Black Orchid Girls (Detective Amanda Steele)

“Doesn’t mean it was easy to take.” Her mind circled back to the jealousy motive. They were still waiting on Chloe’s phone records, but her friends hadn’t known of anyone she was seeing after she and Josh had split.

Josh crossed his arms. “I’m not sure I should respond to that.” He snapped his mouth shut for five seconds—if that. “Yeah, I was upset. But I didn’t kill her over it. And I understand why we went our separate ways.” His gaze slipped to the table for the briefest instant before raising to meet her eyes.

“So it wasn’t mutual?” Trent asked, pouncing on the discrepancy.

“No, it was.”

“But you weren’t happy about it. I mean, I get it, man. You cared about her.” Trent was well on his way to earning the Good Cop badge this time around.

“I can’t just turn those feelings off. It’s also why I could never hurt her.” He hurled the words out with such fierceness that drool bubbled at the edges of his mouth.

“Explain the car service and being taken to Leesylvania State Park on Monday at three thirty in the morning,” Amanda said, pulling a printed screenshot from Ashton’s phone of the request.

“I told you, someone must be setting me up. Here”—Josh pulled his cell phone from his pocket—“search it. I don’t even have the app you mentioned.”

“Pick Me Up,” Amanda provided.

“That’s right. Look.” He tossed his phone across the table and proceeded to give her the password to unlock it.

She picked up his phone, got into it, and searched the apps. No sign of the car service. She set the phone on the table. “All it proves is you uninstalled the app to cover your tracks.”

Josh’s face paled, and he shook his head. A single tear fell.

“You regret what you did,” Amanda began. “It’s understandable. Sometimes those we care about let us down.”

“She never let me down,” he hissed. “I’m telling you someone is setting me up.”

She leaned forward, placing her arms on the table. “But who? Give us a name.”

He remained silent as tears pooled in his eyes. “I’m not saying another word until I get a lawyer.”

“Suit yourself.” She got up, stopped at the door, and looked back at him. She’d started having doubts, little tiny fractures that chipped away at her seeing him as guilty, but his defensive nature and request for an attorney were certainly not helping his cause. And for all his claims of being set up, he wasn’t pointing them in anyone’s direction. That didn’t make sense. What did was that Josh Ryder had motive to kill Chloe Somner.