Buried in Secrets (Carly Moore #4) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,16
off at ten, so I just waited outside.”
A chill ran down my back. We hadn’t talked in days, and he had no idea the whole Molly debacle had finally come to a head.
“How’d you know I’d be getting off early?” I asked, then instantly regretted it. What was I doing? I was suspicious of practically everything—with just cause—but this was Marco. Would I ever be able to truly trust him? Was it fair to give in to my feelings if I didn’t?
He realized my concern and sat up straighter. “I saw your car in the parking lot during the lunch shift. You usually get off at ten when you work lunch.” His eyes narrowed. “Why were you working over lunch?”
I shook my head, still agitated, but mostly because I was disappointed in myself. “It doesn’t matter. Why didn’t you come in?”
“I needed to see you.”
That sounded ominous.
He cast a glance at the second floor above the tavern—Max’s apartment—which seemed to confirm my suspicions. “I thought about waiting for you at Hank’s, but I figured you could come over to my house so we could talk.”
Which meant he didn’t want Hank to hear either. Even more ominous. Did he have information to share with me about Pam?
“Yeah,” I said, running a hand over my head. I was tired, and while I kept clothes at Marco’s, I hadn’t told Hank I was staying over, which meant I’d need to head home after our chat. But I’d missed him so much, I’d drink five cups of coffee to wake up if need be. “It would be super helpful if this town had functional cell towers.”
He grimaced. “Be careful what you wish for.” I knew he was talking about the cell tower that was supposedly being installed at Bart’s resort, which would provide that section of the mountain with cell service. But it also ran the risk of putting my face on the internet, which meant my father might be able to find me. “You look tired. Do you want to do this tomorrow?”
His distance was scaring me, and I considered telling him I wanted to wait so I could buy time to prepare for whatever he might be about to tell me. But that was what Caroline Blakely would have done, and I wasn’t that coward anymore. “No. I’m good. Let’s go.”
He gave me a grim smile. “I’ll follow you.”
I was anxious the entire ten-minute drive to his house, but I felt some of my taut nerves ease as I pulled up to his small two-bedroom house in the woods. I loved his house and the peace I found there. It was tucked in the woods several hundred feet from a two-lane county road. A sliver-sized view of the valley was visible from his front porch, one of my favorite places at his house. Still, I wasn’t a total fool. I knew a large part of the peace I found there was because of the man who owned the house.
We both got out of our vehicles, and I met Marco at the base of the short path to his house. He gestured for me to take a seat in my usual chair. Warmth coursed through me. He’d prepared. An afghan was thrown over one arm, and a thermos, presumably filled with the hot tea he knew I loved, sat on the table between us. It was June, but it got cool at night at this altitude.
“I haven’t seen you much over the last week,” I said instead of asking him what news he had to share. At the moment, I was more worried about him…about us. I’d been scared all week. Not talking to him for five days was not the norm for us. No matter how busy we were.
“I’ve been tied up with a case.”
That offered some relief. Marco wanted to become a detective, but his law-abiding ways hadn’t suited the people in power. It was no small miracle he’d kept his job as long as he had, something I suspected he’d managed by keeping a low profile.
But everything had changed back in March, when Marco and I had discovered one of the corrupt deputies, Paul Conrad, was guilty of a whole battery of crimes, from covering up the death of Wyatt’s ex-girlfriend to using his badge to sexually harass and blackmail women. Paul had almost murdered Wyatt and me, but Marco had cornered him. Rather than go in for questioning, Paul had killed himself, taking whatever knowledge he had of the