Page 32 of Sweet Like a Psycho (Secrets of Suburbi 2)

I glanced toward Damien, not that I was actually considering his suggestion. I could feel the eyes of all these judging cops trained on me. Probably trying to figure out why I was here. Wondering what on earth I was finally confessing to. “No.” I wasn’t going to leave my son here in the midst of all this negative energy. I’d never give them a chance to turn my own son against me too. “I’m not leaving him here.”

“Well, he’s going to school on Monday right? I can pick you up in the morning once he’s gone and we can head to the pet store together to find a suitable replacement.”

“Monday?” I bit the inside of my lip. How was I supposed to distract Zeke for the rest of the weekend? But I also didn’t see a better option unless I wanted to sneak out of the house when Zeke was sleeping. I didn’t feel comfortable with that. I shook my head, feeling ridiculous that I didn’t see the very obvious solution right in front of me. “Thanks, but I’ll just go on Monday by myself.” I turned to Zeke. “It’s time to go, Zeke!” I’d keep pretending that his pet was lost in the house. Maybe I could do some much needed cleaning while I was pretending to search for Lizardopolous. Not that any more house guests would be stopping by. Six years seemed like a good amount of time between visitors.

“I’m only asking for five minutes of your time, Violet. Let’s get an early lunch right now with Zeke too. My treat.”

I plastered a fake smile to my face. “I appreciate it, I do. But you’re better off not talking to me. Just ask your partner.”

Zeke came running over to us. “Mr. Reed, have you ever used your gun? How does the database of wanted criminals work? Have you ever caught a bad guy?”

“Time to go, little dude.” I lifted him up even though he was way too heavy for me. I had a feeling that he’d refuse to leave if I didn’t literally carry him out.

“But I have a bazillion questions,” Zeke protested. “I want to know how to catch a bad guy.”

“Then we’ll just watch a show about it when we get home, okay?”

Zeke’s turned his attention back to me. “Does that mean I can keep Hulu?”

“Sure.” Watching some shows this weekend might be just the distraction he needed from the disappearance of Lizardopolous.

“Violet,” Detective Reed said.

I glanced over my shoulder once at him. He looked hurt. And it wasn’t fair for him to put that emotion on me. If he was actually pursuing me, there was something clearly wrong with him. No one would like me if they weren’t broken themselves. And I could barely keep up with my own problems, I didn’t have time to fix him when I couldn’t even fix myself. I pushed through the door without responding and headed outside so I could breathe again.

Chapter 14

Tucker

My nights had been lonely since my split. But my days off had been lonelier. I had no one and nothing in this town. It wasn’t just loneliness that made my thoughts keep drifting back to Violet, though. There were plenty of things I could do to fill my time that didn’t involve her. I kept thinking about her because she was alluring. Smart, sensitive, feisty, drop-dead gorgeous, and off limits. A man could only be told to stay away so many times. I had to respect her decision even though a simple explanation could fix everything. Maybe. I wasn’t sure at this point if she’d ever believe me. But no matter how many times I told myself to let it go, I couldn’t. Thoughts of her consumed me.

I grabbed my phone as I headed outside. There were a few texts from Damien, most likely nagging me to go out with him tonight. But I saw enough of him on my days at work. I slid the phone into my pocket as I climbed into my car.

Today I was working on my side project and I had a meeting with the neighborhood gossip, Sally Bennet. After talking to her I could hopefully put any suspicions I had of Violet completely to rest. If I thought she was innocent, it would be a hell of a lot easier trying to explain why I had looked around. I shook my head as I put the car in reverse. There wouldn’t be an explanation. Violet would never allow one. And a part of me understood that. If someone had looked through a bunch of my personal belongings, I’d be pissed too. But I hadn’t done that.

By the time I reached Sally’s house, I had thought a lot more about my apology to Violet than the case. I put my car in park outside Sally’s. It was only a few doors down from the house that exploded. I climbed out of my car and stared down the street. All that remained was rubble and caution tape. I didn’t know how far along the FBI was on the case. For all I knew, it was closed. My big break was slipping through my fingers while I was hung up on a woman that wanted nothing to do with me.

Before I even reached the front door, it flung open. Sally was standing there with a big smile on her face, clearly excited about everything she was about to learn from me instead of the other way around.

“Come in, come in,” she said. “I just put a tea kettle on the stove. And I made some cookies. I hope you like chocolate chip.”

“Yeah, that sounds great.” I walked into her house. It was pretty much exactly what I’d expected. The walls of the foyer were covered in flowered wallpaper. I glanced into the living room to one side. Nope, not just the walls of the foyer. The hideous wallpaper was everywhere. There were also strange little collectibles on every available surface. They ranged from little dolls to what looked like glass animals of all varieties. There was even a penguin that was at least three feet tall by the fireplace. All of it was odd, but I found that placement particularly weird. Penguins didn’t like fire.

“Right this way.” She led me into her kitchen. The wallpaper continued in here, but fortunately the collectibles stopped.

I sat down in the kitchen chair she gestured to. It squeaked underneath me so I stayed unnervingly still. I could have asked her a bunch of personal questions to make this more natural. Like how long she’d lived in town. And whether or not she had a husband. But I honestly didn’t want to be in here any longer than I needed to. It was stuffy. I felt as if the flowers in the wallpaper were leaning toward me, staring at me.

I cleared my throat as she busied herself with the tea. “Sally, how long did you know Adeline Bell?” I studied her face as she turned around.

“As long as she lived in this neighborhood, which wasn’t for very long. I’m always the first neighbor to welcome new homeowners on this street. I was over with a plate of these same cookies the minute she pulled up.” Sally placed the plate of cookies in front of me as well as a cup of tea and a stack of napkins with kittens printed on them.

I ignored the cookies and tea and stared directly at her. “When she pulled up? I thought you said she was married?”

“Yes, she was married. But I never saw her husband. He traveled constantly. A housewife with no husband to care for every night? The poor thing must have been bored out of her mind. I mean…maybe not such a poor thing if she burned her house down.” She stared at me expectantly.

I wasn’t playing this game of give and take with her. “Did she have any friends in the neighborhood?”

“Besides me? Hmm. Well, there are a few other women the same age as her in the neighborhood. Charlotte, Rosie, and Phoenix. But I never got the sense that Adeline particularly liked them.”

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