10
“So, YOU WANT to tell me where you were all morning?”
Lucas pulled his attention away from the other side of the room, where Emily and Clay were engaged in a serious-looking board game, and lifted an eyebrow at Wade, who sat in a chair near Lucas. “No.”
Wade stretched his long legs in front of him and regarded Lucas over a soda can. His expression showed he was definitely in “cop mode,” Lucas found himself thinking.
“You got a call just after the crack of dawn that obviously concerned you. You filled a thermos wi
th coffee and took off—walking, I noticed—telling us you didn’t know when you would be back. You came back with a frown that stayed all through lunch, and you’ve hardly said three words all afternoon. Did you meet Rachel Jennings?”
Lucas glanced quickly toward Emily. She was concentrating entirely on Clay, oblivious to the conversation between her brother and her fiancé.
“Quit being a cop. You’re off duty.”
“All hell’s going to break loose if her uncle finds out you’re seeing her.”
“If I were seeing her, she’s a grown woman. She doesn’t answer to her uncle...or to anyone.”
Wade’s mouth crooked into a wry smile. “Got a Hatfield and McCoy thing going?”
Lucas didn’t answer. He didn’t actually know what kind of thing he had going with Rachel. She’d acted oddly when she’d left the rock house. Did she regret meeting him there? Was she sorry about what had happened between them?
Wade was still watching Lucas closely. “You play your cards close to the chest, don’t you? You still haven’t told me why you really came back to Honoria, or what you were hoping to find in those old files of Chief Packer’s. I still don’t know what went on between you and Roger Jennings fifteen years ago, and what’s going on between you and his sister now.”
“Nothing that’s of any concern to the local cops,” Lucas answered coolly.
“Are you sure about that?”
Only an improbable tale of murder and concealment, Lucas thought. He nodded. “I’m sure.”
The board game must have ended. Emily crossed the room and perched on the arm of Lucas’s chair, leaving Clay to put away the playing pieces.
Lucas looped his arm around her waist. “Who won?”
Emily laughed. “Are you kidding? He stomped me. What are you two talking about so seriously over here?”
“Your fiance was just grilling me about where I went this morning.”
Emily frowned. “Wade, that’s none of our business.”
Wade looked ruefully at Lucas. “Very clever,” he murmured.
“Where you went is your own business,” Emily assured Lucas emphatically, though she couldn’t quite hide the curiosity in her eyes. “We won’t pry.”
“Speak for yourself,” Wade said. “I get paid for prying.”
“Not into my brother’s business.”
Wade looked at Lucas. “That remains to be seen,” he murmured.
Emily looked warningly at Wade again, then patted Lucas’s shoulder. “Is there anything I can get for you? Something else to eat or drink?”
“No, I’m fine. Thanks.”
“Want to watch me ride my bike, Uncle Lucas?” Clay asked, appearing to hang hopefully on Lucas’s knee.
“Sure, kid.”