Red Nights - Shari J. Ryan Page 0,80

think I did it.”

“Damn. And did they say why they are calling it arson?”

Do I tell him? My gut says no. “Not yet.” I clutch at my stomach. “I really need to go.”

He gives me a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead. “Call me when you’re feeling better.”

“Okay,” I say, breaking out of his hold and pushing out through the screen door. I try not to look down the street to where Hayes is parked. I don’t want to draw any attention to him with Tanner watching me from the door…in his towel.

When I pass Hayes, he does a sharp U-turn and follows me back to his condo.

“Hey, hey.” He grabs my arm as I step out of my car. “What happened? Did he hurt you?”

“No,” I say while shaking. “He might have thought I was there to seduce him.”

“And what gave him that impression?”

“The fact that I might have told him I was looking for condoms…”

“What?”

“I left his drawer open, and he asked. I said the first thing that came out. I got all of the photos.” He leads me upstairs, his hand gripping tightly around mine.

The second we’re secure inside of his condo, his arms envelope me, and I lose it. “It’s okay,” he says. “You did great.” I try to relax. I try to breathe. But God, I haven’t breathed normally in almost two months now. “Can I see your phone?” I inhale sharply and pull it out of my back pocket, giving it to him with an unsteady hand. He takes it with him and sits down on the armrest of the couch. “Put a password on this thing. Okay?”

“Okay.” I watch as he scans through the photos. Once. Twice. During the third round, he stands up with his eyes still glued to the screen. He walks into his office and comes back out with his laptop and a USB cord.

He sits at his kitchen island and plugs my phone into his computer. His computer is much faster than mine; his photo manager pops up in seconds, filling the screen with all of my photos. “Does he have a cat?”

“He didn’t when we were together…and I didn’t see one now.”

“Well, he has a container of cat litter.”

“He does?” That makes no sense. “I think he’s allergic to cats…”

Hayes clicks through the photos until he reaches the ones from the bathroom. “He had a bunch of prescription bottles in the medicine cabinet,” I tell him. “You can see them in one of the pictures.”

He finds the picture and zooms in quite a bit, tilting his head and squinting. “These are sedatives.” He scrolls to the next photo, the one of the cabinet under the sink. “Wow.”

“What?” I ask, looking back and forth from the screen to his washed-out face.

He huffs. “There’s brake fluid under his sink. This asshole really thinks no one would consider him because of his stupid daddy.”

I press my hand into my chest as my eyes widen, staring at the zoomed in picture of brake fluid. “Oh my God.” I sound as scared as I feel.

“You need to bring these photos to the police department. I don’t think I should go with you, though. I can’t have them thinking I prompted you to do this part. I can investigate Tanner from outside of his home, but not within,” he explains.

“I don’t think I can do that, Hayes.”

“I’m trying to save you from being charged with arson, Felicity.” The way he says my name hurts. Like he’s talking to a child. I have to remember this isn’t his problem. He pulls me over onto his lap, wrapping his arms around me and placing his chin down over my shoulder. “I need to keep my ties strong with the police department and my firm. I need to be kept in the loop about finding the murderer of that kid.”

I twist around on his lap. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been selfish,” I say, looking into his beautiful, sad eyes. “I didn’t realize you were still working on that case.”

“That case won’t be closed until the murderer is found.” He swallows hard and closes his eyes briefly. “Look, right now, we just have to play nice and do things the right way. We need to get blame pointing away from you so can we push forward in a more favorable direction.” I want to ask him more. I want to know all of his pains. He’s been so focused on me, and I’ve been so self-absorbed