Page 15 of Tangled
“I can’t explain it,” he said when he returned and handed Kara her drink. “I noticed her right away and couldn’t seem to stop looking at her. She’s beautiful, yes, but it was more than that. Then I discovered she’s brave and smart and keeps a cool head under stress. And that she gives amazing head massages.” A wicked glint flickered in Kara’s eyes. “The big head, Kara. I had a headache. Get your mind out of the gutter,” he added with a chuckle.
“Given the night ended up with your sperm and her egg having a little party, I think I’m perfectly justified in having my mind in the gutter. How do you feel about it?”
He half laughed at that. “It sounds stupid, I know, but it feels like kismet. Just this morning, I asked Ava to track her down. I wanted—I needed—to find her. If she didn’t want me around, then I would have walked away. Not easily, but I would have. But I couldn’t let that night be the end of us.”
“And with a baby on the way, it most definitely won’t be.” She took a sip of her coffee, then gestured for her medical bag. He reached behind him, snagged it, and handed it over. “Selfishly, I hope you two work out. She’s my best friend. We’ve lived througha lottogether. Not only would I love to have her here in Mystery Lake, but she deserves the strength and the safety that your family—our family—can give her. She hasn’t led an easy life.”
“And that’s her story to tell,” Brad said, cutting her off.
He wanted to know everything there was to know about Scarlett. But he wanted her to choose what and when to share with him.
And now that she was in his life, he intended to give her all the opportunities—and reasons—to do exactly that.
CHAPTER SIX
“How are you feeling, Scarlett?” Ryan asked as he entered the apartment carrying alaptop. A woman with shoulder-length black hair followed behind him. He introduced her to Detective Mari Cheng, who, after shaking her hand, promptly took a seat in the chair to the left.
“A little better now that Kara gave me some IV fluids and an anti-nausea prescription,” she said. In truth, she was still barely keeping her body under control. Even after her three-hour nap, she felt she could crawl back into bed for another ten years. But she could hold a conversation and, more to the point, it was timetohold that conversation.
Between her nap and Kara’s visit—a visit she’d sorely needed—she and Brad hadn’t had much of a chance to talk. Kara had assured her, though, that regardless of what happened between the two of them, the Warwicks would help in any way they could—both with the babyandin finding out what happened to her friend. Leaning on others didn’t come naturally, but other than putting a target on her back, she’d gotten nowhere in her own investigation, and she accepted she couldn’t—shouldn’t—do this on her own anymore. Not with the baby involved.
“Have you eaten anything today?” Ryan asked, sitting on the chair to her right. Curled up on Brad’s comfortable sofa, with a blanket tucked around her, she held her second cup of tea. She hadn’t managed any food yet, though.
Shaking her head, she added, “The IV Kara gave me included some nutrients. I might try some crackers or bread a little later.”
“Are you okay to do this?” he asked, patting his bag.
“Here,” Brad said, entering the room and setting a plate of saltines on the side table. Once he’d assured himself that she could reach them, he took a seat beside her, close enough to touch, but not actually touching her. “Just in case,” he added. She flashed him a smile. They had a lot to talk about, but he’d taken the news of his impending fatherhood in stride, easing some of the worry she’d been carrying.
“Thank you,” she said to Brad. “And yes,” she said to Ryan. “I’m ready. Thank you for coming over here, by the way.”
“Not a problem,” Mari said. “When Ryan mentioned your condition, there was no question. My cousin had it. I know how brutal it can be. Well, not firsthand…”
“It’s not something I’d wish on anyone. Now, what do you want me to look at?” she asked.
“We’ll get to that, but I think it would be helpful for you to tell us what you know first,” Ryan prompted.
She looked down at her tea. She’d known they’d ask this question, had been prepared for it. She wished that made it easier to answer, but it didn’t. Movement to her left caught her attention, and she looked over to see Brad’s hand resting beside her. An offer of comfort should she want to take it. She stared at the lines of his palm and his fingers, slightly curled toward her. Then, setting her mug down, she reached over and twined her fingers with his.
“In October, my friend Graciella Lopez died of what the coroner’s office declared an accidental overdose. Gracie wasn’t an angel. She lived a complicated life. An overdose wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. But she called me a few days before it happened. I was out of the country and missed the call, but I have the message.”
“What did she say?” Mari asked.
“She said that she was going to get clean. She said she’d found a way to do it and that she’d stick with it this time.”
“She’d tried before?” Ryan asked.
Scarlett glanced down at her fingers twined with Brad’s, then nodded. “Twice. I know what I’m about to say sounds naive, but I assure you I’m not. She sounded different this time. She said she had a reason, even though she didn’t say what that reason was.”
“How did she sound?” Ryan pressed.
“Not like someone going to rehab because they’d been sent there. Or because they were using it as an escape. She sounded like someone who knew the road in front of her would be hard. She sounded resigned, but strong. And utterly certain.”
Both Ryan and Mari nodded. “Then what?” Mari asked.
“I returned stateside about a week later and stopped by her place. I didn’t expect her to be there. I expected her to be in rehab.” She paused, remembering that day. The day she walked into Gracie’s empty apartment and knew, justknew, something wasn’t right.
“I was going to check on her plants. For as many bad decisions as Gracie made in her life, she loved plants. Had dozens of them in her apartment. But I knew when I walked in the door that something was wrong.”
