Page 30 of Killer on the Homestead
Audra’s expression fell. Then her eyebrows drew together and she leaned forward, and almost on a whisper, asked, “Was it bad?”
“Of course it wasn’tbad. My God. He’s handsome as a devil and knows it.” And apparently knew other things. Like how to make a kiss twist and linger. So that even hours later, steeped in work, and worry, and exhaustion, it still felt like her lips were someone else’s.
“Rosalie… There’s nothing wrong with…” Audra sighed heavily. “Duncan’s a nice guy from a nice family who seems to have an interest in you. You’ve got to stop pushing guys away just because…”
“Just because our father was a lying, cheating bastard?” Rosalie supplied for Audra. “Weirdly, that doesn’t endear me to the gender as a whole.”
“Dad was one guy,” Audra said, almost defensively. Because she still dreamed of wedding days and happily-ever-afters, even though she kept herself on this stupid ranch, working too hard, giving too much to everyone but herself.
Rosalie looked at her sister then, wondering if after all these years she could actually get Audra to understand. It wasn’t just what Dad had done… “You never saw him the way I did.” Audra hadn’t worshipped their father.She’dseen his shortcomings. Rosalie used to think Audra was just being mean, but she understood now. “And I’m glad you have sense when it comes to that sort of thing, butIclearly don’t.”
“Oh, honey.” Audra reached out and Rosalie sidestepped because she didn’t want Audra’ssympathy. “You don’t really think that, do you?”
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t want that stuff. Why don’tyougo kiss Duncan?”
For a moment Audra was so still, so quiet. “Is that what you want?”
The thought of Duncan putting his hands on Audra made her want to crumble into dust. Shehatedthe stab of jealousy, hated everything about this.
“There is nothing wrong with liking him,” Audra said gently, when Rosalie couldn’t manage a response.
“There is. And I don’t. He’s hot, sure, but so what? I’m a grown woman with a job to do. So that’s what I’m going to go do.” She moved to leave, but Audra blocked her way.
“We need to talk about Dad. And Mom, for that matter.”
They had been avoiding this conversation for three years. Rosalie didn’t know why Audra wanted to rehash it now, but Rosalie wasn’t about to do it. Certainly not because of Duncan Kirk, of all things. “I don’t have time, Audra.”
“You do. If you’re blaming yourself for thinking better of Dad than I did, then we need to have a talk. A real talk.”
Rosalie’s phone beeped. She had a text message. Even though Audra was scowling at her, Rosalie read it. Her heart rate picked up. “I’ve got to go.” She nudged Audra out of the way.
“Rosalie.”
“Duncan just texted me. The cops are at his parents’ house, seizing a gun. I have to go.”
Chapter Nine
“You’re not taking anything before we get a lawyer,” Duncan said, or maybe he’d yelled it. Panic was like a living thing inside of him, inside his parents’ cozy living room. The front door was open, and two uniformed cops stood on the other side of the storm door on the porch behind Detective Whoever. The one Rosalie wasn’t related to by marriage.
“We have a search warrant, Mr. Kirk,” the detective said with a disdainful look at Duncan, like he was falling into every rich-guy stereotype, and maybe he was.
He didn’t care.
When headlights cut across the drive, everyone turned to watch the approaching truck. Duncan didn’t miss the way the detective and deputies’ hands fell to their weapons. Then released them when Rosalie hopped out in the yellow glow of the porch light.
Detective Beckett looked back at Duncan with a hard expression. “Last time I checked, she wasn’t a lawyer.”
But Duncan didn’t have to respond, because Rosalie was shouldering her way past the two cops on the porch. She opened the storm door herself and stepped into the living room, glaring at the detective.
“Come on, Copeland. You can’t be serious.”
“Can. Am. Look, if everyone is innocent, then it doesn’t matter. The tests will prove it. We have a search warrant. I’m trying to be nice here, but I don’t have to be.”
“The ballistics report came back?”
“Isn’t that the kind of thing you should already illegally know, Rosalie?”
“There isn’t anything illegal about my investigations, Copeland. If there was, no doubt you’d arrest me. Now, you’ve gotten the report back, and matched it to a gun the Kirks own? Is that right? Because if you came out and told them what was going on, things would go a lot smoother.”
