Truly sorry. I want you to believe that you're important to me, Mariah. I want you to believe that we can make this work."
"I do believe it."
A little bit. But she wasn't completely convinced.
"We both need to see the change in action. We're different now, and we're still going to make some mistakes. At least I am, but I'm willing to acknowledge them and try to do better."
"I want to do better, too," she vowed, sitting up so she could look directly at him. "I think I'd like to come out to where you live and look around a bit. Spend some time there. Maybe...maybe I'll move to you instead of you moving here."
"I think you'd love Seattle, but it's okay if you don't. We'll figure it out. We don't have to make all the decisions tonight."
"Thank goodness, because I'm fuzzy from lack of sleep."
He didn't get a chance to reply. His phone buzzed, pulling him away briefly to check who would be sending him a text at two in the morning.
Logan, of course. He didn't sleep either, plus it was earlier in Seattle. Ryan quickly read through the message, his heart in his throat.
"You just got a strange look on your face," Mariah said. "Can I ask what's going on?"
Ryan didn't answer until he'd read through the message a second time. He needed to be sure that he'd understood it correctly.
"It's a message from my boss Logan. Apparently, someone has confessed to Brad's murder. A guy in state prison. Logan wants me to go talk to him tomorrow." Then Ryan remembered that it was past midnight in Chicago. "I mean today. He's not sure that this person isn't just looking for a few minutes of fame, but we have to check every lead."
"That's good. You may be able to close the case. The Harrington family will be relieved."
This would be closure for them, and for Ryan and his friends as well.
Is that what happened to you, Brad? Were you killed by a stranger?
Morning couldn't come fast enough. Ryan wanted to talk to this person. He wanted to know what happened that night.
22
Ryan was getting dressed in his own apartment the next morning when he heard a banging on the door. He'd just left Mariah less than half an hour ago, popping into his own place to shower and change, so he didn't think it could be her. She'd said something about working in her studio and then later having lunch with Liza.
"Just a minute," he called out as the banging continued. "Jesus, give it a break."
This building had a locked front door. How had someone slipped in?
One look out of the peephole had him chuckling. He should have known.
Knox Owens - one of his coworkers.
For all Ryan knew, the guy had crawled up the side of the building and swung in an open window. He was that crazy.
"You're making a hell of a racket," Ryan said when he opened the door. "A simple knock would have done it."
"Apparently not," Knox said, walking into the apartment, carrying a small suitcase. "I did knock but no one answered. So I knocked louder."
"I might not have been here."
"Jared pinged your phone. You were here."
That was the problem with working with investigators. They had tricks up their sleeves.
"I was in the shower. I'm about to make some coffee. Do you want some?"
Knox grinned and sat down at the kitchen island. "Hook me up to an IV. I couldn't sleep on the plane. The people around me were all snoring. Damn, they were loud. I wouldn't mind some breakfast either, if you were making some for yourself. I'm starving."
Knox was always starving.
Ryan retrieved the coffee from the cabinet. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but why are you here? I thought they were going to send Luke."
Pretending to be hurt, Knox placed his hand over his heart and sighed. "Wow, that was a sharp stick in the eye. Am I not good enough?"
"You're good enough. You're just a surprise."
"Luke's all tangled up in a case. I wrapped up mine yesterday so they put me on the red-eye. No rest for the wicked."
"I appreciate you coming out," Ryan said, cracking eggs into a bowl. "Hope you like scrambled eggs because that's all I can do with them."
"No problem. Can I do anything to help?"
"I got it. There's yogurt and fruit in the refrigerator if you want something more healthy and I have bread for toast. I even have strawberry jam to go on