“It’s inappropriate.” There’s disdain in my voice.

“It is.” He nods. He doesn’t care whether or not his question is inappropriate and it’s then that I realize why he doesn’t care. He’s let his guard down. I think I get what he’s trying to say by what he’s not saying. He’s not sure whether Adam did it or not either. Sure, all the evidence points to Adam—but he’s wondering, could this case really be that easy? Is Adam that dumb to kill a woman in his own bed and leave her for the cleaning lady to find? Things are never what they seem.

I don’t think Sheriff Stevens wants to just pin this on Adam and call it a day, even though it would be quite easy to do. I think he wants to help me find out who really did this. It’s completely unorthodox, but at the end of the day, my focus is on defending Adam whether he did it or not; and Sheriff Stevens’s focus is finding the person who did this. He doesn’t care about closing this case quickly; he cares about closing it correctly.

“I don’t believe Adam did this,” I finally say, and I hope that I said it with enough confidence.

Sheriff Stevens nods and leans back in his chair again. “This is a bit unconventional, but I’d like to take you to the crime scene, and I want you to tell me what you see.”

“I’d like that,” I say without hesitation.

“Good.”

“Just let me in there. I don’t give a damn about your Podunk protocol.” Matthew pushes his way through the door past the receptionist and a police officer. I turn around and immediately when he sees the bandage on my face, he knows nothing is what it should be.

“I apologize. My colleague, Matthew, came with me today.”

“What did they do to you?” Matthew practically runs to me. He examines my head and shoots a sinister look at Sheriff Stevens. “She’s a lawyer. She’ll sue you—and I know people so powerful, they’ll bring this whole town to its knees.” He constricts his eyes and then returns his attention to me. His face softening as he looks me over.

“I’m fine. I will fill you in.” I give him a reassuring look. Matthew has always been protective of me.

15. Adam Morgan

15

Adam Morgan