Page 23 of Outlaw Ridge: Griff
“Yes,” he snapped. “I was.” He cursed under his breath and dragged his hand over his face, eyes squeezing shut for a second. “I should’ve taken her home,” he muttered. “I should’ve walked her out, made sure she was okay.”
But Lily watched him closely, heart thudding. Something about the way he said it—the sharpness of it, the way the words seemed too practiced, too clean—made her pause.
The guilt didn’t feel real. It feltrehearsed.
She frowned, but didn’t speak yet. Not until she could make sense of the tangle forming in her gut.
Why would Rhett have had a reason to hurt Hannah?
What wasn’t he saying?
Lily stood next to Griff, arms crossed tight across her chest, watching Rhett as he leaned back in the chair, his jaw tight and his eyes avoiding hers. She frowned, but didn’t say anything yet. Not until she could make sense of the knot winding in her stomach.
Her thoughts drifted, unwelcome, to that moment years ago when Rhett had cornered her outside a training exercise in San Antonio and dropped a sleazy line about needing help with his “handcuff technique.” She’d laughed it off at the time and walked away, but it had stayed with her, not because it was clever, but because it feltoff. Calculated. Like he was testing a boundary.
Had he tried that same approach with Hannah?
It wasn’t impossible. But if he had, there’d never been a whisper of a rumor. Not back then. Not after.
She decided to try to find out, but she needed to ease into it. See what he’d give her.
“Did you ever see Hannah and Bobby Ray together outside of work?” Lily asked, tilting her head just enough to appear casual.
Rhett blinked, then rubbed at his bandaged arm, thinking. “Outside of work?” He shook his head slowly. “Not that I can recall. I mean, they knew each other, sure. Worked the same shifts some weekends. But hanging out off the clock? No.” He paused. “But I did see Bobby Ray with Margo a couple of times.”
That stopped her, and she straightened slightly. “What were they doing?”
Rhett shrugged. “Just talking. Outside the store once. And once in the parking lot behind the library. Didn’t look heated. Just quiet.”
Griff said nothing, but Lily could feel his attention sharpen beside her.
Rhett gave a crooked smile, the corner of his mouth twitching. “I always figured Bobby Ray had eyes for the wrong sister. Hannah never gave him the time of day. Polite, sure, but nothing more. Margo though…” He gave a small pause, the grin turning meaner. “Wouldn’t have surprised me if she took Bobby Ray’s dick for a test drive.”
Lily’s stomach turned, and not from the crudeness. From the shift in his tone. Because buried beneath the words was something else.
Bitterness. Or maybe jealousy.
Griff shifted beside her, voice calm but direct. “Was there anything about that—Bobby Ray and Margo—in the case file? Police reports?”
Rhett’s smirk vanished. “No,” he said, his voice sharp. “I don’t put gut feelings in reports. Only facts.”
“Sometimes gut feelings turn into leads,” Griff replied with a casual shrug.
Rhett scowled. “There were no leads necessary. Bobby Ray killed Hannah. End of story. And a jury agreed.”
“That doesn’t mean the jury got it right,” Lily was quick to point out. “Or the people who brought the case to trial.”
Rhett’s expression darkened. “Are you questioning my work?”
She didn’t hesitate. “I’m questioningeverything.”
Lily turned toward her desk, flipping open the cold case folder. Her fingers found the photo quickly, the one someone had left on her SUV. The one showing Hannah, lifeless andbloodied, her body crumpled in the leaves by the creek. She held it out.
“This,” Lily said, her voice low and steady, “was left for me last night. With a warning to back off.”
Rhett stared at the photo, and for a moment, Lily thought he might actually tear it in half. His expression twisted. Shock, rage, something else. Before he shoved back from the chair, unsteady on his feet but too proud to ask for help.
“That can’t be real,” he muttered.
