Page 13 of The One I Love

“You didn’t do this, Eve. The guy who taped you without your consent and posted the video online, he’s the one to blame.”

For a second, her eyes filled with tears, but she quickly blinked them back. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll do it.”

He slowly set down the cup he’d just picked up. “I’m not sure what you’re asking.”

“Jerome didn’t think I was good for your campaign before. He must be screaming ‘I told you so’ now.”

“You’re the best thing in my life.” Anson met those clear blue eyes head on. He knew any hesitation would have her protective instincts surging. “Will some of this tabloid publicity be negative? Absolutely. But you and I both know that anything we do can bring on the haters.”

Reaching forward, she rested a hand on his arm. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

Since this was the second time she’d said that in only a few minutes, Anson realized this was what weighed heaviest on her mind.

“There’s only one thing you could do that would hurt me,” he told her.

“What’s that?”

“Walk away.” His gaze met hers, and he tried to will her to see how much he meant every word. “I love you, Eve. There is nothing that can make me lose faith in you or leave you. I’ll always support you, no matter what. We can get through anything as long as we’re together.”

CHAPTERFOUR

The first person June contacted the next morning was Detective Gary Willis. She texted him that she had exciting news and wanted to share it with him in person.

She could have cheered when he said it was his day off and invited her to stop over.

Excitement hummed through every part of her body as she drove to his home, anticipating the look on her former neighbor’s face when she told him her news. Since Gary was into restoring old cars she felt sure he’d know what a ’59 Impala with cat’s-eye taillights would look like. Just in case he didn’t, she’d printed some pics from the internet.

“June.” Gary pushed his screen door open even before she reached the porch steps. “Come on in. Lynn is going to be sad she missed you. She and her mom just left to take the kids to the park.”

“Be sure and tell her hello.” Though June didn’t know Lynn all that well, she liked the bubbly brunette.

“I’ll do that.”

The home Gary shared with his wife wasn’t much different than the ones in the neighborhood where he and June had grown up. The small ranch-style home with a postage-stamp-sized front yard and a fenced one in the back had an attached garage with two stalls.

The house smelled wonderful, like fresh-baked bread.

Gary smelled like lemon wax.

June wondered if he’d been doing some cleaning while Lynn and her mother had been baking.

He motioned her to the sofa, then took a seat in the chair. “I can’t wait to hear your news.”

“I’ve found a clue, Gary.” June couldn’t keep the excitement from her voice. “I think it has the potential to break my sister’s case wide open.”

Surprise lit Gary’s eyes. “That is exciting. What did you find?”

“Okay, well, I spoke with Anson Hawkins. He’d driven by the scene that night, but hadn’t thought about it in years. He remembered seeing Aubrey’s car on the side of the road and then another car driving away.”

“Did he get a look at the driver?”

She shook her head. “Just the taillights.”

“June, I realize that’s more than we had, but it’s not—”

Leaning forward, June clasped his arm. “Not just any taillights, Gary, specific ones. A type unique enough that Anson was able to identify the make, model and year of the car in question. Best of all, those cars aren’t common these days.”

Gary’s brows pulled together. “What do you mean not common?”

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