Page 52 of Mine to Save

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Rhett asked. “You can leave the dirty work to me if you want.”

“No. I need to see this one through.” He parked his SUV in front of a townhouse in Coral Springs, a community north of Fort Lauderdale.

“Is this because you were the last one to see Jeff alive, or because you have feelings for Trinity?”

“Both,” he admitted. He had no reason to lie to Rhett—or anyone in his family. He might not get down and dirty with all the details, but he could use a friend right about now, and while Rhett was a ladies’ man, he’d had his heart crushed once in the past. He understood better than most why Emmett had been so guarded the last few years. “I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me. Everything is happening too fast with her, and I can’t keep my head above water.”

“That’s how it was with Melinda,” Rhett said. “But every time I’ve asked one specific question, you can’t answer it or say you don’t know. I think you need to re-examine that one.”

Emmett didn’t need his brother to say more. He knew exactly what he was talking about.

Had Melinda really been THE ONE?At first, Emmett had been adamant that, yes, she’d been his one and only. But everyone, including the therapist he’d seen for a brief time, constantly asked him why they’d never set a date.

Ever.

They had been engaged for four years and had never gone through the motions of setting a date. There was always an excuse. First, it was stuff going on with her family and the bed and breakfast. Then it was stuff with him and them trying to have a baby. Each month, they waited to see if they were pregnant because if it happened, they would have had to decide if they really wanted her to be expecting during the ceremony or if they should wait.

Of course, each month the bad news came, and that halted the wedding plans while the process started all over again.

As Emmett examined their relationship, he began to see the same pattern that everyone else did, and that was that perhaps Melinda and he weren’t as madly in love with each other as they thought. Maybe they weren’t perfect for each other. Because when he saw Chad and Melinda together, it warmed his heart.

Emmett blew out a puff of air. “It’s hard to admit that Melinda and I weren’t right for each other after spending six years together, but I’ve settled into that realization.”

Rhett gave him a brotherly shoulder squeeze. “We all know you loved her, but it wouldn’t have lasted forever.”

“I can see that now. We both can.”

“Trinity’s more your type. She’s a little less high-strung, and I like how she handles things. She’s down to earth. Honest. And she doesn’t take shit from anyone. I think she’s perfect for you.”

“Do you have any idea how nuts that sounds?”

“No odder than how much you thought that chick Shelby was perfect for me, when not only did I barely know her, but she was simply a one-night stand.”

Emmett tossed his head back and burst out laughing. “You spent three weeks with her holed up in some cheap hotel room in Key West.”

“It wasn’t cheap.” Rhett waggled his finger under Emmett’s nose. “And just because it was more than an evening doesn’t mean it was meant to be a lifetime of love.”

“Regardless, she was hot.”

“Yeah, she was,” Rhett said. “I kind of wish I knew where she lived. I wouldn’t mind seeing her again.”

“You never got her number?”

“Oh. I did. But I never called her. I was still upset over Krista, and then like a fucking fool, I deleted her contact.” He shrugged. “If it were meant to be, we would have crossed paths again.”

Emmett had never heard those words from his brother before. Ten years ago, it had only been about Krista. He rarely brought up Shelby, and whenever anyone else did, he chuckled and treated it like she was another notch in his belt like any of the other women he’d dated in the last five years.

But now, Emmett wondered if maybe they’d gotten it wrong and it wasn’t Krista who had his brother’s heart all tied up in knots.

Maybe it was Shelby.

“Besides, we’re not talking about me. This is about you and Trinity,” Rhett said. “I can’t imagine what it must have been like to find out at sixteen that her father murdered her mother’s lover. That’s harsh. Why is she so sure he didn’t kill these men?”

“The same reasons we are,” Emmett admitted. “It doesn’t add up. Plain and simple.”

“She’s right. Nothing makes sense.” Rhett leaned forward and pulled out a folder. “This guy, Tony, told the police that he saw someone who matches the description of Jeff’s sketch at the scene where one of the victims was found. He also said he saw the same man talking with a different victim at the bar he works at. What’s interesting to me is that the second victim was murdered two days after Jeff left the area, at least according to Jeff’s timeline.”

“I wish he’d left detailed notes.” Emmett hit the ignition button, shutting off the engine. “Are you ready?”

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