Falling: A Sexy Alpha Romance Collection

He shrugs. “Who had a motive?”

I’ve gone over this thought a million times. “The only person I’ve come up with is Glenda. She hated her mother just as much as Jolene.”

“Did she have an alibi for that night?”

“No, I don’t think so.” I drain my glass. “I’ll look into her some more.” I grab my handbag. “Thanks for the chat.”

“Good luck. Jolene’s lucky to have you on her side.”

I’m not feeling like she’s lucky to have me tonight. I’ve done a lot of work on this over the last couple of days and I don’t feel any closer to figuring it out.

After I leave the pub, I drive to the motel where the murder took place. It’s a cheap place with flashing neon signs outside. It definitely has the sleazy look of a place I could imagine a woman like Jolene’s mother would frequent. Marion noted that the sign-in book was no help in the investigation because clearly the murderer was smart enough to use a fake name and paid with cash. No identification was produced—they simply paid extra to book the room for a couple of hours with no questions asked.

I strike it lucky at the motel. The woman who was working the front desk the night of the murder is working tonight. I recognise her name from Marion’s file.

However, when I tell her why I’m here, she clams up. “I’ve told the police everything. And the trial’s long over. I don’t have to answer your questions.”

“No, you don’t, but if you’d been wrongly convicted of a crime, wouldn’t you want someone trying to clear you?”

“That woman was as guilty as they come. They found her at the murder scene covered in blood for God’s sake.” There is something strange about this woman. She’s not only refusing to talk to me, but she’s also refusing to look at me. And she’s fidgeting with paperwork on the counter.

“What if she was in the wrong place at the wrong time? Her mother called her and begged her to come to the motel—she was clearly in distress.”

The woman opens her mouth to speak, but a man comes out of the adjoining office and stands behind her. God, he’s huge. And scary looking. His hard eyes cause me to shrink away a little. “What’s going on here, baby?” He places his hand on her shoulder. I’m pretty sure it’s meant to look like a loving gesture to me, but from the way the woman flinches, I don’t think she’s taking it that way.

“It’s nothing. She was just leaving,” she says. Her eyes bore into mine as if she’s pleading with me to leave.

I sense it’s time to go. This woman isn’t going to give me anything, especially not while the guy stands over her. But there’s definitely something here to investigate. I intend to get to the bottom of it.

31

Luke

“I’ve got a girl crush on Paris,” Callie says as I lean against the tree and pull her back against me. My legs stretch along either side of her and my arms loop over her shoulders.

Pressing my lips to her cheek, I say, “Why?”

“She’s amazing in all ways. She supports you, she loves the hell out of Sean; she goes out of her way to do stuff for your family and she’s out there kicking ass in her own life, too. Plus, she’s really nice to me.”

I chuckle. “I’m really nice to you. Do you have a crush on me?”

She runs her hands over my legs. “I’ve got more than a crush on you.”

“So when do I see some action in association with that crush? Your man’s starving here.” It’s been a long week without her around much. Our damn schedules just haven’t aligned this week. She slept over Wednesday and Thursday night, but I didn’t get home from work until around four each morning. Waking her up so I could have her wouldn’t have been fair when she had to go to work that day.

She tilts her face to look at me. “Poor baby, are you not coping well without me?”

“I’m just hoping like hell that your work quietens down from here on out.”

“I’ve got all weekend free, Luke. I’ve missed you, too.”

“Daddy! Come and play,” Sean yells out from across the park. Paris gives me an apologetic look. She was trying to give me some alone time with Callie.

“Come on, let’s go play ball,” Callie says as she slides her legs so she can stand. She extends her hand and pulls me up.

I grab her around the waist. “Paris is going to take Sean out for lunch after this and I’m going to take you home.”

Heat flares in her eyes. “Sounds good to me.”