Mountain Darkness (Wild Mountain Men 1)

“You can just drop them off, Kit, and I can take over.”

My stomach dropped and tears clogged my throat. I took a second, tried to keep my voice even. “Are you sure? That’s our job.”

“Our?” she replied. “Your partner’s dead… murdered and you’re carrying on as if it never happened.”

I shook my head but she couldn’t see it. “No, no, it’s not like that. Erin would want to ensure her clients’ needs are being met, that their events go smoothly.”

“They are,” she snapped. “Leave the box of invitations on my front porch. You’ve been paid for work to date.”

She, too, hung up without saying goodbye.

Mills Moments was officially out of clients. Out of business.

I had no trust fund. No rich parents. I needed to make money. So much for my dream job. My mind turned to the diner, where I’d worked all through high school and college. I’d made decent tips. Would they take me back?

I glanced at the clock on the stove, stood. I had to get to the police station for my statement. The only positive was that I’d see Nix.

7

KIT

“You said on the 9-1-1 call that Erin was dead.”

Detective Miranski sat at the table across from me. She was in her early thirties, dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. White dress shirt with a simple turquoise necklace. While I couldn’t see beneath the table, she was wearing jeans and sturdy leather boots. She was pretty, but understated. Kind, since she’d introduced herself with a smile when I’d first arrived, but very thorough.

I had to guess Nix had asked her to do the interview, perhaps for impartiality, I wasn’t sure.

She wasn’t Nix’s partner, but they were the two police detectives in Cutthroat County, assigned to different cases. Erin’s murder was a big deal, and probably Mr. and Mrs. Mills had put the pressure on the department to find the killer. Detective Miranski seemed competent and put together, making me second guess what Nix saw in me. Why wasn’t Nix into her? Smart, pretty. Employed. Probably had an alibi for Saturday night. I, on the other hand, was out of a job, currently homeless, living out of a travel bag and a murder suspect.

The interview room was just like on TV. White walls, industrial carpet on the floor. A metal table with four chairs. A one-way mirror.

I glanced up at Nix, who stood in the corner, leaning casually against the wall. He looked incredible in jeans and a dark blue golf shirt with the police department logo embroidered on the chest. I wanted to run my hands all over him, but folded them in my lap. Besides stating his name and job title for the video recording an hour ago, he hadn’t said anything else. Barely moved.

I tried to block him out, for if I didn’t, I’d think about how I knew exactly what he looked like beneath his shirt, that I’d pawed and licked every inch of those rock-hard abs. And other rock-hard places on his body.

“I guess I did. I was a little freaked.”

“But you touched her. If you knew she was dead, why did you touch her?”

I frowned. “When I saw her lying there, my first instinct was to go to her and help. Wouldn’t you do that?”

She didn’t say anything, just waited.

“Her eyes were open,” I continued, blinking back tears. “Staring. Her color was awful. God, I had no idea people turned that pale. I didn’t want her to be dead.”

I ran my hands up and down my arms. It wasn’t cold in the room, but there was a huge air vent in the ceiling and it had a ridiculously strong breeze for such a small space.

“You didn’t hear anything.”

I took a deep breath, let it out. Sniffed. “I told you this already. No. I didn’t hear anything.”

“How is that possible?”

Shrugging, I said, “I don’t know. Her house is big. My bedroom was on the first floor in the back. The kitchen, the laundry room and an exercise room are between my room and where she was found. I didn’t usually hear her come in at night, and if she had someone with her, I wouldn’t know. Unless they were shouting.”

“Had that happened before? Erin shouting with someone?”

I thought back. “Loud voices one night. She’d brought a guy home. After a minute or two, they went up to her bedroom and then it was quiet. I fell back asleep. I met him the next morning in the kitchen. She’d said they’d been drunk.”