“I need to make a stop first.” He didn’t want to do it, but he needed to go back to Ty’s room if only for a few moments. “But I’ll probably be up later.”
Nate stared at him for a moment. “All right, but Michael, if you’re going to talk to Lucy, maybe you should think about what you’re going to say. Maybe you should take the night to think about it. I would hate for you to say something you can’t take back.”
Nate nodded and walked away. Michael turned back to the elevators. Nate’s advice had been sound, but he wasn’t going to take it. He couldn’t wait all night to find out if another woman he loved had betrayed him.
The elevator doors opened, and he acknowledged that stupid word. Love. He’d vowed he wouldn’t have anything to do with it again, but here he was in love with Lucy. In…whatever he wanted to call it with Ty.
And he was about to lose them both.
* * * *
Lucy felt every minute of the day weighing her down as she walked toward the room she was sharing with Ty and Michael.
Only she was fairly certain she wasn’t still sharing it with Michael. “Where do you think he went?”
“I think he’s probably helping Nate. I heard the sheriff’s office is working out of the big boss’s suite.” Ty squeezed her hand. He’d barely let it go the whole time she’d talked to Gemma. She and the lawyer had gone over everything that had happened in the last few days. Well, everything that had to do with Brock Foster. She hadn’t talked about the important things like falling madly in love with a man who hadn’t been able to look her in the eyes.
She forced her feet to move, to take her closer to the door. “Yeah, I know they called him. I would bet that I will no longer be considered for this job.”
It was almost impossible to think about what she’d lost in a single day.
“Don’t worry about that now.” But Ty didn’t correct her.
He was right. She had so many other things to worry about. She had to worry about going to jail, and not the nice little cell Nate sometimes put Max in when he couldn’t take his sarcasm anymore. The minute the CBI got involved, Nate couldn’t protect her anymore. “I don’t know that I can pay Gemma.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Ty seemed to be saying that a lot tonight.
“I can’t let Caleb pay her.” It could be expensive, and Gemma had even told her she wasn’t a criminal attorney. If this went on longer, Gemma had explained that she would find a defense attorney for her. She couldn’t imagine how much that would cost.
“Yes, you can. Caleb has more money than he knows what to do with. He won’t even miss it, but he will feel bad if you don’t have a lawyer.” Ty stopped in front of the door, pulling out his key card. “I want you to relax. We’re going to take a shower and I’m going to take care of you. I’m going to make sure you can sleep tonight, and we’ll deal with all of this in the morning.”
When she would likely be right back in that conference room, talking to Nate again. He would prepare her to talk to the state investigators, who would almost certainly come. Gemma had told her that the rest of the Foster family had been informed, and they were already moving to make sure this wasn’t handled at a local level.
“I’m not sure relaxing is possible.”
Ty moved in and gave her a swift kiss. “I’m going to try my best. Luce, you have to know one thing. I’m going to be here for you. I’m never going to leave your side. I love you.”
Tears sprang to her eyes, and she hugged him tight. “I won’t ever leave you.”
He kissed her forehead. “I know.”
He opened the door, allowing her to walk through first.
“I could really use a glass of wine.” She moved through the little hall into the living room where she stopped because they weren’t alone.
Michael sat on the love seat, his eyes steady on her.
“Hey, Mike.” Ty joined her, his hand going to her waist, every word seemingly careful. “I’m surprised you’re here. I thought you were working with Nate on the case.”
On her case. It might mean something if she thought he was working to ensure he caught the person who’d done it. Perhaps he was actually doing that, but he thought the person who’d done it was her.
That was the moment she saw the small bag to the side of the love seat. It was the same bag he’d brought when they’d decided to stay here together. It was supposed to be in the closet.
“I needed to talk to Lucy before I go upstairs.” Michael hadn’t taken his eyes off her. He stared at her as though he could see through her, see down to her soul.
“Why don’t you stay here and we can all talk.” Ty didn’t seem to understand that Michael had already made up his mind. Ty had always been the most positive thinker of all their friends.
She was afraid Michael had made up his mind the minute he’d seen her in that room. His past had come back and had probably cost them their future. Her heart sank as Michael stood, his shoulders going straight.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. But I do have a couple of questions for Lucy.”
“She’s answered questions all night. She’s been at this for hours.” Ty moved to stand between them. “She needs some rest, and she needs us. Both of us.”
“I don’t think there’s anything you can say that will make him stay.” She was fairly certain she understood what was going through Michael’s head. “He thinks I did it. He thinks I’ve lied to him and used him.”
“Why would you do that?” Ty asked, seeming to be genuinely confused by everything about the night.
She looked to Michael. “Because he thinks that’s what happens to him. He thinks the people he cares about are bound to betray him.” Her heart sank because he didn’t correct her. “Michael, do you believe I targeted you because you could help me cover up a murder?”
His eyes rolled. “No. Of course not. You didn’t even know Brock Foster when we first met.”
At least he admitted that much. “So you were merely useful.”
He ignored the comment. “Why didn’t you tell me what happened in the parking lot?”
“I thought you would go after him. I didn’t want any trouble, and I thought I had handled it,” she replied as calmly as she could. She wanted to yell at him, to fight with him, wanted anything but this cold calm between them. But she knew if she pushed him, he would leave. This was something she had to hope she could logic her way through. “Michael, I’ve had to handle men like Brock all my life. Every woman does. If we sicced our boyfriends on every man who behaved poorly, nothing would get done in the world.”
“He threatened you according to Nate.”
She was going to be totally honest with him. “Yes, and I threatened him back. I don’t remember exactly what I said but it was something like if he was going to ruin my life, then I could ruin his, too. He was a bully. I’ve found the way to deal with bullies is to let them know you won’t be an easy target. It’s how I’ve handled them for a long time. I was worried things could escalate if I got you involved and frankly, I wanted to concentrate on how good our relationship could be, not how much trouble it could be.”