Sitting at the desk in his room, Riley heard the lock on Leah’s door click and the door open.
He charged for his door and looked in the hallway in time to see her step into her room, the door closing behind her.
Had she gone somewhere alone? But where and why when he’d warned her not to leave without him? Maybe she’d heard a noise and was simply looking into the hallway.
Right. Like he believed that.
He stepped back into his room and went to the adjoining door. He started to knock but heard her shower running. Wherever she’d gone, she felt a need to shower afterward. Or maybe this was just her routine before a concert, he didn’t know. But the moment she was dressed, he would ask her.
He went back to his computer where he’d been reviewing several YouTube videos of her last concert, looking for anyone in the crowd who stood out. He’d viewed countless files while she’d napped, or had maybe gone somewhere, but none of them provided anything to go on.
His phone rang, and seeing Eryn’s name, he answered. “Whatcha got?”
“A couple of things. First, the handwriting analysis is in. The expert claims Leah signed those letters.”
Riley’s heart dropped. “They’re one hundred percent sure.”
“Handwriting analysis is never a hundred percent. But it’s the expert’s opinion that Leah signed the letters. Still, you should know that handwriting analysis has come under scrutiny lately, and she could be wrong.”
Riley liked hearing that last bit. “And the second thing?”
“This is odd, so I wanted to run it past you. One of the first things I look at when reviewing a computer hard drive is recently deleted files. I figure if someone is guilty of something they might try to cover it up by deleting files and think they can’t be recovered.”
“When they typically can, right?”
“Right, and in this case, I restored the recently deleted files on Leah’s laptop. I was shocked to find GPS tracking software. Before it was removed, it was logging data from a specific tracker. Not a cell phone, but an actual GPS device.”
“That’s odd.”
“Yeah, and even odder and most suspicious is that the last address for the tracker is Carolyn Eubanks’ house.”
Riley jumped his feet. “Leah was tracking Carolyn’s movements?”
“Yes. For almost two months.”
His gut cramped hard. “And yet she failed to mention that.”
“Exactly.” Eryn sighed. “I thought I’d gotten to know her a bit and never expected her to do something like this, but the evidence is there in black and white.”
Riley didn’t want to comment. Couldn’t comment because he was stunned.
He started pacing. Had he been all wrong about Leah? Did he let his past connection and his current feelings blind him to the present-day woman?
No. She wasn’t a killer. But she still could’ve tracked Carolyn. Maybe she had a good reason for it.
“I’ll ask her about it.” His phone beeped, signaling an incoming call. He glanced at the screen to see Blake’s name. “I gotta go. Blake’s calling. If you have anything else, call me back, okay?”
“That was it.”
He disconnected and clicked over to Blake’s call.
“Where are you?” Blake asked.
“The hotel, why?”
“Leah with you?”
“Yes,” he said and asked why again.
“Because I just got a call from dispatch. Leah’s makeup artist, a Helen Carpenter, was murdered sometime in the last hour at the concert venue. She was shot in the back and has a Leah tattoo on her wrist. I wanted to make sure Leah was with you and had an alibi before I started investigating.”
Riley dropped to the chair, his legs weak. He should be her alibi, but he’d seen her sneak into the room and immediately take a shower, which was suspicious. So if she hadn’t met up with someone, she had no alibi, and a warrant for her arrest was imminent.
16
The nap and shower were invigorating, and Leah felt rejuvenated and ready to face anything. She could handle this stress now. Handle being with Riley. Handle just about anything.
She grabbed her purse and knocked on the adjoining door. Riley quickly opened it as if he’d been waiting for her knock. His forehead was knotted, his expression thunderous.
“Where did you go?” he demanded.
“Excuse me?” Surely, he couldn’t be talking about her stealth trip to the beach.
“Before your shower. I saw the door to your room close and you disappear behind it.”
He’d seen her. Of course he had. He was good at his job.
Why did she think she could have pulled this off? “I went to the beach to clear my head.”
“Alone?”
“Yes,” she said and waited for him to explode.
But he didn’t. He went quiet and contemplative instead.
“Look, I know I shouldn’t have gone out alone. But I wore a disguise I often wear in public and no one recognized me, so it’s fine.”
“Fine, it’s hardly fine.” He fisted his hands.
“I got back safe and sound, so let it go. Please. I won’t do it again.” She felt like a wayward teenager pleading not to be grounded.
He looked shocked. “Then you haven’t heard.”
“Heard what?” she asked, knowing by his expression that she didn’t really want him to answer.
He closed his eyes for a moment. Opened them and locked gazes with her. “While you were on your little jaunt to the beach, Helen Carpenter was murdered at the concert venue.”
“Helen? Oh, no. No.” Leah dropped her purse and clutched Riley’s arm. “Tell me you’re kidding.”
“She was shot in the back,” he said bluntly. “A tattoo was branded on her wrist like the others.”
Leah’s ears started ringing, and her vision faded. Her legs wouldn’t hold her, and she slid to the floor. Helen was the sweetest young girl. In her early twenties, she’d barely finished cosmetology school, much less experienced life. And now…oh, now, the sweet girl was dead. Murdered. Unbelievable.
She looked up at Riley. “Please tell me they caught the killer.”
He shook his head.
“Then at least someone saw him?”
He shook his head again and didn’t speak.
Tears pricked her eyes, and she swallowed hard to stop them. “How is this person getting away with so many murders? Right there in public like that?”
“Perhaps it’s someone these people recognize and it doesn’t raise a question.”
“You mean someone on my staff?”
He shook his head. “No, I mean you.”
“Me?” She gaped at him. “You think I did this?”
“Do you have an alibi?”
“I was at the beach. I fell asleep.” Her brain searched for something that might help. “Wait. There was a fisherman. He saw me. Talked to me. He could still be there.”
She jumped to her feet, ran to the window, and jerked open the heavy drapes. She scanned the sand and water, looking for him. She saw no one.
“He was there.” She pointed at the ocean. “Fishing. He came over to me. Said I hadn’t moved for an hour and asked if I was okay. Please believe me. He was there. We have to find him.”
“We can try, but honestly, if your disguise is as good as you claim, all this man can say is that he talked to a woman on the beach. Not that he talked to you.”
He was right. She had no way to prove her whereabouts, and the only thing that she could prove was that Riley saw her creeping back into her room. That would make her look completely guilty, and she expected Blake to barge through the door any second to arrest her.
That should be what she worried about most. But what was tearing her apart right now was that Riley seemed to believe she was capable of murder.
An hour later, Leah hung up from calling her mother to arrange for Owen’s care in case Blake arrested her after the interview. She gathered her things together and gazed longingly
at the bed. She wanted to crawl under the covers instead of going to the venue. To cocoon in a ball, hoping all of this would pass, but she couldn’t. She had to face it head on like she’d faced most everything else in her life. Find the strength she had before Riley delivered that blow.
Riley and Alex would escort her to the venue where she would sit down and be questioned by the intimidating sheriff again. But this time, she knew in advance that he might slap cuffs on her and haul her to jail.
She wished she was back on the beach. Back when she’d thought things couldn’t get worse. But now she knew they could—and had.
“Ready?” Riley’s steel eyes and cold attitude made her feel like a felon.
She wanted to cross over to him. Caress the side of his face to loosen the rigid muscles and look into his eyes and force him to see she was telling the truth. But there was no point. He’d made up his mind, and she was on her own now.
He opened the door, and she stepped out to where Alex stood waiting. He didn’t give even a hint of what he thought about her, but his usual joking demeanor was gone, a locked-down expression in its place.
“Follow me,” he said and headed inside.
Riley came up beside her but didn’t say a word. As the elevator whooshed down, both men put on aviator sunglasses to prepare for the bright lobby with large windows that would be lit with the fiery ball of sun making its way toward the horizon.
Belief in her innocence or not, they would guard her from any foe that might still be out there. For that she was grateful.
Thank you, Father for bringing this amazing team into my life. Please help me clear my name because they don’t know the truth. You do, and I desperately need You to fight for me. And help them catch this killer right away.
The door split wide, and Alex stepped out. Leah exited next with Riley by her side. The front doors swished open and paparazzi rushed her.
“Is it, true, Leah?” A gangly man shouted as he shoved a microphone at her. “Did you kill your makeup artist because she knew about your secret child, and she revealed your secret this morning?”
Leah gasped, and her feet stilled. She couldn’t move. Not a muscle. The news of Owen was out. Given to the press by another person she trusted. How had Helen even found out? And why tell the reporters?
Money. It was always about money in this business. And now an innocent little boy was going to suffer because someone wanted to make a buck off her life.
Oh, Owen, sweetheart. How can I protect you from this?
Her heart shredded, the pain nearly taking her down to her knees again. Riley must have sensed her distress, as he cupped her elbow and held her firm. She looked up at him. His jaw was clenched, his eyes angry, and he fended off the reporter with a raised arm. “Ms. Kent needs to get through. Please stand back.”
He kept hold of her elbow and muscled his way through the crowd that Alex was parting in front of them.
“Did you murder the other women, too?” A woman yelled. “Are you that self-absorbed that you can’t handle it when someone wrongs you?”
Leah wanted to answer, but even if she could, she knew better than to feed them by any response, even a “no comment.”
They got to the car, and Leah hurled her body into the back seat. Riley climbed in beside her, and Alex quickly got them on the road.
Riley faced her. “Did you know Helen knew about Owen?”
She shook her head.
“Why don’t I believe you?”
“Because you want to think the worst of me. If you believe I can commit murder, why not believe I’m lying to you?” She grabbed his hand and held on even when he tried to pull back. “I’m not lying to you. I have no idea how she knew. And I didn’t know she’d gone to the press.”
He pulled his hand free and ran it over his face. “I really don’t believe you’re a killer. It was a knee-jerk reaction. I was mad because you went out on your own. That you don’t trust or respect me enough to do what I ask.”
“I do,” she said, but then considered it. “Maybe you’re right. The music business is terribly cutthroat, you can’t even trust the people you believed were on your side.”
“I’m not in the music business. I’m not just anyone.” He glanced at Alex then looked back at Leah and lowered his voice. “I’m me. The man you once loved. Why can’t you remember that man?”
She could. Easier than he might think. But with the remembering came pain—gut-wrenching pain that she didn’t want to go through again. So maybe she didn’t want to remember. Didn’t want to trust him, because if she did, she would have to admit she’d never loved anyone the way she loved him. That she was still wildly in love with him, wanted a future with him, and couldn’t have one.
That, more than anything she was facing, would destroy her.
“More press,” Alex announced bringing Riley out of his thoughts to look around.
He had to get a grip. He was on Leah’s protection detail, no matter what had transpired between them. No matter what he was feeling. Thinking. Stewing over. Her safety had to come first.
“When I looked at the building plans, I saw a second side entrance,” he told Alex. “Head to that side, and Leah can call Felicity to let us in.”
“Roger that,” Alex said.
Riley turned to Leah, but she was already arranging their arrival with Felicity. Riley should have been prepared for the press to swarm her after word had gotten out about Jill’s death. In fact, he should have expected them even sooner. Maybe not at the hotel, as they’d booked her team in a different hotel and had chosen one for her in a nearby city to keep her location under wraps.
Helen probably spilled that, too.
He wanted to be mad at her, but she’d lost her life because of her actions. A huge price to pay for betraying Leah. Betrayal. Another one. Riley should’ve cut Leah some slack. Maybe tried to comfort her, but what did he do? Treat her like a killer.
Nice one, Glen. Way to be supportive.
Leah lowered her phone. “Felicity will meet us at the door.”
His forehead furrowed. “I need to ask you something first. Do you have the knowledge…or, well, have you ever tattooed anyone?”
She jolted back. “No! And I certainly wouldn’t duplicate our tattoo. That was…special, significant.” She looked him in the eyes. “You have to believe me. I’ve never once thought of shooting a person, and I’ve never thought of tattooing anyone. This is all just crazy.”
“I’m sorry.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I really am. Like I said, I never really believed you could kill Helen or anyone. I was just mad that you’d taken off.”
“I’m the one who’s sorry. I really botched things, didn’t I?”
“You certainly didn’t help, but I’ll go to bat for you with Blake and try to keep you out of jail.”
Her eyes suddenly glistened with tears. Maybe because he’d said aloud what she’d been thinking, and that made it more real to her. But he didn’t regret saying it as there was a very good possibility that Blake would arrest her for this murder, and Riley could do nothing to stop it.
“You should know,” he said, hating that he had to give her additional bad news. “Eryn called me. She’s reviewing your computer files.”
“And?” Leah asked, sounding innocent enough.
“And she found GPS tracking software that had been deleted. It was used to track Carolyn for the last month.”
“On my computer? No. No one has access to that but me, and I leave it at home. Not even my mom has the password.”
“You know how that sounds, don’t you?”
“Like you’re guilty as can be,” Alex said.
Riley glared at Alex in the rearview mirror. “Thanks for that.”
“What? It’s the truth.”
“Someone must have gotten into my house and installed it to make me look guilty.”
“Do you realize how contrived that sounds?” Alex asked.
“Yes, but it’s the only option because I su
re didn’t track Carolyn. Even if I knew how to do it, which I don’t, why would I want to do that?”
“To know where she was so you could kill her,” Alex said. “Not that I think you did it, but the sheriff will.”
Riley shook his head. “No. He doesn’t know about this yet, and we won’t tell him. He has a copy of your hard drive, and his team can find it on their own.”
“What if it’s the lead that blows this case wide open?” Alex challenged. “You can’t withhold that.”
“He’s right.” Leah met Riley’s gaze. “I don’t want another nail in my coffin, but you need to tell him.”
Riley didn’t want to be the one to pound in that last nail. “I’ll see how the interview goes and play it by ear.” He grabbed the door handle and waited for the vehicle to stop.
“You’re making a good case for your innocence right now by urging him to hand this over.” Alex pulled up to the side entrance, thankfully press free.
Felicity opened the amphitheater door.
“Ready?” Riley asked Leah.
She looked like she wanted to say no, but she nodded, and he whisked her inside.
“It’s true, isn’t it?” Leah stopped right inside the door and looked at Felicity. “Helen was murdered.”
Riley didn’t know why Leah needed to confirm it after he’d already done so, but she did.
“It’s horrible.” Felicity grabbed Leah in a hug. “Just horrible.”
Riley saw Leah’s shoulders shaking and sobs followed. He could barely stand by and watch her in distress without pulling her from Felicity’s arms and into his, but with their emotional turmoil, Felicity was likely a better person to do the comforting. He hated to admit that to himself, but it was the truth. Especially after he all but called her a murderer.
Blake stepped into the hallway from one of the dressing rooms. “Good. Glad you’re here. You see the press outside?”
Riley nodded. “They mobbed us at the hotel, too. Someone leaked that Leah has a son.”
“It’s not true, right?” Felicity jerked back. “I mean if you had a son you would’ve told me.”
“I’m sorry,” Leah said the color draining from her face. “He’s four.”
Cold Fear: (Cold Harbor Book 5) Page 18