Page 10 of Let Her Run

"It's okay, Jake," she said softly. "Really, it is. I didn't hate it. But we can't do that again. Not right now."

Jake felt a rush of relief mixed with disappointment. Fiona was right, of course--they had a job to do, and they couldn't afford any distractions. But he couldn't deny that he wanted her, that he had wanted her for some time now. At first, he'd been worried it was because Lauren moved away, but he realized that his attraction to Fiona had been growing before that.

It was dangerous, he reminded himself.

At the same time, he'd made a lot of mistakes with Lauren, and he'd regretted them.

If, theoretically, he and Fiona were to give it a shot...

He wouldn't make those same mistakes.

He wouldn't beat around the bush or mess with her feelings. He hated the idea of hurting her, of confusing her.

But he had already messed things up by kissing her in the first place.

As they pulled up to Sharon French's house, Jake's thoughts were jolted back to reality. This was a murder investigation. He needed to focus on finding the killer.

Whatever was going on with him and Fiona could be dealt with later.

CHAPTER FOUR

Fiona took in the sight of Sharon French's house, shocked by how calm, quaint, and undisturbed it was. If it weren't for the outline of a body on the floor, along with the officers milling about, it would seem like a normal calm day inside of a woman's home.

"This was where she was found," a young male officer told Fiona and Jake, gesturing toward the outline on the floor in the kitchen. Fiona noted that the outline of the feet extended beyond the wall, which would have given the witness a view from his spot at the front door. So far, that checked out.

"And there was no sign of forced entry?" Jake asked.

"Nope," the officer said. "We confirmed it with the witness; he had knocked on the door, and it had merely pushed open. This was yesterday afternoon. Wasn't till the coroner's report came in last night that we realized this was a murder."

Fiona stepped closer to the outline, trying to see if she could gather any clues from the scene. She had to admit the lack of forced entry was curious. It could have been someone Sharon knew, or someone who was able to pick the lock. But why kill her? What was the motive? Glen Hartwell had been found very much the same, according to the report; when his wife and children had come home, they had found the door open, and the wife had stepped in to find her husband motionless on the floor, just as the plumber had found Sharon.

Jake joined her, crouching down beside her. "What do you think?" he asked.

"It's hard to say," Fiona murmured. "I'd like to take a look around and see if anything stands out."

Fiona examined the kitchen, taking note of the lack of any sort of struggle or disarray. It seemed like the killer had just walked in and killed Sharon without any sort of altercation.

"Did she have any enemies, any recent conflicts or disputes?" Fiona asked the officer.

The officer shook his head. "Not that we know of. Nothing concrete, anyway. We heard from the neighbors that she could be, well..."

"Well, what?" Jake asked, hands looped in his pants.

"A bit of a stickler," the officer explained. "Shouting at kids for loitering, getting mad at neighbors for letting their dogs pee on her lawn... stuff like that. She wasn't very well-liked. But we couldn't find any overt enemies either."

"But she could have some," Jake said.

"Sure, she could," the officer replied.

Even if Sharon wasn't well-liked, they didn't currently have anything linking her to Glen. Still, Fiona took note of it in case it was useful for later.

Fiona nodded, her mind already racing with theories and possibilities. She walked over to the counter and examined the fruit bowl sitting there. It was full of ripe apples and bananas.

"Did she have any visitors or anyone she was expecting?" Fiona asked, looking at the officer.

The officer shrugged. "We're still working on talking to anyone who may have seen anything, but so far, no one has come forward with any information."

"Okay," Fiona said. "Let's take a look around the rest of the house."

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