Perfect Night (Mason Creek)

Since Emma’s father’s death hadn’t been ruled a homicide or suspicious death, I couldn’t compel the rental company to give me the name of the person who rented that car.

I’d sent Emma the information she needed to set up a private autopsy a few days ago. I’d gotten back a thank you and nothing else. I hadn’t seen or heard from her since. I had to assume she was avoiding me. Since I hadn’t called her, was I doing the same?

Sighing, I scrubbed a hand over my face. I was tired and considering what I would have for dinner when I got a call.

“Cory?” I asked.

“Hey man. Can you meet me at Sal’s?”

It was the name of a bar a few towns over. I checked my watch. My shift was nearly over, and I needed to eat. I would finish looking at footage later. “Okay. I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

The place was more than half empty when I walked in. I spotted Cory sitting alone at a four top. I took the seat across from him.

“You couldn’t meet me in town?” I asked.

“Everyone hates me,” he complained.

The everyone he talked about sided with my sister on how he’d treated her. “What’s going on?” I asked, because he had to have a reason to want to talk to me.

“I heard you were back in town.”

That couldn’t be it, so I stayed silent knowing he’d end up telling me the real reason.

“I thought maybe you could put in a good word for me.”

“With who?” I asked, raising a brow.

“Your sister for one. If she forgives me maybe I could come back without being chased out of town with pitchforks.”

Of course, he was joking but it wasn’t far from the truth. I shook my head. “Can’t help you there. Alana doesn’t want me in her business. Besides, if I talk to her, you’ll have to confess everything you did. And we both know I’ll have to kick your ass. It’s better if I only hear rumors and not the truth.”

Cory had been a decent guy with a lot of ambition. His foray into the rodeo had buckle bunnies chasing him. Hard on a man not to fall when you’re out on the road for weeks. That didn’t give him a pass for breaking my sister’s heart. It did, however, give a reason.

“I still love her,” he said, like that would create sway in his favor.

“Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. But I’m not the one you need to convince.”

His shoulders slumped. “Come on Aiden. You’re my closest friend. Who else can I talk to?”

“A therapist,” I joked.

He drank the rest of his beer and waved a hand to the waitress for another. She came over and gave me all her attention. “Hey sugar, what can I get you?”

She was cute, but she wasn’t Emma. “A beer and a burger.”

She nodded and would have walked away, but Cory said, “Another beer, please.”

I don’t know what he’d done to her, but she scowled before taking his empty bottle and leaving.

“Women,” Cory said. “Speaking of, what’s up with Emma Hawkins. I heard she’s engaged.”

“That’s what they say.”

He eyed me suspiciously. “They also say she was seen wearing your shirt early one morning.”

Fire burned in my gut. “You shouldn’t listen to rumors. Besides, where are you getting your information if you can’t come to town?”

“My parents still talk to me,” he said, defensively. I didn’t think that was his source. “So, is it true?”

“We’re friends.”

“That’s all?” he asked with a sly smile like he’d won the lottery of information. “Because Emma is hot. I would have tried to hook up with her before but she’s friends with Alana. I think enough time has passed where I could date her friend, don’t you think?”

What I thought in the saloon style pub was drawing my gun and shooting him between the eyes for suggesting such a thing. But it wasn’t the eighteen hundreds, and that action would get me the death penalty in Montana.

“I think if you ever think about Emma that way again, I’ll kill you.”

He rocked back on his chair and pointed at me. “I knew it. You still have it bad for sweet Emma Hawkins. How does Darcy feel about that? She’s a sweet piece of ass I haven’t had the pleasure of tasting.”

“Darcy doesn’t need your kind of trouble.”

He sat back up, front chair legs hitting the floor.

“Darcy needs someone who will settle down and take care of her. You, on the other hand, don’t seem ready for that.”

“Come on, Aiden. I’m just yanking your chain. You wouldn’t tell me shit otherwise. I still want Alana,” he said sheepishly. “I really fucked that up.”

“You did.”

My beer and burger arrived, and I let him tell me about life on the rodeo. As much as I believed he still cared about my sister, he wasn’t right for her.