Falling Fast (Falling Fast #1) - Tina Wainscott Page 0,69
bad to him.”
“He has a bully for a dad, and he was always taking it out on the smaller kids at school. I thwarted him, because I was bigger and meaner than him. Mean to him, anyway. He resented my freedom, when his dad controlled his every move. When we started racing, he had money for better cars and equipment, but I still beat him almost every time. It made him crazy-pissed.”
She shook her head. “Typical guy who takes out his powerlessness on everyone else.” She squeezed Raleigh’s arm. “Go on. The faster you get there, the faster you’ll come back to me.”
He gave her a quick kiss and drove to the station, remembering when he’d come here after being released from the hospital, the day after coming back from Atlanta…after having his stitches redone. Every cell in his body screamed for him to turn around, run. But he hadn’t done anything wrong this time.
Sheriff Sullivan, Pax’s dad, was on the phone in the front room when Raleigh stepped in. He finished the call and crooked his finger for Raleigh to follow him into the interrogation room. The same room where he’d had to tell the man how he’d been racing. The sheriff hung up and walked into the room. “Evening, son.”
As if Raleigh would ever think of this man as a father. “Evening, sir. I hear a skeleton was found in George Morlen’s lake.” How did an innocent man look? Or, rather, what would make Raleigh look guilty?
Sullivan perched on the corner of the table, casually swinging his leg. “ ‘Bout a half mile from your cabin. Vehicle looks as though it was driven into the lake—we figure maybe a year ago or more by the decomposition of the body.”
“Accident? Suicide?”
“Nope.”
Damn. That would have made this easier. And it wasn’t going to be easy, since the sheriff wasn’t parting with much more than that.
“Male or female?” Raleigh asked.
“Male, by the size of the femur bone. Coroner’s doing his thing now, so we’ll know more soon. I was hoping you could give us some insight. Ever had any trouble out there?”
“No, sir. Run off poachers a time or two but never had a violent altercation. Heard gunshots, but not in the last few years. Been pretty quiet out there lately.”
“Hear anything suspicious in the last year or so? A fight, maybe? Screams?”
“No, sir. Have you spoken to George?”
“Sure did.”
But Sullivan wasn’t parting with what he’d learned. Which probably wasn’t much. He asked the same questions in several different ways, but Raleigh’s answers were the same. The man wasn’t telling him something. Probably trying to trip Raleigh up. Finally, he stood. “I’ll think about if I saw or heard anything out of the norm, Sheriff. I have a dinner engagement, so unless you have more questions—”
The man waved dismissively. “Go on. But don’t wander far.”
Raleigh didn’t like the sound of that. He was glad to walk out of the station, though. He called George as he headed to his car.
“Guess you heard about the skeleton,” George said without preamble.
“Yeah. Any idea who it might be?”
“Not a clue. Probably some troublemaker getting drunk, driving too fast in the dark.”
“That hardly happened, not with all the signs. Or me being around.”
“I just hope they wrap it up soon, so the crew can get back to work.”
“Me, too.” So he could get back to his life. A life he was seriously beginning to love.
There wouldn’t be time for any pre-dinner fun, but he’d make the date with Mia and her parents. And it would be about as much fun as he’d just had with the sheriff. He was sure about that.
Chapter 13
“Admit it—dinner was awkward. Painful, even.” Mia slid her fingers down Raleigh’s arm as they walked to her convertible. “It’s okay. I could tell.”
Raleigh glanced back at the lights of the restaurant, where her parents were still having their after-dinner drink. Or five. “It was painful and awkward.” He gave her a gorgeous smile. “But worth every second if it helps the cause.”
She yanked him close and kissed him. “I love you for trying.”
“But not succeeding. I could see it in their faces. Like you said, they’re stubborn. And they’ll never see me as good enough for their little girl.”
“They’re wrong, Raleigh.” She linked her hands with his. “I think my father was relatively impressed when you told him about some of the cars you’d worked on. He might not understand the tech jargon, but he understands stats.”