“Whatever you have to do.”
Right then, Adam stepped out, and when he saw Jaime, he didn’t greet him. His brows came together, and if Jaime weren’t in a good mood, he’d think his friend wasn’t happy to see him.
Adam stepped up to Kerry, telling her he was going to be in on a conference call within the next hour. Then he nodded at Jaime, saying his name in a low voice before going back to his office.
Jaime stared after him. Adam had never been the talkative type, to be sure, but he’d never given him the cold shoulder quite this blatantly. A frisson of fear crawled up his spine. Was there something new about the investigation? Did Adam think he stole from River’s Bend now?
He looked to see Kerry frowning. “That was weird,” she said.
“Maybe he and Joy had a fight.”
She shook her head, tapping her pen against the desk. “I just saw Joy this morning, and she was happy as usual.” She smiled a little sheepishly. “And I may have accidentally seen Adam kissing her before she left.”
So it was just Jaime that Adam wasn’t too fond of. He clenched his jaw and walked toward his boss’s office, refusing to have another person at the vineyard treating him like some kind of leper.
He pushed open Adam’s office door and saw his boss reading over some document, his brow furrowed in concentration. When he saw Jaime standing in front of him, that brow furrow didn’t disappear. Instead, it only deepened.
Jaime shut the door. “Okay, what is it this time? Have you discovered that I murdered an old lady or something?”
Adam blinked. He set down the paper in his hand and then rubbed his forehead. “Jaime, I have a conference call in the next few minutes—”
“It can wait. Tell me why you’re giving me the cold shoulder and I’ll leave you alone.” His initial good mood evaporated much like steam. So much for having a good day, he thought bitterly.
When Adam didn’t automatically disclaim giving him the cold shoulder, Jaime started pacing the small confines of the office. Adam watched him and then, after some moments, said irritably, “Stop doing that. You’re making me antsy.”
“Then spit it out!”
Jaime heard him mumble something about “I don’t have time for this,” before he looked up and said point blank, “I know about Grace going to your place.”
Jaime froze. He’d expected a lot of things to come out of Adam’s mouth, but this one hadn’t been one of them. He wasn’t sure why. Adam had warned him away from Grace before, and Heron’s Landing was a tiny town. Nothing was ever kept secret for very long.
Jaime crossed his arms. “And you have a problem with that…?”
Adam scowled. “Didn’t I ask you to leave her alone? What was she doing at your house in the middle of the night?” His scowl turned deeper. “You know what, on second thought, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”
“Nothing happened.” Only sort of a lie, at any rate.
“Jaime, you’re my friend. You’re a good man. But I know you. You aren’t going to stick around; you’re going to break Grace’s heart. I can see it from a mile away.”
Now it was Jaime’s turn to scowl. “Since when do you know what I’m going to be doing? You’re so convinced that I’m some amoral dickwad that I’d screw your sister and then leave her a week later?”
“Jesus Christ, please let’s not talk about screwing my sister.”
“No, let’s. Because this is what this is about, isn’t it?” Anger filled every vein, until Jaime barely recognized what he was saying or thinking. All he saw was a haze of red. “You’ve decided that I’m not good enough for your sister, so you’re making it seem like you’re protecting her. When, by the way, she’s an adult who can make her own decisions. She doesn’t need you to swoop in like some knight in shining armor.”
Adam stared at him, his eyes wide. Then he got up, pressing his palms to his desk. “So you’re saying you’re not going to leave her alone?”
“Only if she asks me to. Only if she wants to end things. But I have a bit of news for you, buddy.” Jaime leaned toward him. “It’s none of your business. It never has been, and never will be.”
“It is my business because she’s my sister.” Adam’s voice was low, harsh, and if they weren’t at work, Jaime had a feeling this could come to blows. He rather wished it would. It would probably make them both feel better.
“Yes, she’s your sister, who’s an adult. She doesn’t need you making her decisions behind her back.”
The two of them breathed hard, staring each other down, wondering who would give in first. Jaime refused to give in. He refused to apologize because he’d done nothing wrong. Yes, he’d told him—and Grace—their relationship wasn’t necessarily the wisest idea, but that didn’t make it right for someone else to forbid it from happening, either.
“Go to hell,” Jaime said before stalking out of Adam’s office, shutting the door probably more loudly than necessary.
The rest of the day devolved from there. Two of the groups either burned or grossly overcooked their racks of lamb, rendering them inedible. The only bright spot was that Jaime had scheduled to leave early since it was a standard night and leave Eric in charge. He normally hated leaving Eric in charge of the rest of the staff, but by five o’clock, he didn’t care. He couldn’t stay one more second at River’s Bend and have Adam breathing down his neck, just waiting for him to do something else to reprimand him for.
Driving home, Jaime was looking forward to an evening of booze and maybe watching a game or two, but when he got within eyeshot of his house, he knew that wasn’t going to happen. Two police cars waited outside for him. Parking, he got out of his truck and, seeing four officers waiting at his door, he raised his hands in surrender.
This is it, he thought. They’re going to arrest me for a crime I didn’t commit. I should’ve known this would happen.
But instead of the officers coming toward him with handcuffs, only one came forward. It was Sheriff Jennings. He handed Jaime a document and said in an exultant voice, “We have authorization to search your residence, Mr. Martínez. Glad you arrived so soon. Wouldn’t want to wait around all night for you to come home.” He grinned, showing crooked teeth in his red and wrinkled face.
Jaime stared at the official document in his hand, glancing at the various signatures scrawled at the bottom. He swallowed.
“I’ll let you in then,” he said in a quiet voice, gripping his keys in his fist.
After that, he said nothing else. He said nothing as he wondered where he should sit as the officers scoured his house, going through every room, every cabinet, every drawer. He wondered if it would be strange if he turned on the TV while they worked. Would they hold that against him if he were later charged? Would they say he wasn’t taking things seriously if he turned on a game? So he turned on nothing, staring at the wall, listening to the officers talking and going through everything he owned.
He didn’t know what they expected to find. Then again, for all Jaime knew, someone had planted evidence without his knowledge. A smoking gun, a bloody knife, anything. Nothing would surprise him at this point. The only question he wanted answered was who would do this to him in the first place.