“Fine. I'll try the damn cookies.”
She popped open the container and I took one out, shoving the entire thing in my mouth. “Not bad,” I mumbled around the chewy combination of sugar coma ingredients. They were actually pretty good.
“You have a phone, Mountain Man?”
She had called me that in the house when I stepped into the room. “Don't call me that.” I pulled out my phone and handed it to her.
“Well, if we're fake dating, we have to have pet names for each other. It's either Mountain Man or Pookie. Your choice,” she said with a pep I didn't share and then began entering her phone number into my phone.
Maybe this was a bad idea. Because I was sure this chick was going to drive me insane.
Chapter Four
VIOLET
What the hellhad I agreed to? I shut the door to my car and sat in the driver’s seat, staring back at the gruff man who’d just asked me to pretend to be his girlfriend. I thought that kind of stuff only happened in books.
My phone chimed with a notification and I picked it up, groaning at the text from my ex.
This whole thing with Seth might actually work out well. Ever since my “near death” experience, as my ex called it, he’d been trying desperately to get back together. I had absolutely no interest. Finding him with another woman destroyed any chance of that. I didn’t care that he realized he’d made a mistake. And ifI made it clear I'd moved on with someone else, maybe he would leave me alone.
Before I could type out a reply, Dylan’s name flashed across my screen and I slid the answer button over. “What’s up, bossman?”
He scoffed. “Are you ever gonna call me Dylan?”
“Nope.” I smiled. There was just something about nicknames that brought a smile to my face, and I only used them for people I liked.
“The fire investigators have asked us to do a deep dive into the Taylors. See if there’s anyone else connected to the family who could be a suspect.”
I sat up straighter. Was he serious? “Does that mean we’re done looking at the kid?”
“For now.” He was quiet. It didn’t feel right, and I knew he felt it too. “My hands are tied at this point. He has at least one solid alibi. The only thing we can do is figure out if someone’s helping him, or if there’s someone else holding a grudge.”
Logically, I understood what he was saying. But my gut didn’t like it. “Fine. I’m on my way in. Be there in five.”
Arson was one of the most difficult crimes to solve. Evidence from the scenes was almost nonexistent. At least evidence that could point to a suspect. What we needed was a witness. But so far he was good about going unnoticed.
“I thought you were grabbing breakfast with Hattie?”
“It’s ok. I can reschedule.” I’d become good friends with Dylan’s fiancée over the last six months. I didn’t have many local friends since taking the job and moving to Half Moon Lake two years ago. But after Hattie picked up a stalker earlier this year, and Dylan stepped in to protect her while we solved the case, we became friends.
“No. Go to breakfast. I know Hattie was looking forward to it.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I’ll start digging. I’ll catch you up when you get here.”
“Okay.”
I was dying to tell Hattie what just happened with Seth. But first I had to bring someone else up to speed on this latest development.
Hanging up with Dylan, I opened the text from my ex and began typing a response.
Me: I'm dating someone now. Please stop texting me.
There. That should do it. And if he didn’t believe me, someone was bound to see me at dinner with Seth and news would spread. Small-town gossip to save the day.
I rubbed my temples.Dylan and I had been digging through anyone who had any connection to our suspect’s family all day. My eyes were starting to cross.
