Bryce had already come to the same conclusion. “You want me to look into Mike’s whereabouts?” he asked quietly, pulling up a stool beside her in the workroom.
She nodded. “I should have listened to you at Thanksgiving. Should have realized how dangerous he was.” Her insides were still quaking. She couldn’t stop thinking about what might have happened if she’d been here alone.
“Where were you last night?” Bryce’s cheeks colored a little as he asked, and hers did, too. He expected her to answer that she’d stayed at Rick’s. It was written all over his face.
“I was at Josh’s,” she replied, trying to school her features. “I stopped by Rick’s first.”
“I see.”
She doubted it.
“Did you call Rick this morning? I would have thought he’d have shown up by now, worried sick.”
She looked away. “I just called you. That’s it.”
Bryce stayed silent, and she appreciated him not throwing in his opinion. She was mixed up enough. And also feeling a little bit this morning like Rick was right. She hadn’t trusted him. Neither had Abby or Tom. When the truth was that since Roberta’s funeral he’d done absolutely nothing to show that he couldn’t be trusted or responsible. He’d done everything right …
“He loves you, you know.” Bryce finally spoke. “I don’t know what’s happened, but I know that for sure. You should call him. He’d want to be here for you.”
“I doubt that.” Not after yesterday.
But Bryce nodded his head. “I’ve seen Rick at his worst. I’ve seen him crying like a baby sitting on the docks, I’ve seen him be a loudmouth at the bar when they stop serving, I’ve seen him be a wicked asshole. But I’ve also seen him try hard to do the right thing. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He loves you. Not a doubt in my mind.”
The sound of boots pounding on the outside stairs made Jess look up. Rick stood in the back door, freshly showered though he hadn’t bothered to shave. Droplets of water were still on his hair even though it was bitterly cold outside. It wasn’t his appearance that hit her straight in the gut. It was the wild way he was looking at her. Like an avenging angel late to the party.
“You okay?” he asked gruffly.
She nodded. “I’m fine. I wasn’t home.” She cleared her throat. “How did you, ah…”
“Two police cars outside your place? Doesn’t take long for word to spread. Your whole family will probably be here in a second.”
“Oh.”
“Can I have a look?”
Bryce looked at Jess, then back at Rick and nodded. “Yeah. Don’t touch anything.”
Rick headed for the loft stairs when Jess had a sudden thought. “Rick,” she called out, standing up. He turned back and she knew she’d been wrong not to call him. “Um … the paint and stuff
… it came from your supplies. Your, uh, projects you were working on. I’m sorry.”
He didn’t reply, just went to the door of the loft and then came back, his face drawn. “You looking into Greer?” he asked Bryce point-blank.
“Yeah. And you’re going to stay out of it.”
“Like hell.”
“You are,” Bryce emphasized. “You’re going to let the police handle it. You can’t go off half-cocked and get yourself into trouble, you hear? If Mike had anything to do with this, we’ll find out and he’ll be charged. Got it?”
“Dammit, Bryce!”
“You have to trust me to do my job. Promise me you won’t go off half-cocked.”
“Fine.” Rick nodded, and Jess knew he got it but didn’t like it. His whole posture screamed restrained fury. She knew it must be costing him a lot to hold his temper.
Bryce gave her a quick hug. “I’ll go finish up in there and get out of your hair. I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, you might not want to stay alone, okay?”
Jess nodded, hating that the oh-so-familiar fear was once again a part of her life. Would it ever go away?