Page 81 of A Secret to Die For

“Who?”

“The guy from the Peninsula? The one you were worried about?”

I shook my head. I’d caught sight of the body after the drama with Parker, and although part of the head was missing, the one remaining eye had stared unseeing at the night sky. It hadn’t been the monster. Or at least, not that monster.

“I didn’t recognise him.”

Neither did Garrett; he’d told me that much before he was taken away.

“Do you want me to make you a drink? Coffee? Hot chocolate? Water?”

“Just water.”

I’d gotten dressed in a hurry, and there were still pieces of candle wax flaking off from under my sweater. Earlier, going to sleep covered in the stuff had seemed sexy, but now it was just more evidence of how truly screwed up my life was. I nudged a few red fragments under the table with a foot.

“How long do you think this will take? Garrett didn’t do anything wrong. He was only protecting me.”

“There’s a bunch of procedures they need to follow. Luca said we’re not meant to talk about what happened.”

“We were asleep. Garrett didn’t start this.”

Brooke gave my hand a squeeze. “I know, sweetie.”

An age passed before Colt came back with a deputy I didn’t recognise in tow. I’d thought Sheriff Newman might put in an appearance, but he was probably outside courting the media and making sure the photographers got his good side.

“Are you up to answering some questions, Sara?”

Did I have much choice? “I’ll do my best.”

“Can you start by talking us through what happened?”

I took a deep breath and started from the beginning. The motion alerts, Garrett’s concern, the shots. Parker’s ill-timed appearance. I suppose at least he’d shown up. Either EJ slept like the dead, or he hadn’t cared two hoots about my welfare. As for the twins, they’d run onto the scene in pyjamas after the cops arrived, gone slack-jawed when they realised Garrett Dorsey was there, disappeared, and come back ten minutes later wearing make-up and designer clothing.

“The intruder didn’t enter the pool house at all?” Colt asked.

“No. I mean, I didn’t hear him come in.”

“I only ask because there appear to be some kind of restraints attached to the bed?”

My cheeks burned, and Colt wouldn’t meet my gaze. “Those are mine.”

“Right, uh, okey-dokey. So, moving on… Over the past several weeks, have you received any other alerts at night from the motion detection system?”

“Like an intruder? No. But I knew the sensors worked because they always picked up Garrett when he arrived.”

“Does he make a habit of coming over late at night?”

“Yes. We’re both adults. We don’t have a curfew.”

“I understand that. Any specific threats against either yourself or Mr. Dorsey?”

“Beyond the one you’re already aware of? No. But after that…that incident at the Peninsula, Blue was asking questions about my parents. What if she pushed someone’s buttons?”

“Rest assured, we’ll be speaking with Ms. Carver.”

“Do you know who the man was? The man Garrett shot? Where he came from?”

“We’re still working on that.”

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