to Atlanta a couple years back. After that, I have no idea. Maybe you should ask Jake.” Why wasn’t he the one in the hot seat right now?

“I certainly will when he gets back to town,” she said calmly. “Have you ever known Kylie to do drugs?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I mean, she might hit a joint at a party every once in a while, but nothing more than that. She didn’t even drink much. Couldn’t hold her liquor worth damn.” I chuckled, remembering the time she’d gotten wasted and tried to beat me up. “Fortunately, she pretty much left it alone.”

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