Page 21 of I Want You
“Just get ready,” I huffed, much to Aurora’s amusement.
True to his word, Luke was at my door twenty-seven minutes later. His gaze raked over me from head to toe. I had thrown on a pair of jean shorts and a T-shirt that I had tucked in and paired it with a pair of sneakers. My hair was down, the mass of curls as unruly as ever. There was nothing interesting about my outfit. It was practical for where we were heading. Alana Karrigan had been murdered at a secluded portion of the beach, her body dragged into the abutting woods and semi-hidden behind a fallen tree.
Luke’s eyes did a second sweep from toe to head before landing on my face.
He wore a dark green shirt that made his eyes pop. His jeans hung low on his slim waist, the fabric molded to his muscular thighs. His hair was growing out slightly, a little longer than he usually wore it. The perfect length to run your hands through, just enough to grab hold of…
“Good morning, Aurora.”
I swallowed hard. My thoughts had definitely gotten away from me for a second. My sister was standing behind me, ready to go.
“Morning, Luke.”
“Rory needs a ride to her car. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Of course not.” His eyes were back on me, something different sparkling in them. He looked like he couldn’t make sense of me.
We dropped Aurora off at Courtside’s. As soon as she wasout of the car, I told Luke about the guy from last night. I knew Aurora wouldn’t want me bringing it up, but despite her protests that he was harmless, I still felt like Luke needed to be aware.
“Why didn’t you call me last night? I would have swung by. Made sure he was gone.”
“I didn’t want to bother you at home. He didn’t threaten me or Aurora. He just gave me the creeps.”
“I’ll let the guys at the station know. We’ll keep a lookout for him, keep tabs on him. But if he shows up at your apartment again, promise me you’ll call me. Anytime. Day or night. On shift or off. You call me.”
I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth, my teeth holding it hostage as I bit into it. Luke turned to me in the car, his gaze dropping to my mouth. The energy around us seemed off. A tension was growing between us, and I didn’t know why. Nothing was different, but for some reason, the air was charged.
“I promise,” I said quickly, trying to diffuse the pressure.
Luke nodded once, turning his head back to the road. The turnoff to the scene was wide but quickly narrowed to nothing more than a path. The asphalt ended, transitioning to a gravel drive. Luke drove in as deep as he could before putting his SUV in park.
“Let’s walk through the woods first and make our way to the beach,” he said.
“Are we looking for something?”
“No. Any evidence is either tagged and locked, or it’s gone. I’m grasping at straws here, Letty. I’m hoping being at the scene will help.”
I took my sunglasses off, hooking them into the collar ofmy shirt since I didn’t need them under the shade of the trees. “Has anything else come out about the possible missing evidence?”
I didn’t want to call it police corruption. There was probably nothing missing in the first place. And even if there was, what was to say it wasn’t a terrible mistake. It wouldn’t necessarily mean there was a dirty cop.
“No. I talked to Wes, but either he doesn’t have anything yet, or he’s not ready to reveal it. But either way, he isn’t talking.”
Luke stomped through the woods, picking his way to the area where Alana was found.
“Be careful for prickers.”
“Is everything okay, Luke? You seem… tense.”
“Yeah, sorry,” Luke sighed. “Actually, no, not really. The biggest case of my career is hanging in the balance. I might be working with someone whose moral compass points south, which leads me to wonder if I locked up an innocent man. And on top of that…” Luke turned his head back to me, his eyes on mine. “I’m getting divorced.”
“What?” My heart dropped. “Luke, I’m so sorry.”
Even through the years of my unrequited crush, I didn’t want to see Luke’s marriage fail. I liked Luke… a lot… and I would never wish for anything to make him unhappy. Twigs snapped underfoot as Luke picked up his walk again. I followed behind him, placing my feet in the tracks he was leaving behind.
“What happened?” I asked.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he sighed. “But her getting knocked up by someone else really sealed our fate.”
