Page 31 of Investigate Away
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“I have a new theory, but it doesn’t fit the FBI profile, and when I’ve talked to Albert and Ajax, they’ve poked holes in it.”
She reached out and rested her hand on his back. “Jag. Talk to me. Please. I’m sorry how I reacted.”
He rolled, tucking his hands under his cheek. The light from the lantern lit up his dark eyes. “A lot of people don’t understand that your sister was a lesbian. They think because she was born with male parts that as a woman she still liked women and that as a man she must have been straight.” He let out a long breath. “Stephanie was a gay woman who just happened to be transgender. Renee was a gay woman. I think whoever killed them might have been their gay lovers.”
“Wait. Are you suggesting that Renee was cheating on Kara?” She propped herself up on her elbow. “Kara always said they had such a great relationship, and just about everyone I talked to said they had the kind of marriage most of us dreamed of having.”
“Well, as you know, Renee’s hairdresser told the police that Renee was thinking of leaving Kara.”
“That’s why the cops thought Kara could have killed Renee, but she was cleared pretty quickly.”
“After I was reinstated and I had some time to lick my wounds after we broke up, I went back to that theory, and I found something disturbing.”
Callie found herself snuggling closer to Jag as he wrapped his arm around her waist.
Old habits died hard.
“What was that?”
“Renee did have an affair with a woman by the name of Alley Gilbert. It was a short fling, and Alley thought no one knew about it. She also didn’t know Renee had been murdered since the affair happened right before she was deployed for six months, and when she came back, she reunited with her girlfriend and got married. It wasn’t until you named the killer that she even knew, but she never said anything until I started poking around.”
“So, it couldn’t have been this Alley chick?”
“Nope.”
“But if Renee cheated once, she could have cheated another time,” Callie said. “As my sister always said, once a cheater, always a cheater.”
“I don’t know if I buy that, but in this case, if the Trinket Killer is a woman and knew both Renee and your sister, then it’s possible.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about her?”
“I didn’t know until about six months ago, and we weren’t talking right around that time.” He scooted a little closer, pulling down the zipper of his sleeping bag.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s cold.”
She laughed. “The heater is on.”
“We’ll be warmer this way.” He fiddled with the clasp of her bag, tugging it down slowly. He groaned. “Jesus. Aren’t you freezing?”
“I am now,” she said, moving as quickly as she could to connect the two sleeping bags so he’d stop staring at her in her bra and panties.
“I packed you a shirt and sweatpants.”
“I left it in the back of the Jeep, and I wasn’t in the mood to face you,” she admitted.
“Here.” He pulled his shirt over his head. “You can wear that; I’ll keep the pants though.”
“Deal.” She quickly wiggled the cotton fabric over her body, enjoying the fresh pine scent that smelled exactly like she remembered. When they’d been a couple, she used to love to grab one of his shirts and sleep in it when he was working late or not going to be around that night. He had a thick outdoorsy scent that reminded her of being in the woods in the spring when all the trees were blooming.
“Come here,” he whispered.
She rested her head on his chest and splayed her hand over his stomach. “Did Kara know her wife cheated on her?”
“I don’t think so.”
