Page 20 of Her Billionaire Hero
“Youarea heroine, Sloan Manning. Don’t ever think otherwise. And that’s something to be proud of. So what if you have more to work on?” His chest inflated a bit as his pride for me overtook the guilt he felt over staying out of Preston’s way where I was concerned.
“So, what’s he got to do with this body the cops found?” Whether it was my mother or not, it was someone, and the authorities had connected Preston themt.
“An old building was being torn down to make room for a new one. You know how Preston cut corners when he had his buildings made back then. This one had crumbled in on itself, making it a hazard. So, the people who’d purchased it from Preston sold it and the property to someone else. And that someone had it torn down. It was the work crew who found the skeleton just under a thin layer of concrete at the back of the building.” His fingers lingered over the paper. “The officer who contacted me also said the coroner’s report said the person was definitely murdered. The neck was broken and then the body was dismembered. It’s female and thought to be around the age your mother was when she disappeared.”
Broken neck and dismembered?
“Preston couldn’t have done that.” I knew the man. He was a lot of things, but a murderer and a mutilator weren’t one of them. “There’s just no way.”
“Jealousy can make people do all sorts of horrible things. Your mother may have been trying to break things off with him.” It was normal for him to have hoped his wife would do such a thing. But it wasn’t likely.
But I knew there was no way my ex-husband could pull off such a gruesome act. “I don’t think he’s capable of that—even if he was jealous.”
Bleary eyes told me he was getting tired of arguing with me. “Anyway, they need you to go down to the police station as soon as you can to give them a DNA sample. You’ve got the only DNA linked to your mother. When can you do that?”
“Now.” I wanted this done already. “I’ll go now. If that’s possible. How come the cops have contacted Preston about this?”
“I don’t know that they haven’t.” A grim expression took over his face. “You need to stay away from him, baby. If he did do this.”
“He didn’t,” I defended him.
Holding up his hands to show he’d given up with me, he said, “It’s safer for you to stay clear of that man until we know more. Even if it’s not your mother, the fact remains that at the time of this woman’s demise, Preston owned that building. He had to have known about the porch being added on.”
“It could’ve been someone who worked there,” I said.
“Yes, you’re right. And I’m sure the authorities will ask Preston things of that nature when they decide to talk to him.” He ran his hand over his chin. “If they haven’t already done that.”
“I saw him recently and he didn’t say a thing about this to me.” I was sure he’d tell me if he’d been contacted about being a possible murder suspect.
One dark brow raised. “Why would he?”
We had met inside of a grocery store and then in a pub. Those weren’t exactly places where one would discuss something like that. But Preston would’ve called or something if he’d been contacted about such a thing. “Why wouldn’t he? It’s not like he left me for someone else. He doesn’t have anyone to talk to.”
“Don’t feel sorry for him, Sloan,” he cautioned me. “I’m serious. You need to stay away from him until things are figured out. Should I hire a bodyguard for you? I will do it. I don’t want him anywhere near you.”
“I’m fine.” I had the gated apartment complex to keep me safe. And the big strong man who lived right next door. “If need be, I’ll get my friend to watch out for me. He lives next door. And we work together, so he’ll be around then too.”
His stern look told me that Dad wasn’t sure I was taking things seriously. “Sloan, if anything happens to you, I’ll kill Preston and then end up going to prison. You don’t want that to happen to me, do you?”
Talk about an ultimatum!
Chapter Eleven
Baldwyn
The sound of Sloan’s car pulling up next to mine in front of our apartments had me hurrying to the door to see her. Stopping to run my hands through my hair and take a few deep breaths, I tried to look chill and not so nosy. Opening the door, I saw her carrying more than a few shopping bags. “Here, let me help you, Sloan.” I hurried to her, taking half the bags from her. “You sure did find a lot to buy.”
“There was a sale.” She punched in the key code and the door unlocked. “And I splurged a bit on myself. I felt like I needed to do something nice for myself. It turned out to be a much rougher day than I’d anticipated.”
Happy that she was sharing how her day had gone, I shared a bit about mine. “I’ve been treating myself too. Not that I had anything bad happen to me.” Placing the bags on the table, I turned to help her. “I ate two bowls of ice cream.” Stress-eating was one of my downfalls. And I had been stressing out about how to tell Sloan that I wanted more than just her friendship. “But enough about me. Tell me what made your day so rough.”
She sighed heavily, then headed to the fridge. “I’m grabbing a beer. Want one?”
“Sure.” Following behind her, I felt the urge to reach out and pull her into my arms, hug her, kiss the top of her head, and tell her that everything would be okay. But I didn’t do any of that. “I’ll take a beer.”
Coward!
Popping the top on one, she handed it to me, then got one for herself. After taking a long drink, she said, “I don’t know if you wanna hear about my day, Baldwyn. It’s sort of heavy.”
