what he could reasonably make.” She shrugged. “Another sign of the Bo Gage mystique. Make people think you’re successful and you are.”
Reluctantly, Finn saw the picture she painted, of a man with too much charm and too little sense. Regardless of the destruction he’d wrought, it was Finn’s job to do right by a murdered man. But that picture did point to someone who might have had more than a few enemies.
None of which explained why Darby needed to be stuck with her ex’s mistakes.
“So why keep the business?” Finn asked.
“Because I made a promise to Bo’s father that I’d try. And because I also feel a debt to Penny. She’s gone through an awful lot and she deserves as much care and attention as I can give her.”
For the first time since he’d seen the bleach bottle dangling from her hands did something ease inside Finn, tilting the scales from suspicion to sympathy. He wasn’t ready to let her off the hook—not by a long shot—but he also wasn’t entirely sure the woman who sat before him was guilty of murder.
Or even capable of it.
Which was when another thought struck him with even more force. It was so simple.
So easy.
And it would allow him to keep an eye on her while doing the necessary work to draw out the Groom Killer.
“What have you heard around town? About the murders.”
“Same as everyone else. The killer seems to have a strange fixation on men who are about to get married. Bo and Michael Hayden were both shot in the chest.” She hesitated the briefest moment before continuing on. “And rumors have been running high that your cousin Demi is responsible. Though I find that hard to believe.”
It was a curious observation, especially as he didn’t think Darby and Demi were particularly well acquainted, if at all. “Why’s that?”
“I know her to say hello. I’ve waited on her several times at the Red Ridge diner. She’s...well, she’s—” Darby broke off before offering up a lift of her shoulders. “She’s just so capable. Her reputation as a bounty hunter is rock solid.”
“Which means she knows her way around weapons.”
“Maybe.” Although her comment seemed to acknowledge the thought, skepticism rode her features, narrowing her gaze.
“Maybe?” Finn asked.
“It’s just that she’s so cool and confident. Demi Colton is not the sort of woman who murders a guy who can’t appreciate her. Especially if that guy was dumb enough to dump her for Hayley.”
“So you think it’s someone else?”
“Yes, I do. And that someone isn’t me,” she added in a rush.
That tempting idea snaked through his mind once more, sly in its promise of a solution to his current dilemma.
Catch a killer and keep an eye on Darby Gage. It’s not exactly a hardship to spend time with her.
“Maybe you can help me, then.”
“Help you how? I thought you were convinced I’m the town murderess.”
“I’m neither judge nor jury. It’s my job to find evidence to put away a killer and that’s what I’m looking to do.”
“Then what do you want with me?” The skepticism that had painted her features was further telegraphed in her words. Finn heard the clear notes of disbelief, but underneath them he heard something else.
Curiosity.
“Fingers pointing at my cousin isn’t all that’s going around town. What began as whispers has gotten louder with Michael Hayden’s murder.”
“What are people saying?”
Finn weighed his stupid idea, quickly racing through a mental list of pros and cons. Since the list was pretty evenly matched, it was only his desperation to find a killer that tipped the scales toward the pro.
With that goal in mind—closing this case and catching a killer as quickly as possible—he opted to go for broke.
“Bo Gage was killed the night of his bachelor party. Michael Hayden was killed the night of his rehearsal dinner. One thing the victims had in common—they were grooms-to-be. And in a matter of weeks half the town has called off any and all plans to get married or host an engagement party.”
“I still can’t see what this has to do with me.”
“If you’re as innocent as you say you are, surely you’d be willing to help me.”
“Help you do what?”
“Pretend to be my fiancée, Darby. Help me catch a killer.”
She was losing her mind. That was the only reason—surely it was the only reason—that Finn Colton stood in her living room proposing the most absurd thing she’d ever heard.
“Get engaged to you?”
“Pretend. Only pretend until we can lure out the killer.”
“But you think I’m the killer,” she pointed out.
The words chafed—more than she wanted to admit—but they needed to be said. Fifteen minutes ago he was looking at her like she belonged in the state penitentiary doing forty to life and now he was proposing they traipse around town like an engaged couple? Maybe he was the one out of his mind.
“I said you were a suspect.”
“Careful, Chief. You might give me the warm fuzzies.”
The problem was, the man did give her the warm fuzzies. Despite her better judgment—and she liked to think she had her fair share of it—Finn Colton did something to her. The man was too big, too in control, too...too everything.
And it bothered her more than she could say that the prospect of going on a date with him, even if it was fake from start to finish, warmed something way down deep inside her.
“Think of it as a win-win.”
“How’s that?”
“You can prove to me that you’re innocent and I can catch myself a killer. Everyone ends up happy.”
“You actually want to put yourself in the line of fire? The Groom Killer is actually killing the grooms.”
“I’m a cop. I’ll catch the killer before they can do any real harm.”
She mentally added cocky to the attractive list. Bo had been cocky, too. It had been one of the things that had drawn her to him. That bright, shiny grin that smacked of sass and confidence. The swagger that went along with it.
She’d been hooked like a fish and let herself be reeled in by that smile, that confidence and a host of empty promises.
Even as she thought it, it felt wrong to lump Finn in the same category as Bo. The two men weren’t the same, even if her hormones were having a difficult time parsing the differences.
“You’re pretty sure of yourself.”
“I’m pretty sure that this person needs to be stopped. And I’m also sure I need help to do it. Red Ridge is small. No one will believe it if I suddenly begin dating one of my employees at the station. People will believe you and I are for real.”
Once again, those sly fingers of need wove around her spine, gripping hard. “Why do you think that?”
“You’re an attractive woman. Presumably unattached right now?”
She ignored the sting of the presumption and gave him a quietly muttered “Yes.”