He shook his head.
“Tell me.”
“I-I think I did something.” He looked up again, striking terror in her heart to match the fear in his eyes. “I—I went to see Karl Hunter a few weeks ago.”
Chapter 15
Marley went numb as her thoughts raced. Karl Hunter had died almost three weeks ago. And Nate looked scared to death.
What had he done?
“No,” she said. Her voice sounded foreign, as if someone else had spoken. But she didn’t want to hear any more.
“I didn’t mean to. Honest to God, Mar, I didn’t.”
She was at his side without having consciously moved. Scared as she was, he needed her. Her protective instincts kicked in, and she sank down to put her arms around him. With every fiber of her being screaming for her to shut up, she asked, “What happened?”
“I just wanted to know why Dad mentioned him—how much he knew—that’s all. Turns out, he knew it all. The affair, about me, even the money Dale paid me. Ironically, Mom tried to blackmail him after I was born. They even did a blood test for proof. As I was talking to the old man, he suddenly lost it…threatened to bury us—said he’d fire us both if we dared tarnish the Hunter name, and make sure neither of us could get a job anywhere in the state.” He took a deep breath and continued his disjointed speech. “I got so mad that I-I-I pushed him and he fell.”
Marley closed her eyes.
“He fell against the wall, but he was alive when I left, I swear. Knocked out, but I felt a pulse.”
She sighed with profound relief and sat back a little. “Nate, the obituary said it was a heart attack.”
“But what if I caused it?”
She shook her head, needing to believe it as much as he needed to hear it. “You didn’t. I remember Bonnie once said he had heart problems. He was on medication.”
For his blood pressure, she suddenly remembered. The confrontation very well could’ve triggered the heart attack. A chill swept through her as Nate looked at her with hope in his eyes.
“He was? So it wasn’t my fault?”
She shook her head, unable to actually speak it. Standing, she offered him a hand so he could rise as well. He swayed, and she helped steady him. “You need to get some sleep.”
“I am tired,” he agreed.
She turned him toward the hall. “We’ll talk more in the morning.”
“Okay.” He took a few steps and then stopped. “You’ll be working.”
That’s right, tomorrow was Friday. Justin would expect her at the office. Not that he’d want her there, but he’d expect her. She rubbed a hand over her face and turned to look out the patio doors. “After, then.”
She had to face Justin in the morning. How could she do that, knowing what she now knew?
“Mar?”
She spun around to find Nate watching her from the hall.
“Thanks.”
She nodded, but he didn’t leave. Instead he asked hesitantly, “Do you like him? I mean, really like him?”
He meant Justin. Was it really any of his business? Hell, maybe it was. Justin could be his half-brother.
“I wouldn’t sleep with just anyone,” she admitted.
“I should know that.” He dropped his gaze as if he were ashamed. “I do know that.”