Chapter Thirty-Two
‡
Easton had managed to wrap up work early and take Dizzy to the diner for a bite to eat. She was proud of him leaving the office before it was dark and she’d teased him that perhaps he should make a habit of it.
Their afternoon lovemaking had made both of them ravenous and before she knew it they’d demolished cheeseburgers and fries, practically doing everything but licking their plates clean. Patting her very full stomach, Dizzy sat back and sighed with contentment.
“Nobody makes better burgers than this place,” she said. “This was totally worth blowing off a couple of meetings for. Admit it.”
“It is nice, but you know I can’t do this every day. But I’m definitely going to try to do it more often.”
That was good enough for her. She didn’t need Easton every minute of the day. She just wanted to make sure that he made their relationship a priority.
“Do you mind if I run next door for a minute? I want to see if Carla got anything new in.”
It was only one door down and there would be other people. She’d be fine.
“I’m sure she has.” Easton pulled out his credit card to pay the check. “Go ahead and I’ll be there in a minute. I wouldn’t mind picking up something new either.”
Sliding out of the booth, she dashed over to the bookstore, waving at Carla as she entered, heading straight for the cozy mystery section. There appeared to be a few new titles on the table. One had a delicious-looking cupcake on the cover and it appeared to be a new book in a series she’d enjoyed. She picked it up to read the back to make sure it wasn’t one she’d already read but with a new cover.
“Funny running into you here.”
A familiar voice pulled her from her reading and she whirled around to find herself face to face with Trip Stanford. Far too close. He’d violated social norms of personal space by being only a few inches from her but she didn’t dare take a step back and let him know that his proximity bothered her.
She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“Trip.”
She didn’t have anything else to say. She didn’t care if he was having a nice day or what he was reading or how he’d been, so acting like she did would be the height of hypocrisy.
Trip leaned down to look at the cover of her book. “That looks like a good one. A murder mystery, eh? You must really like those.”
The douchebag was smirking. Smirking. Looking far too pleased with himself.
She held up the paperback, her stomach churning with a mixture of anger and disgust. No, make that fury. He looked so superior as if he had the world in his pocket.
“They always get the killer in the end, although it might take a little time. But they always do.”
“Books are like that. Real life is different.”
Not this time, asshole.
“Not so different. Killers are caught every day.”
He tapped the book with his finger. “Maybe you should stick with stories, Dizzy. Make-believe and fairy tales.”
Her fingers tightened on the book and for a moment she contemplated smacking him upside the head with it but she’d been brought up not to consider violence an answer. But she was seriously questioning her upbringing right about now.
“I know what’s real and what isn’t,” she said instead, fighting to keep her tone even despite the rage that was sweeping through her at his smug attitude. “And I know what I saw. I’m not about to forget it.”
He smiled like a man that didn’t have a care in the world. “You need to let it go.”
“I won’t.”
“You should. No one believes you.” Leaning forward, he chuckled and his voice dropped to a whisper. “I got away with it.”
The bell over the door rang and Easton strode into the bookstore, his gaze scanning the back of the room for her. When it found her, his expression turned thunderous and even Trip took a few steps backward. He might mess with her but he clearly didn’t want to tangle with Easton Anderson.
With a strong arm wrapped around Dizzy’s waist, Easton glowered at Trip. “Stanford. You’re off work a little early.”
“I took a vacation day.” Trip wasn’t smirking anymore but he was still smiling. “I had a few things to take care of.”
Easton smiled as well but it wasn’t a real one. “Yes, I heard the police brought you in this morning for questioning. You lawyered up. Probably a smart move on your part.”
“You can’t be too careful. The judicial system can easily railroad an innocent man.”
Dizzy couldn’t take this bullshit anymore.
“You just admitted you got away with it.”
Trip feigned outrage, his eyes going comically wide and his mouth falling open.
“I certainly did no such thing. You really need to stop making up stories, Dizzy. I wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Easton rubbed his chin and nodded. “That’s good to hear because when I was paying the check at the diner I got a call from my cousin West. He still has contacts in the police department and he told me that the search warrants for your home, vehicle, and office have all been approved by the judge. If you hurry home now, you might just have time to move your victim’s body off of your property before the cops get there.”
That smug look was wiped away completely, leaving a pale and shaken man. Trip quickly turned on his heel and raced out of the bookstore leaving Dizzy and Easton behind. She sagged against for support, her emotions taking every ounce of energy she’d had left.
“Please tell me what you said was true,” she pleaded.
“Part of it was true.”
“Which part? Did they only get a warrant for the office or something?”
“No, they got the warrants for his house, car, and office. The part that wasn’t true was that he had time to move the body.” Easton smiled then. A gleeful smile. “They’re already at his house. You did it, baby. You got him.”
This wasn’t about Dizzy, though. This was justice for Janine Erskine, who might rest a little more in peace after today.
* * *
Easton and Dizzy stood off to the side of Trip’s driveway as Janine’s body was rolled on a gurney from the backyard to the front. She was shrouded in a body bag but that didn’t stop his stomach twisting in his abdomen as she was loaded into the coroner’s van.
It was all so sad and wasteful. Trip had killed that poor girl when she should have had a long life ahead of her. Maybe a husband and kids. Or at least that cat she wanted to adopt. There wouldn’t be any of that now. All because Trip couldn’t control his anger toward women.
Of course, Trip hadn’t made it home before the cops had begun their search. He’d been handcuffed while they dug up his flowerbed and scoured his home. His truck had been impounded. Bag after bag of evidence had streamed out of the backyard, carried by crime scene investigators dressed in jumpsuits and wearing gloves. At one point, West had shown up and spoken to the lead detective before coming to stand beside Easton and Dizzy.
“He’s not saying anything without his lawyer,” West reported, a grim expression on his face. “But he did say he wanted a deal. Says he has some information about a missing girl in Washington State.”
The acrid taste of bile rose in Easton’s throat. Trip had been so sure he’d gotten away with it. Was this the second time? Zach was sure that Trip wasn’t a practiced killer but that didn’t mean Janine was his first.
“I think he’d say anything right about now,” Dizzy replied softly, so low he could barely hear her.
None of them were happy. There was no triumph, no elation at Trip’s arrest. There was a woman who was dead that shouldn’t be. And it had only been an accident of fate that Dizzy had witnessed it.
Or maybe there was more to it. Maybe it was that crazy universe at work that Dizzy always talked about. Was her standing there at that exact moment something more? Certainly there was evil in the world, but there was goodness as well. Who was to say that each side didn’t have an army in that never-ending battle? If Easton had to choose someone to fight the good fight he would certainly select Dizzy. She was formidable and she’d never given up, even when the odds were against her.
Sergeant Baker, the cop that had patronized Dizzy that first night, stepped out of the house and down the front steps, stopping in front of the three of them. He shuffled his feet and cleared his throat.
“I just want to say, Miss Foster, that I’m real sorry I didn’t take you seriously that night. I should have and that’s my mistake.”
At first Easton thought Dizzy wasn’t going to reply and he wouldn’t have blamed her. There were a whole bunch of Tremont residents that were going to be eating a heaping helping of crow tonight. But eventually she did and her eyes were bright with tears as she gripped Easton’s arm.
“Apology accepted. Just take good care of Janine, okay? She deserves our best.”
The sergeant’s throat bobbed and his cheeks turned red, but he nodded in agreement.
“We’re going to do right by her, Miss Foster. I promise.”
The sergeant walked away and West drifted off as well to speak to one of the detectives. Easton leaned down to drop a brief kiss on her cheek, salty from her tears.
“I’m so proud of you, baby. You never gave up, never took no for an answer. Even from me. The universe picked the perfect warrior for this battle.”
Her lips quirked up into a smile. “Easton Anderson, are you admitting that perhaps there might be things that are true and real that you can’t see?”
He wanted to spend the rest of his life with this woman. Nope, make that all of his lives. He and Dizzy were destined to be together.
“Yes, I am.”