Page 28 of Deeper Than the Dead

“Why are you here, Bent? I was heading to the cave.” She wanted to see inside ... to know what they’d found.

“Can we take a minute? Have a cup of coffee?”

She blinked, dismissed the realization that there was still something about his eyes that drew her in the same way it had all those years ago. How pathetic was that?

Don’t even go there, Vee.

His showing up and wanting to have coffee could only mean one of two things. He had news or he had questions. Maybe both.

“Of course.” She turned and walked to the porch. “I sent you a text to see if there was news.”

“I decided to answer in person.”

Great. At the front door the knob turned without resistance, and she realized that she and her sisters were still operating under the assumption that Fayetteville was so safe, no one needed to lock their doors. Fayetteville might well be a very safe place to live still, but with all the reporters around, it was definitely not safe for the Boyett family. Not right now. From this point forward it was essential that the doors to their home be locked. She would talk to Eve and Luna about staying on top of the situation.

“You should keep your doors locked,” Bent echoed her thought.

She made a sound of agreement. More a grunt.

Vera led the way to the kitchen and popped another pod into the coffee maker. She placed a mug where the carafe would generally sit and pushed Brew. The smell had her stomach burning again. Not a good sign.

“Cream?” The only thing she’d ever seen him drink was beer or whiskey. She had no idea how he took his coffee.

“No thanks.”

Well now she knew. How exciting. He took his coffee the same way he did his whiskey: straight. She silently scolded herself for being so snarky, even if only in her head. Eve seemed to believe Bent was a good sheriff. Vera should be grateful he was in charge, if for no other reason than the fact he might have some amount of guilt related to their past that could potentially work in her and Eve’s favor.

A big if, but she would take it. At this point, any glimmer of hope was better than none.

Once the coffee maker stopped sputtering, she passed him the mug and slid onto a stool across from him. He’d settled at the table and placed his hat on top. Even all those years ago he’d worn a hat similar to that one. Fancied himself a cowboy, she supposed. Lots of guys around Lincoln County cherished their hats, whether the cowboy style or the baseball type.

“You want to talk about it?”

She stared at him in confusion. “It?” He meant Memphis. She understood this, but she had no intention of showing as much.

“Memphis.”

After one, two, three seconds of pretend consideration, she lifted her chin. “No.”

“All right then.” He picked up his mug and tested the coffee. Winced and placed the mug back onto the table. “Let’s talk about the last few months before Sheree disappeared. Go over what you remember from that time.”

Vera nodded slowly. “I get it. You have to keep asking that question because you were gone. Poof! Just vanished. So you have no idea what happened those last months I was home.”

He flinched.

Okay, that was low, but she hadn’t been able to help herself. He’d disappeared on her—ghosted her before ghosting was a trendy thing. If not for her determination to find him and that run-in with his daddy, she wouldn’t have had a clue if he was dead or alive. Most days she had hoped for the former. Okay, not true, but it sounded good when she was angry.

“We can talk about that too,” he offered, “if it’ll make you feel better. Clear the air. Maybe.”

Vera waved a hand in a “whatever” gesture. “The air is just fine from where I sit.” There was no way she intended to admit how badly he’d hurt her.

He nodded slowly, as she had before. “Tell me the details about life in this house those last few months. You can break it down into just before and right after Sheree disappeared if you’d like.”

If she’d like? She didn’t like any aspect of this, but clearly she had no choice. If she refused to answer his questions, he would eventually compel her to do so.

She forced a smile. “Why don’t we just go back to the beginning? We wouldn’t want to overlook any aspect of relevancy. If you want details, I mean.”

He gave a nod. “Even better.”

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