Page 64 of Mine to Save

CHAPTERFOURTEEN

“Has Kathy called or texted?” Emmett asked as he strolled across the pool patio at his mother’s home. He found it interesting that Kathy had been up Trinity’s ass since she’d left Pensacola, but not so much over the last twenty-four hours.

“Not since she asked me how I was doing first thing this morning. Do you want me to reach out?” Trinity asked.

“Not yet. I want to wait for Rhett.”

“What about my mom and dad. I’m so worried about them.”

“Don’t be. They’re fine. I’ve been able to secure a bodyguard for them.” Emmett curled his fingers around Trinity’s forearms.

She shrugged him off. “I can’t believe Kathy is really Paul’s daughter, Rayna. And that she’s been lying to me, pretending to be my friend the entire time I’ve known her, when all she wanted was—hell, I don’t knowwhatshe wants.”

“I’m guessing she learned you had hired a private investigator to find your dad and wanted to keep tabs on what you knew. Or didn’t know,” Emmett said. “She needed to control the narrative and keep you from finding out the truth.”

I told her everything we were doing, with the exception of the fact that we have the contents of that envelope.” Trinity turned toward the ocean and pulled her wrap across her body. Her hair whipped over her shoulder in the strong breeze.

Emmett and his mother had both agreed that her house out on the island with its state-of-the-art surveillance equipment would be the safest place for not just Trinity but also the community.

He leaned against the post by the trail heading to the beach. The sun’s rays danced across the water. Ever since his mother had moved into Steve’s house, this had become Emmett’s place to relax and reset when work got to be too much. It was somewhere he could recharge his batteries. Clear his mind.

Sometimes he came here just to think and ponder where he wanted to go in life since it had taken a big left turn.

For now, he hoped it would be a haven for Trinity and a place he could keep her safe.

“That’s good.” He wrapped his arm around her waist. “Because of that, we have an advantage. Once Rhett gets here with Shawn, we can devise a plan for how to move forward.”

“Can we trust Shawn? I mean, he could be in on this with his sister.”

“That was my first thought, too,” Emmett said. “But I trust Rhett with my life. If he thinks Shawn is telling us the truth, then so do I.”

Trinity pulled away, inching closer to the path that led to the beach. She lifted her chin toward the sun. “I can’t trust my judgment anymore.”

He jumped out in front of her, taking a good scan of the sand. Rhett had called in a couple of private eye buddies, and they were currently strolling the beach. However, if there were a breach in security, it would be at this point. He held her by her biceps. “What are you talking about?” He stared deep into her eyes. “You knew all along that your father couldn’t have killed those men. You believed in the truth and never wavered.”

“But I didn’t figure out that Kathy was really Rayna. I trusted the wrong person and helped her frame my father.”

“You haven’t done that.” He kissed her nose.

She glared. “I let her in and told her all my thoughts on my dad. All my deep feelings. I shared things with her that I didn’t tell anyone else.”

“I’m no psychologist, but I bet she’s a master manipulator. Maybe even a psychopath.”

“You’re not making me feel better.”

He tucked a few stray strands of hair that blew across her face behind her ear. “Let’s not focus on that. The pieces of the puzzle are coming together, and we’re going to clear your father’s name.” Emmett was more than confident that he would be able to do that in the coming days. What he wasn’t sure of was how he could say goodbye to Trinity. “Lucy Ann’s dad has sent more information over on Bugsy. And Cotania has been incredibly helpful in our investigation. He’s given us proof that the first few murders were someone else and even got permission to re-open those cases.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t know that. It wasn’t on the news, and we know I’m getting alerts because even Melinda thinks I’m becoming a little obsessed.”

“No. I’d be doing that—take that back, Iamchecking the news outlets on a regular basis,” Emmett said. “However, because of what’s going on with Robash and this case, we’re all in agreement that information can’t get out until we wrap this up.”

She sucked in a long, slow breath and then blew it out in a big puff. “When all of this is over, I’m going to need a vacation.”

Timing was everything, and this was about as piss-poor a time to do this as he could imagine. But she’d given him the perfect opening. “I have a couple of weeks off coming up. I was thinking since we didn’t get to go for our boat ride, maybe we could rent a charter and go to the Bahamas for a bit. Get to know each other better. See if we want to make a go of a long-distance dating thing.”

Her long lashes fluttered over her sweet eyes. “That’s unexpected.”

“I’m sorry. We can talk about it later.” He gave her biceps a good squeeze and turned toward the house.

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