Page 32 of Silverstorm

“It’ll be okay. Everything will be okay,” he crooned. God, he hoped everything would be okay.

With one hand, he dialed a number on his phone. The sheriff answered after the second ring. “Jude, I’m sorry, I just found out myself. I’m on my way over.” Well, that answered one question. Brady had gone behind the county sheriff’s back to obtain this warrant. He was a sneaky sonofabitch. It wasn’t against protocol. The sheriff’s office and the local Missoula police were separate entities, working together most of the time, but they didn’t have to report back, if they didn’t want to.

“Do you know what they’re looking for?” Jude snapped.

“No. But I heard that Brady fast-tracked the autopsy of the sister, pulled some strings to get the lab to stay open all night. Something in the medical examiner’s report must be the catalyst for this search, I’m sure of it.”

“Right. Thanks,” Jude replied.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

Jude ended the phone call, tapping the phone against his chin as his mind raced ahead. What could Brady have been looking for? It must’ve been something specific for him to get the results so quickly. Then it came to him.

“Shit. I think your sister might’ve been poisoned, too.”

“Really. Why?” Aria stirred from beneath his armpit, looking up at him with dark eyes.

But Jude didn’t answer her straightaway. That might be what they were looking for, evidence of poison. Brady must have something stronger than that. Surely, he couldn’t be raiding Aria’s house on such a flimsy hunch.

Aria came to the same conclusion as Jude. “And they think I did this? Why?”

“I have no idea.” Jude shook his head as Aria stepped away from him.

“Could I go to jail?” Her beautiful face paled, her bottom lip beginning to tremble. “I can’t go to jail. What about the baby?” She placed two hands protectively over her abdomen.

Jude blinked twice, slowly. What had she just said?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

ARIA SUCKED IN a breath. Crap, she hadn’t meant to say that. It’d been an instinctive reaction. Because she couldn’t go to jail. She’d heard what happened to women like her in jail. It was a place of violence, and gangs, and deprivation. She wasn’t street tough; she’d never survive. The baby would never survive. The baby was her top priority now.

And besides, she was innocent.

“You’re what?” Jude stared at her incredulously.

She stepped away from him and hung her head. “I’m sorry, I was going to tell you.” Was she, though? She hadn’t made up her mind whether she was going to reveal her secret to Jude. Not just yet anyway. She was going to try and hide it from everybody for as long as possible, so that she could set aside some money from her new job, enough to get her somewhere safe and comfortable where she could have the baby if everything fell apart again. A small fragment of her had been holding out hope that Naomi may even let her return to work after the birth. If she did a good enough job. If she could show Naomi that she was irreplaceable and convince her she could still be valuable to the project, even after she had the baby. A sliver of hope that she might be accepted as part of the staff family at Stargazer. But she was also a realist. And that kind of thing didn’t happen in real life. You were fired and sent on your way at the slightest hint of misbehavior.

Jude moved to put space between them. “But we…” He turned toward the bed. “But you…” His handsome face was creased with a frown, and he stared at her as if she’d grown two heads. As the realization hit him, they’d shared a bed, been intimate all night, and all along she’d been keeping this terrible secret from him.

He had every right to be confused and perhaps even angry and disappointed. She probably should’ve told him before they slept together, but it’d all happened so quickly, and part of her hadn’t wanted to scare him off. Wanted that one night with him, if that was all she was allowed. She was pretty certain he would’ve refused her if he’d known beforehand.

“When were you going to tell me?” he finally asked.

“Eventually. But it wasn’t significant, at the time.” Which was true from her point of view, even if not from his.

Now wasn’t the time to have this argument with Jude. She was sorry he had to find out this way, but he was going to find out sooner or later, anyway. And now she understood that putting it off wouldn’t have mattered in the long run. He would still have looked at her with that utter betrayal in his face.

“It wasn’t significant?” His face was a mask of astonishment. “After what we just did? After what I felt for you? Last night was—”

“Aria Cusack, I’m arresting you on suspicion of murder in the first degree of Tango Cusack.” Brady strode into the room, handcuffs dangling from one finger. “You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say may be given as evidence in a court of law.”

“What?” she squeaked. Her mind was still replaying Jude’s words. What’d he been about to say? What did he feel for her? It took her a second or two to comprehend the detective’s words. He was arresting her? Her worst fears were coming true.

Jude was faster, reacting with lightning speed, stepping between her and Brady.

“Don’t you dare,” he growled, getting right up into Brady’s face. Even though the other man was taller, Jude had a tension around him that exuded menace. She could see the rigidity in his broad shoulders, his fists balled at his side as he glared up at the other man, not backing down one bit.

“Don’t get in my way, or I’ll arrest you, too, for obstruction,” Brady growled, glaring at Jude with undisguised contempt.

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