Page 49 of Capturing You
“What’re you doing poking around where you don’t belong?”
“Cleaning.” She nodded to the things she’d left on the desk. “But I noticed the pictures and?—”
“What pictures?” He moved forward and realized the thing in her lap wasn’t a book at all, it was a photo album. He spied a pile of others on a side table.
He breathed through his rising anger.
Her ever-present smile faded. “I saw that”—she nodded to a photograph on the bookshelf—“and it made me curious. When I found these?—”
“Those are private family property.” He barely glanced at the photo she’d mentioned. “What are you even doing in here?”
“I was bored, and I thought?—”
“The TV, the five thousand books in this house weren’t enough of a distraction for you?”
“I’ve never been yelled at for cleaning.”
“This is not your house.”
“You said I should stay in the family room, so?—”
“I said you could use that room.” He pointed toward the door. “I did not say you could come into this office. I did not say you could go through the family’s things. Their photos are personal. They’re none of your business.”
He expected her to blanch, or blush, or apologize profusely.
Instead, she sat back and squared her shoulders. “Said the guy going throughalltheir personal things.”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
He didn’t answer the question. It was none of her business.
“If you want to find their killer, I’d think you’d welcome help.”
“I don’t need your help.” He set the box he’d carried upstairs on the desk and held out his hand. “Give it to me.”
“Or is the real reason you’re upset because you’re one of them?”
He froze. “What are you talking about?”
“I saw your photograph.”
“Mine?” Pulse racing, he prayed she didn’t hear the worry in his tone.
This was not okay. This interloper could not know who he really was. Nobody could. That would ruin everything.
It would put Forbes in danger.
Worse, it would putBrooklynnin danger.
“Are you going to deny it?”
Think, Ballentine.
The most recent of those photos would be nearly twenty-five years old. He’d only been eight when his family was murdered.
He could fix this.
