“Oh, you will. Her vehicle appears to have run off the road. Like I said, no one even noticed it at first. Luckily, some hikers finally found her. The cops on the scene thought it was just a tragic accident, but, obviously, in light all the things happening now, I’ll be sure that a full investigation is conducted.”

Eric leaned forward. “I want Grady’s computer. Give me ten minutes. Hell, give me five. Let me see what I can uncover.”

“That’s against the rules, and I can’t break the rules, not even for you.” Detective Lopez hadn’t given Piper her phone back. Instead, the detective had put it on the table close to her left hand.

“Piper is cooperating,” Ben said, voice sharp and hard. “And all you’re doing is accusing. You obviously see that she’s a target. You have to realize the killer is focused on her.”

“Tell that to Grady Fox’s family. Sure seemed like the killer was focused on him.”

Ben turned to glare at Eric. “This is the ‘good’ cop you were telling me about? The ‘thorough’ detective you mentioned to me so many times before?”

Eric had a romantic relationship with the detective. He’d had that relationship. Past tense. Definitely past. And Piper wasn’t going to focus on that right then because she had a million other problems occurring. She let out a deep breath and asked Detective Lopez, “What can I say to make you believe I had nothing to do with Grady’s death?”

The detective shrugged. “When was the last time you talked with him?”

“A few years ago. He texted me. Apologized. I accepted his apology.”

Detective Lopez frowned. “Why did he apologize?”

Piper would not let her gaze dart to Ben. “Because he’d gotten jealous. Acted out. He thought I was involved with someone else during our time together. He was wrong.”

Considering now, the detective’s gaze slid to Ben. “Did Grady happen to take that jealousy of his out on anyone in particular? If he apologized, if he acted out, then that makes me think Grady acted out on someone.”

Piper knew that if she revealed the details of that last encounter, the detective would just think Ben was a suspect. He wasn’t.

Ben would never do something so horrible. Neither would Eric. She knew them both. She…trusted them both.

Holy hell, I do. She didn’t just trust her best friend. She trusted Eric. Completely and totally. Surprised, her gaze flew to him.

And she tried to figure out when things had changed between them.

“Eric?” The detective’s voice was surprised. “Eric was your lover back then, Piper?”

“Uh, no—” she began.