Page 48 of Crossroads of Betrayal
“Really.”
Lincoln cleared his throat. “Sweet or not, I’m more concerned with what it was doing by a dead body. This ties you to the crime scene, and without a time of death yet, you have no alibi for the known time Shelly went missing.”
The truth of the statement dropped on Grace’s head like a bomb. “You can’t really think Zeke killed Shelly—killed Tessa.”
“I have to follow the evidence, Grace, you know that. And right now, the evidence is leading me to Zeke.”
He placed his hand over hers. “It’s fine. I have nothing to hide.”
Lincoln nodded. “So you won’t mind if I have a look around?”
“Have at it,” Zeke said.
Lincoln donned a pair of gloves and crossed to the kitchen, banging through cabinets and sifting through drawers.
Grace’s cheeks burned as she watched her friend invade Zeke’s privacy. “What does he think he’s going to find? A signed confession?”
“Whatever he thinks he’ll find, he won’t. But it is disconcerting someone took my ring from my bag. Must have been when they slipped in Tessa’s ID card.”
Alarm straightened her spine. “Zeke. What if someone planted something else?”
He shook his head. “I went over the whole cabin with a fine-tooth comb after that. Unless I missed something, or someone broke in twice, that won’t be an issue.”
Finishing in the kitchen, Lincoln crossed to the bedroom.
“This is so weird,” she whispered. “Watching him just paw through your things. It’s not right.”
“I can hear you,” Lincoln called over his shoulder as he shut a dresser drawer. “I agree. It’s weird. I could secure a warrant and come anyway, but this is easier, quicker, and goes a long way in showing Zeke has nothing to hide by agreeing to let me do this. I’d say you could go hang somewhere else until I’m done, but this shouldn’t take long. It’s a small space.”
Zeke pressed a kiss to her forehead. “He’ll be out of here soon. Let him do his job then he can leave and figure out what the hell’s going on.”
The sound of something scattering on the floor turned her toward Lincoln.
He held a pair of jeans in one hand and bent down to scoop something off the floor. He clenched his jaw then marched over to stand in front of them. “Want to explain these?”
Two silver bullets lay in his palm. “Where did you find those?”
“They fell out of the pocket of a discarded pair of jeans. Same bullets that were at the shooting range. Same bullets that went missing. Same bullet that was lodged inside Shelly’s head.”
All the blood drained from Grace’s face. The room spun as the implication of what Lincoln had just found slammed against her.
“I need you to join me at the police station for questioning. Now.”
“What? No!” Grace shot to her feet then winced as pain traveled up her side. She fell back to the couch, sitting on the edge of the cushion. “This is a misunderstanding. YouknowZeke didn’t kill anyone. Don’t do this, Linc. Don’t waste your time.”
Lincoln stood stone faced with his arms crossed over his chest.
Zeke swung around and perched on the coffee table then framed her face with his hands. “I’m fine. I’ll go with him and work this out. I swear.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“Not this time,” Lincoln said, voice firm.
She ignored him. “He can’t stop me from following. I’ll sit with you. I’ll talk to the police and help you explain everything. Please. I don’t want you to leave me.”
A sad smile turned up his lips. “This just got a lot more serious. I need to do everything Lincoln says, exactly how he says. You stay here. Call Brooke. Do what you can to end this. But stay safe, okay? Someone dangerous is out there.”
She nodded along with his words although her entire being rebelled against sitting still. Of staying alone in his cabin while he faced an uncertain future.
