Whatever else he needed and wanted, seeing her happy, relaxed, contented, rose to the top. There was an ache at the realization of how protective he felt, because it hadn’t gone so well the last time he felt like this. He’d have done anything to keep his little sister safe, and instead he might have played a role in driving her away. He’d used violence to try to protect her, and had long since realized that probably wasn’t the best tactic. Maybe bringing Maddie home hadn’t been any smarter.
“You look worried,” she said, and he realized she was studying him as thoroughly as he was her.
“There’s something I have to tell you,” he admitted.
Her face went still. “Beck?”
“We identified him. Detective Vahalik called the uncle, who gave her the name of the family dentist. She says there’s no question.”
Nell sank into one of the chairs at the table. “I knew it was him,” she admitted in a small, tight voice. “Otherwise, wouldn’t you think he’d have come forward then? Told the police if I’d confided anything to him?”
“He had reason not to.” But Colin had a feeling she was right. The young Maddie had loved, or at least liked, Beck Spencer, which said a lot about him. His choice of mementos, the fact that he kept the photo of his mother and the evidence of his father’s service and sacrifice in a war—that said something about his values. “Yeah,” he said, for Nell’s sake, “I think he would have come forward, too.”
She nodded. “So we know something.”
“Something that doesn’t seem to take us anywhere else.” He hesitated. “There’s something I haven’t told you. I probably shouldn’t, but it might conceivably spark a memory for you.”
Nell tilted her head and watched as he returned to his place at the table. “What’s that?”
“We found one more thing in Beck’s backpack. A deposit slip.” He explained, and saw comprehension darken her eyes.
“That must be a hard question to ask.”
“We asked anyway. I don’t think the answers are anything Chief Bystrom wants to give us. I know damn well nobody in the department will like finding out what he was doing to earn those payments.”
“Do you think this has anything to do with me?” She looked as bewildered as he felt.
“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “You were fifteen years old, damn it!”
“But if I was getting nosy. If he realized he’d dropped the deposit slip but couldn’t find it and maybe remembered seeing me snapping pictures...”
“That’s a possibility we have to consider. Jane told him where the deposit slip was recovered from, though, and I don’t think he had a clue who Beck was or how he came to be buried in the park. I could be wrong—but I hope I’m not.”
She gave a smile that had a quirk to it. “Imagining the police chief you’ve been working for all these years doing something illegal is bad enough, but the idea of him murdering a kid must be worse.”
“You’re right.” He detested Bystrom, had for years. But he’d despised him for his lack of work ethic, his choice of appearances over substance, his unwillingness to support his officers in favor of making nice with his buddies on the city council and in city hall. However bitter his dislike, Colin had never considered the possibility that the chief was crooked. He had such a bad taste in his mouth, he understood why he wasn’t rejoicing in circumstances that would inevitably mean Bystrom’s dismissal.
Good riddance, yes; pleasure in the way it was happening, no.
He had a feeling Nell wasn’t going to like what he had to say next. “I don’t want you wandering around on your own anymore.”
She stiffened. “What do you suggest? That I stay in the apartment by myself?”
Colin wanted to believe no one knew she was living here, but he couldn’t be sure. And no, he didn’t like the idea of her being alone.
She wasn’t done. “Or here’s an idea. Maybe you have a free cell in the jail?”
She suggested it so nicely, he had to grin. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea.”
“Of course, even there I might be vulnerable to someone who works for Angel Butte P.D.”
He stared at her. Either she was being snippy—or she’d taken a jump he hadn’t wanted to.
If Chief Gary Bystrom were on the take, how could he possibly be alone?
“We’ll think of something,” he said, feeling unexpectedly grim for a man who’d only a couple of hours ago had the best sex of his life, and was hoping to have more as soon as bedtime arrived.