She stepped inside and soundly closed the door.

Ledge kept pace with Arden as she walked toward her car. “What questions?”

“Go away.” Reaching her car, she jerked open the door, then stood in the wedge, staring back at the house. “I don’t feel right about this at all.”

“What were you talking to Crystal about?”

She turned to him. “Why don’t the two of you live together?”

“That’s one of the questions you asked her?”

“No!”

“Then what was the subject you talked about and around?”

“Never mind.” She was about to get into the car, but he hooked his hand in the bend of her elbow.

“You’re not leaving until you tell me why you came to Crystal with questions that you wouldn’t ask me.”

“Because I don’t trust you.” She pulled her arm free. “And Crystal’s faith in you is grossly misplaced.”

“Oh. You’re feeling guilty.”

“You’re the cheater. I don’t have anything to feel guilty for.”

He tipped his chin down and gave her a look.

“Don’t,” she whispered with distress. “I feel terrible. She was lovely to me. I pried, but she was steadfastly loyal to you. I can’t believe she encouraged you to go someplace with me while she stays at home for a cozy evening with—”

The realization slammed into her. Crystal’s total lack of animosity or jealousy over her dealings with Ledge suddenly made sense. She looked up into his face. “With Marty,” she said. “They’re partners.”

The fact that he didn’t react with a swift contradiction was an affirmation.

“How long have you known?”

He took her arm again. “I think you and I should go have that honest conversation that Crystal recommended. Your place or mine?”

“Neither. Someplace public.”

“Scared to be alone with me?”

“Precisely. If we’re alone, I’m liable to kill you.”

Chapter 27

Ledge insisted that they leave Arden’s car there and go in his truck. He drove them a few miles out of town to a wide spot in the road where two state highways intersected beneath a caution light. The axis didn’t actually qualify as a town, although a portable building on one corner was designated as the post office. On the opposite corner was a restaurant.

“It doesn’t look like much, but they actually grill a damn good steak.” He got out and went around to the passenger side to help her down, but by the time he got there, she’d made the jump on her own. She hadn’t spoken a word since leaving Crystal’s.

When they walked into the restaurant, the hostess beamed and greeted him by name. Then she noticed Arden and sized her up. Her smile lost some wattage, and her generous bosom settled back into its natural position.

He didn’t let on that he noticed. “Hey, Angie. We’re having a business meeting and need quiet. Is the back corner booth free?”

Looking skeptical about the nature of the dinner, Angie led them to the requested booth. Along the way, Ledge surveyed the other diners scattered throughout. He didn’t see anyone familiar.

He and Arden slid into opposite sides of the booth. He chose to sit with his back to the wall, facing out into the dining room. Angie placed two laminated menus on the table. “I’ll be your server tonight. Can I start you off with your usual bourbon, Ledge?”

“Please.”

“Double?”

“Single.”

Arden ordered ice water. Angie sniffed disdain. “I’ll be right back.”

Arden turned her head to watch as Angie walked away. When she came back around, she said, “Friend of yours?”

“Not the kind that fits your inflection.”

“A hopeful wannabe?”

“Forget her.” He leaned forward on the table. “Why do you have a hankering to kill me?”

Her purse was beside her on the bench. She opened it and took out a manila envelope, set it on the table between them, and pressed her index finger in the center of it. “Copies of two crime reports. The two my father is alleged to have committed. I thought I’d had an original idea to ask for them.”

He muttered a string of curses, which Angie caught the tail end of as she returned. She gave him an arch look as she served their drinks and asked if they were ready to order. They skipped the appetizers and went straight to the entrées. Regardless, it seemed to take an inordinately long time to order.

Arden apparently shared his impatience. As soon as Angie was out of earshot, she sprang forward as though a tether had snapped. “If I had known you had these reports, I would have asked to borrow them and saved myself a trip to the courthouse this morning.”

“Who spilled the beans?”

“The detective who helped me. He wasn’t tattling. He didn’t know I knew you.” She gave him a probing look. “I don’t believe I do.”

For the time being, he let that pass. “Why did you want the reports?”

“That should be obvious and understandable. I wanted to see what, if anything, was in them that incriminated my dad.”

“Nothing. Unless I missed a clue that only a family member would spot.”

She shook her head. “I’ve read every word of both reports twice. I didn’t find anything. Lisa had told me that it was a waste of time.”

“So she’s also reviewed them?”

“Soon after it happened. As a ten-year-old, I wouldn’t have understood most of what I was reading. By the time I was old enough, years had passed. It never occurred to me to ask to see them. Not until last night.”

“When you told me you would start looking for answers someplace else.”

“Which would have been an ideal time for you to volunteer that you had done some sleuthing yourself.”

“You didn’t give me a chance to say squat.”

“If I hadn’t slammed the door on you, would you have told me?”

“Probably not.”

“No probably about it, Ledge.”

She picked up the envelope and returned it to her handbag. Or tried. It buckled. She wound up impatiently stuffing it in. Then she pushed back a handful of her hair. She took a sip of ice water. He scooted his glass of whiskey toward her, she scooted it back, with enough of a shove to slosh some.