Page 30 of Christmas Homecoming Secrets
“When I find his killer, I’ll be sure to ask,” Jade said. Her voice had gone cold with determination. “I guess we have to tell Heather and his family now.”
Bryce grimaced, and dread filled him. Frank’s sister, Lisa, would be devastated. And Heather—
His hands curled into fists and he forced himself to breathe slow, even breaths as his heart thundered in his chest with grief—and the need todosomething.
He waited and watched as Jade spoke to the officers. Finally, she joined him while they loaded Frank’s body into the black bag and placed him in the back of the coroner’s red Yukon.
“Frank!”
He spun to see Heather slam her car door and race toward them.
Bryce stepped forward and caught her before she could pass him.
“Heather, stop.”
“I heard it on the police scanner. Is it him?”
“Yes, it’s him. I’m so sorry.”
“No!” Sobs ripped from her and he felt her knees give out. Holding her nearly rocked him off balance, but then Jade was there, taking her friend and partner into her arms and lowering her to the ground—an action that Bryce would have found very difficult to do. Gratitude and resentment shot through him. He tried to focus on the first and ignore the second. The woman had just lost her fiancé. He and Jade had just lost a friend. Now wasn’t the time to let self-pity rear its head.
“I’m so sorry, Heather,” he said. “So very sorry.” Jade’s dark eyes met his, and his heart lurched at the agony reflected there. “We’ll find who did this,” he said. “We will.”
Heather didn’t seem to hear him, but Jade nodded. “Yes, oh, yes, we will.”
* * *
In the back of her cruiser, Jade held Heather while her friend cried, then helped her get herself together. Heather took two deep breaths and let them out slowly. “I want to go with him to the morgue.”
Jade didn’t even bother to try to talk her out of it. “I’ll ride with you.”
“There’s no reason for you to. You need to go home.”
“Right. Like I’d leave you. The kids have my parents there.” She paused. “Should I call your mom?”
Heather’s parents had divorced when she and Jade were still teens, but Heather was very close to her mother—or at least she had been, up until she’d ignored the woman’s warnings about marrying the man who’d wound up leaving her at the altar. “We haven’t talked in forever, but she was happy for me. Glad I’d found Frank and was over the jerk.”
“Of course she was.” Heather had told her all of this months ago. “You want me to call her?”
“I’ll do it.” She hiccupped but made no move to reach for her phone. “I don’t want to go home,” she whispered. “I can’t.”
“I understand. I’ll go by your house and pack a bag for you.”
“No!”
Jade jerked. “Okay.”
Heather sighed and rubbed her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. It’s just that all of those clothes… Ugh. Frank and I went shopping a lot. He bought me a lot of them and every single stitch will remind me of him. I think I’ll go to a hotel and tell Mom to bring me something to wear for now. I have a few outfits at her house.”
“Okay, whatever you want to do.”
“That’s what I want.”
Two hours later, Jade stepped inside her home and shut the door behind her with a heavy sigh while biting back the tears that wanted to flow. Crying wouldn’t bring Frank back—nor find his killer. And it simply hurt her throat too much to cry anymore. The kitchen nightlight was on and the house smelled like fresh chocolate chip cookies. Bless her mother. She snagged a cookie from the plate someone had thoughtfully set on the foyer table and took a bite. She kicked off her shoes and pulled her weapon from her holster, checked to make sure the safety was engaged, then locked it in the box next to the cookies.
“Hi, Mommy.” Jade looked up to find Mia lying on the couch, blanket pulled to her chin. “I’m sorry about your friend.”
“Little bear, what are you doing up so late?”
