Beautiful Villain

“She’s helping me determine where my fencing should go,” Neil doesn’t miss a bit.

Fencing?

Uh, okay. I can roll with that.

“Since when does a librarian know anything about fencing?” Sheriff Peterson asks. He looks me up and down, like he’s totally disgusted with me. I mean, I get it. In his mind, I’m hanging out with the man who killed his son, but that’s not what happened.

Neil couldn’t have done it.

I’ve never doubted his innocence. I don’t know why. I don’t really have a good reason. Maybe everyone else is right. Maybe my vagina really has gotten in the way of my brain. I don’t know. All I know is that Neil doesn’t have it in him.

There is literally no chance he could have done this.

“Actually, librarians have a wide breadth of knowledge,” I finally manage to sputter out. My words don’t carry their standard amount of confidence, though. Somehow, I don’t think he’s the kind of person who’s going to believe me.

“I see,” he finally says. The sheriff looks from me to Neil and back again. “Although to be fair, Finley, I never saw you as the type to get with murderers.”

I open my mouth to call him out, but Neil reaches out and places his hand on my shoulder. I know what he’s trying to tell me. He wants me to know that it’s not worth it, that it’s not that big of a deal. He wants me to know that we don’t have to fight this.

He wants me to understand that what’s happening right out is out of my control.

The sheriff turns and walks away, and he disappears back up the road. Once we’re both certain he’s gone, Neil sighs and slumps to the ground.

“Hey,” I run to him. “Are you okay?”

He just shakes his head.

Shit.

Okay, so seeing Sammy’s dad hit him hard. Why wouldn’t it? Sammy and Neil were BFFs and his dad basically threw Neil to the wolves. I think it took all of his strength to stay cool when approached by the guy.

He basically took everything from him.

I kneel beside my friend and I wrap my arms around him. Maybe he’s more than a friend. I don’t know. We’re sleeping together, so maybe friends-with-benefits would be a more appropriate term. Maybe I should call him my boyfriend. I don’t know.

What I do know is that our time

together at the mine has come to an end. It’s time to leave.

“Let’s get you home,” I tell him. I stand up and reach for him, hauling him to his feet. As I do, something glittery catches my eye, and I look behind where he’s standing and see a very bright pink hoop earring. It’s not a very common style of earring, especially in Kurlin. Most people here are all about studs or no piercings at all. In fact, a lot of people here think having pierced ears is making some sort of religious statement.

I squat down and grab it, picking it up. It looks exactly like the ones Ted’s wife was wearing yesterday morning at the library, and suddenly, my stomach begins to twist and turn.

Chapter Ten

Neil

“What is it?” Something is wrong. She found earring, but I don’t know why that should matter, but I can instantly tell that it does.

“It’s an earring.”

“Yes, I can see that.”

“It’s exactly like the one Marcy was wearing in the library yesterday.”

“Marcy…Ted’s wife?”

Finley nods, and suddenly, I start to feel sick. It couldn’t be her. She couldn’t have been the one that shot him. There’s simply no way.