There was more to uncover, but the gist of it was all over town. Frank would sneak his affairs, fooling everyone but Rain. And when she’d finally snap, there would be a death.
Rain’s first victim had died of an overdose. She’d lived alone and it was believed that Rain had broken in and forced her to take the pills—Frank hadn’t known the specifics and Rain wasn’t alive to ask. Apparently the overdose hadn’t been enough of a punishment for Frank, so Rain had switched her tactics.
“I still can’t believe it.” Melina shook her head. “Rain used to volunteer at the nursing home. She’d come in and do painting classes with the residents. She always seemed like such a sweet woman.”
“You weren’t the only one who was fooled.” She’d fooled me my entire life. Pops too.
He’d taken this hard. Pops had loved Frank and Rain. Truly. He’d believed they were family and this betrayal had hit him so hard that he’d decided to move.
After decades of living in the house that had been my grandmother’s, that had been my father’s, Pops was moving. He couldn’t bear to live next door to the Nigel house.
So he was taking mine.
Griffin had gone over yesterday to collect the rest of my things. Most of the furniture I’d bought was going to charity. There were a few families in the area who’d fallen on hard times, and if my furniture could give them a pick-me-up, then I was happy to give it away. It wasn’t like I needed it at Griff’s house—our house.
Melina’s jaw clenched. “What will happen to Frank?”
“He’s being charged as an accessory to murder. His lawyer might encourage him to plead not guilty, but he will go to prison.”
His confession was going to work against him. He’d likely say that it had been coerced or was given under duress. There was nothing to do but wait and let it play out in court. But I had confidence in my officers.
Mitch had been the one to respond to the call that horrible night. Pops had stayed with Frank to ensure the bastard hadn’t tried to skip town. Meanwhile, Griffin had taken a gamble and raced to Indigo Ridge, calling Briggs along the way.
If not for them both, I would have suffered Rain’s fate.
“I think I hate him more than I hate her,” Melina said. “Maybe that’s a strange way to see it. But he knew. He knew she’d killed and he kept having his affairs.”
“It’s not strange.” Because I felt the same way.
“I’m glad she’s dead.” Melina’s eyes widened when she realized what she’d said. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Griffin said. “You’re not the only one.”
He hadn’t said much about Rain since that night. He’d told me that her body had been found on the side of the mountain, her neck broken from the fall. Otherwise, he’d stayed quiet.
Too quiet.
There was fury in his gaze. A flame so hot it burned the same shade as those stunning blue irises. The rage had surfaced a few times in the past two weeks, mostly when I’d been in pain.
He’d clench his jaw. He’d ball his fists. He’d keep it in check until I was feeling better. Then he’d call his mom or one of his sisters to come and hang out with me while he went for a hard ride on Jupiter.
Thank God for that horse. He’d helped get Griff through the past two weeks. But sooner or later we’d have to talk about what had happened.
“Have you spoken to the other parents?” Melina asked.
“Not yet. You’re my first visit.” The others I’d go see once I was back to work at the station, but I had another two weeks of rest at home. The surgery to repair the stab wounds had gone well, but combined with the concussion, my body had been through a major ordeal.
The doctors had needed to restart my heart on the operating table.
“I can’t imagine how they’re feeling.” Melina dropped her gaze to her lap. “To think for so many years that their girls . . . I’m just glad to have the truth.”
“I’m sorry you lost her.”
“Me too.” Her eyes were brimming with unshed tears.
Even with time, there were wounds that would never heal.
A tear dripped down Melina’s cheek. Then another. She cast her gaze once more to the photographs of her beautiful daughter.
“We’ll get out of your hair.” Griffin stood first, holding out a hand to help me to my feet.
We said goodbye to Melina, leaving her to find whatever peace possible, and climbed into Griffin’s truck.
The moment the door was closed, I let out the breath I’d been holding.
“You okay?” he asked, sliding behind the wheel.
“Just tired.”
“That’s enough for one day.”
“I wanted to visit Pops. See how the packing is going.”
“It’s going fine. He knows where to find us. You’re taking a nap.”
I frowned but had learned in the past two weeks that arguing was pointless. So I relaxed into the seat as Griffin drove us home.
“I’m proud of you.” He reached over and lifted a hand off my lap, bringing it to his lips. “You never gave up. Even when we all told you to drop it. Maybe if I hadn’t . . .”
“This isn’t your fault.”
He looked over and the pain in those eyes shot straight to my heart. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“You didn’t.”
“But—” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Then he drove in silence, taking us home. Three cars crowded the space next to my Durango. One belonged to Harrison. The other, Pops. The third, Briggs.
“So much for that nap.”
“They get ten minutes,” Griff said. “Then I’m kicking them out.”
“No, let them stay.” It filled my heart that so many people had come to check on me. On us.
Griff stared at the back of Briggs’s truck, making no move to go inside.
“What?” I asked.
“For a while, I worried it was him. That he’d done something and blacked it out.”
Briggs had come every day since I’d been released from the hospital, each time with a bouquet of flowers. I’d be forever grateful that he’d found his way to the hiking trail in the dark. “He saved my life.”
“He did.”
“If his dementia gets worse, if he needs help, we’re moving him in.”
“Yes. Into Mom and Dad’s house.” Griffin nodded. “They talked about it. They’re going to start having him down more. Checking on him more. When it’s time, they’ll move him to their place.”
“We have room.”
“So do they. And I get you to myself for a while.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
His shoulders slumped. His eyes stayed glued to the windshield as the air conditioner blew through the cab.
I rested my head against the seat, reaching over to slide my hand down his arm. “Hey. I’m okay, Griff.”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat, then jumped into action, shutting off the truck and hopping out, rounding the hood to get my door.
Whatever he was feeling was locked away because we had company and it wasn’t the time.
The guys were all inside when we walked through the door. Pops wrapped me in a gentle hug before guiding me to the living room to sit. Briggs had brought another bouquet of flowers, daisies today. Harrison had brought one of Anne’s cherry pies. Between Anne, Knox and Lyla, we had enough food in the fridge to feed the entire Eden family for a week.