Broken Beginnings: A High Heat Small Town Romance Suspense (Citrus Cove Book 1)

WE SPENT the next hour answering questions. Endless fucking questions. In that time, they moved Darlene’s body, called her family, and cleared out everything they could.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Haley ended up showing Bud and Alexa the text message, which they requested to get copies of. Ultimately, we decided to leave the Corvette overnight and go home, everyone exhausted.

As I guessed, the cameras gave us no info. The Corvette was just out of view, and whoever was responsible for the damage made sure they stayed out of view too. It appeared that Andy had wandered that way, but he’d left a few moments later.

Killing Darlene and wrecking Haley’s car had taken longer than that.

“I want to go home,” Haley whispered.

We were sitting in my truck. I looked over at her, reaching for her hand. She took mine, the two of us gripping each other. It was already 2:00 a.m., and tomorrow, we’d go up to the station to answer any other questions.

I hated the haunted look in her eyes. Finding Darlene had been heartbreaking. Frightening. Her lifeless face was still in my mind, and all I could think about was how it could have been Haley.

“I’ll stay the night,” I offered, squeezing her hand.

She nodded, leaning back in her seat. “Let’s do that. And then tomorrow, I need to tell Honey what else has been happening. And maybe I can convince her and Sarah to go on vacation with the kids. I’ll pay for it. I’ll send them somewhere safe. Or I could just leave. Go back to Baltimore. Even better, maybe I’ll leave the fucking country.”

“You’re not leaving,” I said firmly. “You’re safer here than anywhere else.”

“But no one else is. A woman died tonight, Cam. Another woman. In Citrus Cove, of all fucking places. I’m being stalked. No, I’m being hunted. And I worry that everyone I care about is no longer safe.”

“Sunshine,” I whispered, squeezing her hand.

“All I could see tonight was her,” Haley whispered. “All I could see was me holding a woman as she died. She bled out on me. I tried so fucking hard to help her. I called 911 and stayed on the phone as I undid the ropes that bound her. And I watched her life turn to nothing. It’s selfish, but all I can think about now is how if that happened to you, to Sarah, to Honey… to one of the boys… I would never recover. I would never forgive myself.”

“That’s not going to happen,” I said. “I swear it, Haley. They’re going to catch him. Whoever is doing this is going to be caught and never see the light of day again.”

“You don’t know that. He’s already gone this far.”

“There is a high chance that he fucked up somewhere. Whether he left evidence in your car or his fingerprints. They will catch him. They will find him. We’re going to be okay.”

“Darlene wasn’t okay.”

I leaned my head back, letting out a slow breath, trying to let my tension unravel. She was silent. We sat like that for a couple of minutes.

“Cam,” she murmured. “I’m not going to leave.”

“Good.” I wouldn’t have let her anyways.

I sighed and turned on my truck, pulling out of the parking lot. The drive to Honey’s house wasn’t long, and the two of us winced as I pulled in and we saw every light on in the house.

“Fuck,” I mumbled. “I didn’t call her. Did you?”

“No,” Haley said. “Damn it.”

“I don’t know how she would have known.”

“Well,” Haley sighed. “Word travels fast. I’m sure someone called her.”

We got out of the truck and went to the porch. Haley reached for the door right as it opened, Honey standing on the other side.

“Oh boy,” I whispered.

I’d only seen this woman furious once in my life. Her eyes were like lightning, and she was holding a rolling pin of all things.

“Honey,” Haley said, her eyes tearing up.

Honey shook her head and waved the pin. “I got a call from Alexa’s mamma, saying there was a dead body found in a red Corvette. There’s one red Corvette in this town. One, Haley Marie Bently. You didn’t answer my texts. Didn’t answer my calls. You didn’t either,” she said, pointing and passing her glare to me.

I winced. “I’m sorry, Honey. Tonight was a nightmare. We didn’t think to call anyone.”

Haley let out a defeated breath. “We were talking to the police.”

“I’d like to think I’m more important than Bud,” she bit out. Finally, she let out a sigh, her face softening. “You scared me, baby.”

“I’m so sorry,” Haley said, stepping into her arms. They hugged, Honey visibly relaxing.

“I know it’s 2:00 a.m., but I cook when I’m stressed, so I hope you’re hungry.”

“What did you make?” Haley asked.

“Everything but the kitchen sink.”