Page 13 of Engaging the Deputy

And now she was being forced to confront her past. The decisions she’d made, the pain she’d caused. What choice did she have with Jaden being the deputy in charge of the investigation? There was too much history between them. Last night, he’d asked if she and Cody were together. How could she explain that she’d felt comfortable with him because he was familiar? That he’d felt safe. That she’d missed that closeness they’d once shared. He’d been a friend from a less confusing time.

What she hadn’t considered was that Cody might have a different memory of their time together, especially of how it had ended. What if he never regained consciousness? Or what if, she realized with a start, he did wake up and he thought she was the one who’d attacked him?

But the real question was why she hadn’t contacted Jaden when she’d returned home, knowing he was close by in Fortune Creek and a deputy sheriff now. Because she hadn’t thought he’d want to hear from her. Still, wasn’t he the real reason she’d come home? It was more complicated than that, she thought. Much more complicated.

Olivia found him waiting for her in the living room. Her mother had made coffee and poured him a cup. Both seemed nervous. “Is this about Cody? Is he…?” She couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

“He hasn’t regained consciousness yet, but he’s still alive,” the deputy said. “I just needed to ask you a few more questions about last night. If you have a minute?” He glanced past her. “If you don’t mind, Mrs. Brooks…”

Her mother seemed a little surprised but acquiesced. “Then I’ll leave you two to it,” she said, then looked to Olivia. “If at any point you feel the need, you can call our family lawyer.”

She waved her away with “I’m fine.” Once her mother was gone, she stayed standing, unsure where to sit or what to say. “I don’t need a lawyer, do I?”

“That would be up to you.”

She shook her head. “You know I didn’t harm anyone last night.” When he said nothing, she felt as if she might cry. “Youknowme.”

* * *

Earlier, Jaden hadbeen sitting across from Sharon Brooks, turning the brim of his Stetson nervously in his fingers, when Olivia had finally come out of her bedroom.

He’d risen to his feet, his gaze taking in the lack of color in her face, the cuts and bruises, the dark circles around her eyes. She’d appeared exhausted, hurt and scared. He’d been struck by how vulnerable she looked. His heart had gone out to her.

For a moment, she was his Livie, the woman he’d fallen head over heels in love with. He wanted to pull her into his arms and assure her that everything was going to be all right. But he couldn’t promise that since he wasn’t sure he knew this woman as well as he’d once thought.

Did he really believe she’d had anything to do with what had happened last night in Starling? He’d known Livie intimately back in college. But when she’d gotten her dream job after graduation and talked about postponing the wedding indefinitely, he’d been shocked. No way had he seen it coming.

She was the woman he’d been ready to marry right after graduation. Heck, by now they could have a child or two. The thought hurt his chest. He’d been looking forward to marriage, kids, their own house. Worse, he’d been ready to follow her anywhere her career took her—even if it meant leaving Montana.

After the breakup, he’d taken the job in Fortune Creek. He’d found he loved being a deputy, helping people, putting away the bad ones. It wasn’t perfect, but then, it was such a detour from the life he’d had planned with Livie, it felt right.

Seeing her again had knocked him off-kilter. He hadn’t expected her to come back to Montana—let alone here, so close to Fortune Creek and him. And now she was mixed up dead center in his investigation.

Determined to keep this official and not dig through the past, he pulled out his notebook. “Tell me again how you ended up in Starling.”

Olivia blinked as if she hadn’t expected him to ask about the investigation.

“Nice to see you, too, Jaden. Yes, I’m glad to be home. No, I wish I hadn’t run into old high school friends and decided to go with them out to Starling on Halloween.” She took a seat in the chair her mother had vacated across from the couch. Jaden sat back down in the same spot on the couch where he’d been earlier and took out his pen, warning himself to keep this professional.

“So how long had you been back when this was planned?” he asked, not looking at her.

“A couple of days. It wasn’t planned. It was just spur-of-the-moment.”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so. Whoever wanted to kill Rob, possibly Cody and Dean, too, planned this. It might have seemed spur-of-the-moment to you, but someone was behind this.”

She stared at him in obvious shock. “No, I can’t believe that.”

“You think it was just old friends getting together where possibly three of them might have ended up dead?”

She stood up and began to pace. “It wasn’t like that. We had a couple of beers. We were reminiscing, laughing and having fun together.”

“Who suggested it?” he asked, and she frowned.

“Emery. Or maybe it was Rob. I don’t remember.”

“You sure it wasn’t Cody?” She shook her head. “How was it that you and Cody ended up at Starling?”

“He asked if I wanted to go. At the time, it sounded like fun. I didn’t know everyone was going to pair off and disappear or I never would have gone.”

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