Ty put a hand on her knee. “You couldn’t have helped him. You only would have exposed yourself. You did everything you could.”
She hated how useless she’d felt in that moment. “I did nothing.”
“I believe that’s Ty’s point,” Nate replied and pushed his chair back. “All right. That’s all I need for now. Lucy, I’m going to ask for your blouse since it’s got some of the drink on it. Other than that, get some rest. I’m going to interview the bartender and the part of Foster’s family that’s still awake.”
Gemma stood up with a sigh. “Well, you’re going to be a terrible client.”
“I hope I won’t be a client for long,” she admitted. She wanted this whole thing cleared up.
Nate shook his head as he got to his feet. “I told her to stay the hell away from him, and she didn’t listen to me either. After what happened earlier this week, I thought she should wait until the Fosters checked out to start her job.”
“I wasn’t going to let him get her in a bad position.” Michael stared down at the table. “This is my fault. I should have escorted her.”
“You can’t follow me around. You had your own work to do. If I’d known he was in that suite, I would have sent a male server,” she replied.
“You know if they ask, I’m going to have to give up that tape, Lucy,” Nate explained.
“The tape?” Ty was on his feet.
“The security tapes at Trio.” Gemma stuffed her notepad into the sleek bag she carried. “I heard some of what the sister was saying before she went nighty-night. She was talking about how this was reprisal for what happened at Trio. We should talk about that.”
“It was nothing. He tried to make a move on me. I took care of it,” she explained.
“I was there,” Michael said. “I can promise you she didn’t do anything but protect herself. Any security tape will prove that. It’s a good thing.”
“Maybe the first encounter, but I’m worried she might have said something in the second encounter,” Nate began. “If I can’t solve this thing before the feds are called in, I’ll have to tell Zane to turn it over. If it was actual video tape, he could erase it or tape over it, but it’s in the cloud. There’s a footprint. There’s no sound on that tape, but Lucy’s face is clearly visible. They’ll bring in someone who can read lips. Did you say anything they can use against you?”
The room seemed to go cold.
She hadn’t told them. She’d promised Nate and then she’d kept the incident to herself because she didn’t want to disrupt the harmony they’d found.
“What do you mean second tape?” Michael’s voice had gone low.
“The one from the other night.” Nate’s eyes narrowed. “She did tell you that he waited for her outside Trio, right? I talked to her the next morning because he was trying to start trouble with her. He came into the station and wanted me to arrest her for assault. When I wouldn’t, he confronted her and threatened her. She promised me she would tell you. It’s the only reason I didn’t recommend putting a bodyguard on her.”
There was pure shock in Ty’s gaze when he looked her way. “Luce? What is he talking about?”
“It was nothing.” She hated the fact that Ty looked like she’d betrayed him. “He wanted me to go out with him to prove to everyone that he could have any woman he wanted. I turned him down. That’s all.”
“He promised to wreck her life.” Nate seemed determined to get her in more trouble with her men. “That’s what she told me. I thought he was a potential sociopath who could actually hurt her. The only reason I didn’t have a discussion with the two of you was that she promised she would talk to you.”
“It was the day of our first real date. I went to the back looking for you and you came inside.” Michael managed to make the words an accusation. “You slammed the door quickly, and I asked if something was wrong. You said no. You lied to me. You lied to both of us.”
“I didn’t lie.” Her gut took a deep dive. She’d wanted to keep Michael out of it, but she hadn’t thought of it as lying to him. Of course at the time there hadn’t been a dead body to deal with, one he’d literally found her standing over.
Like his last girlfriend. Who had lied to him. Who had betrayed him.
What had she said to Brock? Something about taking him apart if he came after her. She certainly hadn’t meant she would kill him.
Michael walked out of the room.
Ty stared at her like he didn’t know her. “Maybe you should talk to Gemma.”
“Finally someone makes sense,” Gemma said with a sigh. “Nate, can I have a minute with Lucy? I’d like to take some notes.”
Yeah. She might need a lawyer after all.
Chapter Thirteen
Michael could barely see the hall in front of him. He was moving out of sheer necessity.
“Michael.”
He heard Nate talking behind him, and he didn’t want to stop. He wanted to walk out to the parking lot, get in his SUV, and go right back to his mountain. He would hole up and not come down again for a long time. Maybe never.
“Michael.”
He wouldn’t try again. It was bullshit to try. He’d had his shot and proven that he wasn’t capable of telling the real people from the liars of the world.
He made it to the end of the hall, to the room where he’d found Lucy with her pale face and wide eyes looking like the world was ending as she stood over a dead body.
He stopped and stared at the door for a moment. Someone had blocked it off with yellow police tape.
“Cam’s in there along with a forensic tech who came in from Pagosa Springs. She just made it in before I closed the pass.” Nate had stopped behind him, and his voice had gone low. “Rye Harper’s helping them process the scene.”
Rye Harper had been the sheriff of Bliss for years before Nate had taken over the department. He would know what to do. “Good. Have you moved the body?”
“Not yet. Caleb is downstairs making sure we’ve got a way to store it over the weekend.”
The thought made his stomach turn.
Michael heard the elevator doors open and the chattering of guests as they started to make their way back to their rooms. Luckily they turned down the opposite hall.
Nate’s jaw tightened, and he was quiet until the guests were gone. “Come on. We need to get out of the hallway.”
That was fine with Michael. He had some things he needed to pick up anyway.
He wasn’t sure he could spend the night in that room, in the place where he’d briefly been happy.
He walked to the elevator and pushed the button for the lobby.
What the fuck was he doing? The impulse was there to go back and talk to them. “Why did Lucy stay behind?”
“Ty convinced her to talk to Gemma.” Nate stood beside him. “It doesn’t mean she’s guilty.”
It did mean she was taking this seriously. It was a good thing since it appeared she’d had a reason to hurt Brock Foster. “Good. Can we really not get off this mountain?”