Page 34 of Out to Get Her
The second the door closed behind her, Erin and Trey stood and headed toward Samantha.
“Thanks for that,” said Erin.
She looked dimmer. For all her misery in this place, Erin had always had this colorful aura, like she was a walking box of crayons. But that color was faded now. The loss of her grandfather, finding a dead man in her bathroom, and being hounded by Addie were apparently draining the life from her.
“No problem,” Samantha said. “Addie can be a lot. But she’s good people.”
“If you say so.”
Trey cleared his throat. “Lunch break’s over. I’ll see you two later. Good luck!”
Samantha had a sinking suspicion that was meant for Erin, and she wasn’t sure what Erin might need luck with. She was even less sure she wanted to know.
Great, now she sounded paranoid like Addie.
The server handed Samantha her to-go order, which she paid for with cash.
“On a late lunch break yourself?” Erin asked.
“Just finished some interviews and grabbing something to eat back at the station.”
“Any luck with the investigation?”
“It’s still early,” Samantha said. “I have a lot of things to look into.”
She’d hoped to get more out of Nathan, and now she would have to check out his alibi. Discreetly. She was half-tempted to rat him out and let the woman’s jealous husband have at him. But she had more integrity than that.
“I’m actually parked down by the station.”
“We can walk that way together.” Samantha tried not to sound as delighted as she was by this tiny turn of events. It was just a block.
Sheesh. She was acting like a giddy teenager.
“Who’d you interview this morning? Can you tell me?”
“I probably shouldn’t, but we both know how this town works, so you’ll hear everything soon enough.” Samantha took a big inhale before saying his name. “I started with Nathan. My ex-husband.”
“So it’s true?” Erin said. “You really married that sleazeball?”
“Not one of my better life decisions, but yeah. I did.”
Hardly a day went by that she didn’t regret the years she’d wasted on that man. She could forgive herself for falling for his initial charm—she’d been so young and naive—but she couldn’t forgive herself for not having the courage to walk away sooner, when she knew things were bad and would never get better.
Erin shrugged, her turquoise bob bouncing with the motion. “We’ve all got our regrets.” She gave a sideways smile. “At least yours didn’t get you a reputation for arson.”
Samantha held up a finger. “Allegedarson.”
Erin laughed. “Oh, I burned that shit.”
Samantha covered her ears. “I cannot hear this.”
“Only regret was not burning that shed with the jerk in it.” Erin sighed. “No, that’s a lie. I regret the trouble I made for Grandpa.”
“He knew you loved him. And he’d have defended you against any angry pitchfork mob any day of the week.” Her heart broke for Erin. Everyone knew that if they wanted to get to Erin, they’d have to go through Michael Sonnier, and no one would risk that. Gentlest man you’d ever meet, but he was fierce as a honey badger for his granddaughter. Samantha couldn’t imagine the pain of his loss, and she wanted to wrap her arms around Erin and hold her right there on Main Street.
“This is my car,” Erin said, digging for her keys in her bag. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
Samantha froze and stared in front of her, not believing what she was looking at. “Um, you aren’t going anywhere.”
