The good and the bad.
Even the unforgivable memories have impacted me.
“Thank you again, Andi,” I hear Summer say, her words louder than I expect them to be. “Knowing you’re helping the police gives me a renewed sense of hope.”
The microphone. She didn’t turn it off.
“If there’s any chance of finding out who did this after all this time, I think this might be it.”
When I glance over my shoulder, I find everyone’s attention is focused on us again. They’ve stopped their retreat and are making their way back toward the stage. I’m frozen in place, sharing a petrified look with Jay as he pushes his way through the crowd, but that doesn’t stop Summer from talking.
“I appreciate everything you’re doing. You and Jay. Spencer’s been working so hard to—”
Summer’s words are cut off from the crowd as Spencer pulls the microphone from Summer’s hand and flips the switch. Her head jerks around in surprise to find Jay and Spencer staring down at her with a look of fear on their faces.
“We need to talk. In private. My house. Twenty minutes.” Spencer’s words are clipped, his tone even more serious than the one he took with me earlier. Anger is vibrating off his body in waves as Mia slides up next to him, taking his hand and pulling him away.
Summer’s still staring after him in shock when Jay places his hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
“What did I just do?” she asks, tears welling in her eyes.
“You gave away the element of surprise, but that doesn’t mean we won’t still be able to catch him.” Jay’s voice softens as he pulls Summer to his chest, holding her close as she sobs.
We stand like that far longer than I’m comfortable. Jay’s eyes are focused on me as he holds Summer. I’m staring back at him, sending up a silent prayer that things aren’t about to fall apart. That I didn’t just spend the last two days working my ass off for things to blow up in my face tomorrow.
There are still people lingering around, watching us with interest, when Jay finally releases Summer, stepping up next to me and whispering in my ear, “If he was here, he knows we’re looking for him. Did you recognize anyone?”
Everyone. I recognized almost everyone. Most of the crowd were local business owners, members of the community. People I had interacted with while I lived her. Served drinks to at Riley’s.
“We need to get to Spencer’s and work damage control,” is all I say before I walk off the stage and head across the park to where I know a very angry Spencer will be pacing his apartment, waiting on us to arrive.
As if predicting the future, I find Mia in her kitchen, pouring shots, while Spencer walks the length of their living room, hands fisted at his side, cursing under his breath. His anger is palpable, his footsteps causing the floor to vibrate.
“It could be worse,” I state, flopping down on their couch, but he doesn’t stop his travels.
“How?”
“Well, for starters, she could have said we were looking for someone local. Though, I did hint at that the other night, so if he was at the lantern release, he might already know that. Or that I was creating a profile. No one knows what I do for a living. Hell, they may think we’re just nosing around because we loved Sam.”
“I’m a police officer, Andrea.” The use of my full name catches my attention, and when I look over the back of the couch, I find Spencer standing, arms crossed over his chest, shooting daggers in my direction. “She mentioned my name. Whoever he is, he’s been silent the last five years. I’ve run every angle. I never talk about it though. No one does. If he was there and he heard what Summer said—”
“Don’t blame Summer,” Jay interrupts. “She didn’t know the microphone was on. She wasn’t trying to give him an unfair advantage.”
“I’m sorry.” Summer’s voice is small as she bows her head from her place next to Mia at the island.
“I’m not mad at you,” Spencer starts, taking a step in her direction, but stops when Mia shakes her head once in warning. “I’m pissed because this asshole knows we’re looking for him again and we’re close to figuring out who he is. The last thing I want is for him to get away with it.”
“He won’t,” I assure Spence, pushing off the couch and moving to stand in front of him. “I’m finishing the profile tonight and delivering it tomorrow. Someone is bound to recognize who it is. Someone will know, and then we’ll have him. He can try and run but he won’t. He’s too conceited. He thinks because he’s gotten away with it this long, he’ll never get caught. Besides, running will only make him look guilty.”
“Are you sure?” he questions, his eyes penetrating mine with such an intense stare I step back.
“Trust me. I know what I’m doing. I’m damn good at my job and I don’t plan to give up until he’s caught. If that means I’m staying here until that happens, so be it.” Mimicking his stance, I cross my arms over my chest and glare at Spencer.
“Is that supposed to be a threat?” Mia asks. Glancing over my shoulder to where she now has one arm wrapped around Summer and the other is holding an empty shot glass, she smirks at me.
“Not a threat, a promise. I don’t plan on leaving until we have answers. I can’t run away again.”
Her eyes flick to Spencer’s briefly before returning to mine, her smile growing.
“You don’t have to sacrifice your life, Andi,” Summer whispers, but I don’t take my eyes off Mia.
“It’s not a sacrifice. I want to help. I need to help. None of us will truly have closure until the person responsible is caught. There are people in this town who can’t even look out their windows without being reminded of what happened. People who can’t sleep at night knowing he’s still out there.” I pause and suck in a deep breath to ensure I don’t lose my composure. “I’m sick of dreaming about that night. Of feeling guilty for missing my flight. Of blaming myself because there’s no one else to blame. This wasn’t my fault. Or anyone else’s. There’s one person responsible for what happened that night and they need to be held accountable so the rest of us can feel like we’re able to breathe again.”
The room falls silent at my admission.
I’ve been suffering in silence. Alone, for five long years, and I’m done pretending nothing happened. That I don’t feel partially to blame even though I’m not the one who took her life.
“If you’re to blame, so am I,” Spencer says, pulling my attention away from Mia as she pours herself another shot.
“How so?”
“I could have drove her home that night. We were back in town but didn’t tell anyone. We wanted one last night for just the two of us,” he explains, averting his eyes to the wood floor beneath his feet. “I was selfish. I knew she’d have to walk, and even though it was nice that night, didn’t offer to pick her up. A good friend would have at least offered.”
“A good boyfriend would have been there, so you didn’t have to,” Jay chimes in as he approaches Spence, placing his hand on his shoulder.
“None of you are to blame,” Summer’s voice booms. I’ve never heard her yell before, so the deep timber of her voice catches me off guard. All eyes fall to her as she steps around the island and points at the three of us before continuing, “If you’re guilty of anything it’s loving my daughter. Of caring for her. Sam believed everything happens for a reason, and right now, I need you to believe as well. It’s the only thing that’s gotten me through this. Her death was tragic, it almost killed me, but it happened, and we may never know what the reason was. However, we can start by finding the asshole responsible.”
Summer’s hand flies to her lips.
I’ve never seen her so angry. Never heard her swear. She’s never needed to. If she has a point to make, she can do it without getting worked up or shouting profanities.
We all know this, which is why the four of us can’t help but laugh. Mia’s the first to break, her laughter echoing off the walls of the loft. I follow suit, and the gu
ys aren’t far behind me. Summer’s face is bright red, but she soon joins us.
As our laughter begins to fade, the mood in the room shifts again. It’s heavy. Realization settling in.
“I’d feel better if we caught a break. I don’t care how small; anything is better than nothing. Hell, if we could find her apron, I’d fucking run naked through town with a smile on my face.” Spencer’s voice cuts through the tension like a knife.
“Her apron?” I ask as his words sink in, my mind running a mile a minute, attempting to remember if it was mentioned in the files anywhere.
“It wasn’t with her. They think he took it with him,” Spencer explains.
“A trophy,” I whisper to myself. The words are barely out when I realize what we’re missing, my head whipping in Jay’s direction. When our eyes meet, he nods and we’re out the door without looking back.
Chapter Seventeen
“How did I miss this?” I ask, scanning through the pages of Sam’s file for anything else I may have overlooked. I’m pissed at myself. I’ve always prided myself on the little details. I’m usually able to see things no one else can.
This case, because it’s Sam, has me feeling less and less like the strong, smart, intuitive woman I normally am.
“It wasn’t noted in the file. You can look all you want. You didn’t miss anything, Drea. They left that detail out. I don’t even know how Spencer figured it out. I would have asked but I saw the look in your eye. I wasn’t about to let you walk anywhere alone after Summer’s confession. She put a target on your back. On all our backs.”
“He wouldn’t strike in broad daylight,” I retort, brushing off Jay’s concerns, but there’s a nagging feeling crawling on my skin that my assumption is wrong.
If he feels we’re getting close, he might do something out of character. It could be anything from starting a fight to getting wasted and driving. Or something bigger, more aggressive, like kill again. Not necessarily me but whoever is his current object of obsession.
Should we warn the chief?
The thought crosses my mind, but I cancel it out. The town is going to be crawling with people tonight.
“We have no idea who this guy is. The last thing I want to do is risk losing you.”
Flipping the page, I find the information I was searching for, holding the page above my head and smiling up at Jay who’s looking at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“Care to share?”
“This is the list of people they initially eliminated.”
He looks at me as if to say “And?”
“Think about this. He kills Sam, takes her apron, and has to hide it. He can’t take it home because if he’s questioned, they might search his place. He’s not going to throw it away, he needs to be able to see it, to touch it. It’s a trophy of his accomplishment. Like I said before, if he couldn’t have Sam, no one could. Her apron proves that. He made it happen.”
“So, if it’s not at his place but he held onto it, where would he put it?”
“That’s the kicker. No one would suspect him so he could have put it anywhere.” My excitement is growing as the smile fades from Jay’s lips, his dimple disappearing.
“Which makes us no closer to finding it than we were before we knew it was missing.”
“Actually, that’s not true. Okay, think about this. I’m going to use you as an example because you were cleared of any involvement.” He raises his eyebrow but nods for me to continue. “If you had killed her and taken the apron, you wouldn’t have brought it back to your place. You would have taken it somewhere and hid it. Somewhere you went often and could revisit it without bringing suspicion. Where would you have taken it?”
“Probably Spencer’s.”
“Exactly. This person has somewhere they go regularly in town. A close friend’s. A family home.”
“Their business?”
“No. If they were suspected of being involved, their business would be searched as well. It would have to be a place where they could hide the apron out of sight. They’d know it well; like the place they grew up.”
“I get what you’re saying. I grew up in a historic home, a lot like this one, and there were little nooks everywhere. There was this panel in the closet under the stairs that you could pop off and I’d hide in there when I played hide and go seek with my cousins. They never found me.”
“Something like that.”
“You’re basically reinforcing the idea that he’s from town. How do we narrow it down? If it were me, I’d be searching their computers and browser history. Even now you can find a trail that could lead us to suspicious behavior. I can’t do that without a short list of suspects. We need to narrow it down to only a few people.”
“I thought you worked for the government?” I asked, confused by his sudden interest in what used to be his hobby.
“I do. That doesn’t mean I don’t still tinker with computers. And my hacking abilities are a lot better than they used to be.”
Raising an eyebrow at his confession, I wait for Jay to expand on his statement, but he doesn’t. Instead, he takes the list from my hand, sets it next to the preliminary profile I wrote out in my notebook, and begins eliminating potential suspects.
Too old.
Too stupid.
Too quiet and reserved.
“That leaves us with ten people still.”
“Ten is better than twenty-two,” I say, reading over our list, wondering if I’m staring at the name of the man who took my friend’s life.
I know all of them.
They are all regulars at Riley’s. I’ve seen and talked to most of them since returning to town. A few were at the lantern release, some at the brunch, but all ten were at the fountain dedication. All ten were staring at me on stage while Summer thanked me for helping. I remember the expressions on each of their faces. None of them stood out. They were all smiling up at me with hope in their eyes. Or at least that’s what I thought I saw.
The big test will be if any of them show up for drinks at Riley’s tonight. Everyone’s invited. It’s the last event for Sam’s memorial celebration. The anniversary of her death.
A day that would hold special meaning to him. One he would celebrate every year. He would have a tradition. He’d visit the place he killed her. At the time he killed her. He wouldn’t be able to help it. He’d be compelled to go back to the scene even though she’s not there. The blood is long gone and there’s no trace of what happened.
“He’ll be there tonight,” I say to Jay as I pull my T-shirt over my head. I’m sticky from sweating all day and need to shower before we head to Riley’s. “Then he won’t. He’ll go back to where it all started, and I plan to be there for it.”
Jay’s eyes watch me intently as I pull my yoga pants off, tossing them in the corner. Slowly backing away from where he’s seated on the bed, you’d think I had him tied to a string. He stands, stripping his own clothes off as he follows me into the bathroom.
“I’m going to the park tonight. I’m going to see for myself who killed Sam.”
“The hell you are!” Jay roars, quickly making his way to me and pulling me into his arms. My underwear is the only thing separating out bodies until Jay reaches down and rips them away with one tug. “You aren’t going anywhere. Especially not alone. He’ll give himself away, and when he does, we’ll make sure he’s caught. But first …” His voice trails off as his hands glide lower until they’re under my ass and he’s lifting me in the air.
I automatically wrap my legs around his waist, crossing my ankles, and holding on as he steps into the shower, effortlessly carrying me with him. The cold spray does nothing to cool my skin as it beats down against me.
“You were saying?” I ask, wiggling against his growing erection.
Letting out a growl, Jay lifts me with one arm, positions himself at my entrance, and enters me in one thrust, my back hitting the shower wall at the same moment his balls slap against my ass.
Our groans mix as Ja
y captures my lips, sliding in and out of me slowly but with such force I’m clawing at his back, wanting him closer. Needing more.
His hands come up to caress my cheeks, holding my face captive as he slows our kiss before finally pulling away, driving into me and stilling.
“I can’t lose you again, Drea. I won’t survive it. You can’t run from me this time. Promise me you won’t.”
I can’t promise him anything. I won’t leave until I know Sam’s memory can rest in peace, but as far as everything else … I just can’t promise to not run away from him. Right now we need each other, but that might change once this ends.
My body is trapped against his. He’s deep inside of me, waiting for me to answer him. I wrap my legs tighter around his waist, silently begging him with my eyes to move, but he doesn’t budge. He wants an answer and he’s not negotiating.
“I need you, Jay.”
“What do you need from me?” he asks, pressing deeper though I didn’t think it was possible.
“Just you. You’re all I’ve ever needed. All I’ve ever wanted,” I confess, the lies I was planning on telling him a forgotten thought.
I need Jay. I’ve always needed him. Wanted him. Craved him.
“You won’t run?”
“Only if you catch me.”
“I’ll always catch you, Drea.” Pulling back, Jay thrusts into me with punishing force. “I was meant to catch you.” Another torturous thrust and I can feel the pressure building in my core. “From the moment I laid eyes on you I knew you were it for me.”
Two thrusts this time and I feel him grow inside of me, my walls clenching against him as he drags across sensitive skin.
“Mine.”
“Yours,” I echo.
“You. Were. Made. For. Me.” Each word is punctuated with a thrust until he finally stills inside of me, buried deep. The growl that escapes his lips sends me over the edge, my orgasm spiraling as I dig my nails into Jay’s back.
“You own me, Drea. Heart and soul. You always have.” Placing my hand against his chest, I can feel the rapid beating of Jay’s heart against my palm as he rests his forehead against mine.
A Moment Too Late Page 15