Page 20 of Take a Hike
Charlie was inclined to believe him, but she still studied him critically. She couldn’t let a pretty face blind her to his possibly nefarious motives. Instead of giving any other denials besides that first flat statement, he just glared back at her until she shrugged, accepting his word. If more information came at a later point that proved him to be a liar, she’d reevaluate, but until then, she was going to go with her gut. “He was askingabout your dead body, Fifi.”
Bennett growled as he seemed to swell several coat sizes.
“Settle down, Hulk,” Charlie told him fondly. It was nice having someone else around who liked her sister as much as Charlie did. “Notherdead body, but the dead body she discovered. Cobra’s dead body, if you want to be literal about it.”
“I do,” Bennett said swiftly, the remains of a growl still lingering in his voice. “I want to be literal when discussing dead bodies, especially when mywifeis involved.”
Fifi rolled her eyes, but she also gave her ridiculous husband a loving look, softening the first gesture. “Why were you asking about Cobra’s remains, Kieran?”
His glare turned to Fifi, but Charlie noticed that it was a lot less intense than when his scowl was focused on her. She found this to be more interesting than offensive. “Clint’s been cleared,” Kieran said.
Charlie made eye contact with Fifi and Bennett as her mind quickly flipped through the significance of that. The most important one made her heart beat faster. “He hasn’t been released, has he?”
“No,” Kieran answered, and air left Charlie’s lungs in a sigh of relief. “Just the murder charge has been dropped.”
“Why?” Fifi asked, leaning forward in her chair, her face alight with interest.
“Alibied.”
“Ohhh…” Charlie and Fifi said in unison, their gazes meeting. This wasn’t helping them get their hands on their mom, but it was still extremely interesting, like an unsolved mystery.Plus, Fifi had to feel some possessiveness about the remains she found. If Charlie had stumbled over her own body, she knew she’d feel extra invested in finding the killer.
“Cops like you for it?” Bennett asked Kieran flat out. The complete lack of tact was so Bennett-like that Charlie could barely hold back her laugh. Despite her amusement, she was extremely interested in Kieran’s answer.
“Yes.” It was as bare and unvarnished as Bennett’s question had been, and Charlie loved her future husband even more for it.
“Did you kill him?” Fifi asked, joining in the no-holds-barred question-and-answer session.
“No.”
“Why do the cops think you did?” Charlie asked with more curiosity than suspicion.
He just shrugged—a tight, angry twitch of his shoulders. “My source wasn’t sure.”
Charlie considered the oddly worded answer before asking, “Why doyouthink they want to talk to you about it?”
His glare pinpointed her, but it wasn’t like he was trying to intimidate her. It was more…searching. Just when she thought he’d refuse to answer, that he’d judged her and found her wanting, he spoke. “I’m not popular right now.”
At that, her laughter escaped. “Sorry,” she said once she’d gotten her amusement under control. “But you have to agree that the idea of you being a popular, student-council-president of a guy is hilarious.” When his glare didn’t waver, she snickered again. “Please. You’re the bad boy lurking under the bleachers.”
Fifi, God love her, nodded solemnly. “Totally the angry bad boy.”
“Flicking your lighter like you’re mad at life.”
At Bennett’s contribution, the room went silent, and then Charlie lost it, laughing so hard her belly hurt. Fifi was snort-laughing next to her, which just set Charlie off again.
When they finally recovered enough to speak, Charlie let out a quivery, “Oh man…” She refused to mentally replay the image of a surly teenage Kieran, because it was guaranteed to set her off again. “Back to the dead body and your supposed involvement… Your popularity, or lack thereof, seems like a shaky basis for a murder accusation.”
“Agreed,” Fifi said, wiping residual tears of laughter from under her eyes. “They have to havesomethingelse. Motive? Eyewitness? Forensic evidence?”
Charlie watched Kieran’s face as her sister listed off the possibilities, but Kieran’s expression stayed impassive. “Why’d you come here tonight?” Charlie asked.
Kieran’s lips pressed tight. “To see if you knew anything. About Cobra’s death.”
“You think we did it?” The idea was so ridiculous that Charlie almost laughed. “I hate to tell you this, but Simpson doesn’t need to import its killers. You seem to have more than your share of homegrown ones.”
With a sharp, negative shake of his head, Kieran said, “Because you found him, not because you did it.”
“Why?” Fifi asked. “So we can tell you what the cops know?”
