Page 83 of Begin Again
“Nina—”
“Beau, don’t. Please.” I shake my head and pull my lips between my teeth. “Please don’t make this decision harder than it already is.”
Beau sighs and nods once. He crosses his arms over his chest and blinks away from my gaze. He scrubs his face with a hard sigh and changes the subject. “You know what I still don’t understand. How did they know you were there? And why show up now?”
Those were the questions I’d been trying to figure out. Nothing about any of this made sense. Why would the man risk showing himself now? Why did he let me go? I had seen his face, clear as day, but he still let me go. I think it’s pretty obvious heis the one who attacked Nick, but why? Was it a case of wrong place, wrong time? Did he know Nick? Or was someone trying to get to me? All questions no one seems to have the answers to.
And what about the other man? The one I had seen in the rearview mirror. He couldn’t have been more than two feet from the back of my car. What if I hadn’t left?
“Have you heard anything from James?” I ask, but Beau shakes his head. “You don’t think Sheriff Wilson—”
“I don’t know, Nina,” Beau says, pushing his hands through his hair, the sun warming his natural dark brown color. “Honestly, I don’t know what to think anymore. Something in me says there’s more going on here. Someone knows something. Whether that’s Rhett or—”
“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” a different voice says, and my stomach lurches at the sound. A humorless chuckle follows the statement.
No, you’ve got to be kiddingme.
“You know, for someone who says nothing is going on, you’re not doing a good job of being convincing.”
“What are you doing here, Alex?” I ask. I don’t have the energy to fight with him right now.
“Well, I came to grab a coffee while Lara’s in yoga class. The barista said you were around here somewhere, so I thought I’d come to talk to you. Try to apologize for how I handled things the other day, but…” Alex shakes his head, the hurt palpable behind his eyes. “I see you’re doing just fine.”
“Alex—”
“No, Nina. I don’t want to hear it.” My brother-in-law takes a deep breath. “Did you even wait for him to get cold? Or were you so happy to be rid of him it didn’t matter?”
“Enough, Alex,” Beau says. He wraps his arm around me and pushes me behind him.
Each word Alex said is like a stab to the heart. This time I can’t fight off the tears as they prick the corners of my eyes. Can’t stop a few of them from slipping down my cheeks. Can’t stop the nausea as it rises in my throat, nor the crushing weight building in my chest.
His murderous gaze falls on Beau. “And you—”
“Shut the fuck up, kid. Someone needs to knock you off your high horse before you forget who you’re talking to. You don’t speak to her that way. Do you have no respect?”
“Where’s the respect for my dead brother?”
Beau shakes his head and scoffs. He looks up to the sky, begging for patience to deal with this situation. If he wasn’t in uniform, I doubt Alex would still be vertical.
“The rest of the family might be okay ignoring it, but I’m not.”
“There’s nothing to ignore or not ignore, Alex,” I say. “We aren’t together!”
“I can’t believe you still deny it when I just caught you! You’re not even trying to hide it anymore. You’re messing around in plain sight—”
“In plain sight?” I scoff. “Alex, you didn’t walk in on us fucking around. We’re standing here, as you said, inplain sight, fully clothed and talking about Nick…Yourdead brother,as you so eloquently named him.”
“Now, I’m no lawyer, just a lowly sheriff.” Beau scratches at the scruff on his chin, staring down at Alex. “But isn’t there something called innocent until proven guilty? Or does that not apply in your little witch hunt?” He looks over his shoulder and meets my gaze with a brief smile. It chips away at my already fragmented heart. “Nina has done nothing wrong, and neither have I. The only thing we’re guilty of is trying to find the answers to what happened to your brother. When the rest of you packed and left, she stayed here and worked tirelessly trying to getthose answers.” Beau looks at me again. “You tell him about last night?”
“Beau, don’t,” I whisper.
“What about last night?” Alex looks between the two of us, but I avoid his stare.
Beau shakes his head, offering me an apologetic smile. “Nina was followed off the trail by two men, one of them in possession of your brother’s wallet.”
Alex’s eyes are wide. “Nina, why—You could’ve been hurt! Why wouldn’t you tell us?”
I scoff again. Is he serious? “Why would I tell you?”
