work it out.”
“You don’t need to work anything out,” Morgan responded, trying to regain control of the situation, but neither man seemed to hear.
“You’re sure?”
“Absolutely.” Jackson smiled, his gaze on Morgan. She was sure he was trying to convey something with his unwavering stare, but for the life of her, Morgan couldn’t figure out what it was.
“You two can discuss this all you want, but I don’t need or want Jackson sticking around,” she said, and Jackson responded with a brief shake of his head.
Obviously, he was trying to tell her something.
“You don’t, but if it’ll ease our friends’ minds to know that I’m here looking out for you, what’ll it hurt for me to stick around?”
And she finally got it.
He had no intention of playing bodyguard. He simply wanted to reassure Jude and Lacey so they could enjoy their wedding and honeymoon. That she could do. That she could deal with. “All right. If it’ll help everyone feel more comfortable, I’ll agree to it.”
“You will?” Lacey sounded so shocked, Morgan would have smiled if she hadn’t been in so much pain.
“Every once in a while, I see the sense in someone else’s plan. Jackson has a good one. You and Jude will have a wonderful day tomorrow and a wonderful week away, and I’ll be perfectly fine while you’re gone.” Fine without Jackson, but Morgan didn’t say that.
“Oh, Morgan, thank you!” Lacey pulled Morgan into a gentle hug.
“Don’t thank me. Thank Jackson. It was his plan.” His lie. But Morgan didn’t say that, either. She had too many of her own issues. Too much of her own sin to deal with. No way did she plan to point fingers at someone else until she could look in the mirror and stop seeing all the mistakes she’d made.
“Thank you, too, Jackson,” Lacey said “You don’t know how much this means to me.”
“Sure I do.” Jackson smiled and accepted Lacey’s hug, his gaze meeting Morgan’s again.
“I hate to interrupt the love fest, but I just finished at the crime scene, and I need to get some information from Morgan,” Jake Reed said as he strode into the room, a small notebook in his hand. He looked grim and unhappy, his jaw set and his lips drawn into a thin, hard line. Bad news had a look to it. A hardness and ugliness that no amount of trying could hide. Jake had that look, and Morgan braced herself to hear whatever he had to say.
“What is it? Did you find something?”
“Nothing significant. We’ve got a couple of smudged prints, the tread of a shoe in the blood on your kitchen floor. We’ll see if it matches to your shoe.”
“What else?”
“Nothing. The guys who attacked you were thorough. Professional. They didn’t leave hair or clothes fibers. We’re checking on some blood in the gallery. It may belong to one of our perps.”
“Okay.” Morgan took a deep breath. Waiting. Waiting. There was more. She was sure of it.
“While the forensic evidence team worked, I made some phone calls. Thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to check up on your ex.”
“And?”
“I’ve got some news that you may not want to hear, but it’s got to be said.”
“So just say it.”
“Cody Bradshaw is dead. He was killed by an inmate three days ago.”
“He’s dead?” Morgan couldn’t wrap her mind around the thought. Vibrant, larger than life Cody. Dead.
The words didn’t seem to go together.
“I’m afraid so.”
“Why wasn’t I told?”
“His parents were listed as next of kin. Since you and Bradshaw are divorced, you weren’t contacted. I guess your in-laws didn’t bother to let you know?”
“No.” They wouldn’t have. They still blamed her for their son’s incarceration. According to the Bradshaws, Morgan had led their son down a path to destruction. They’d cut ties with her before the divorce was final.
She’d been happy to let them.
It was the way she’d wanted it. No contact with Cody. No contact with his parents. No contact with the past.
Too bad the past refused to let her go.
“Are you okay?” Jackson’s hand rested on her shoulder, his fingers warm through her borrowed T-shirt. Morgan wanted to tell him that she was fine. That hearing of Cody’s death wasn’t nearly as hard as hearing that he’d murdered his business partner had been. But the words stuck in her throat, and all she could do was nod.
“I’ve got a call into the warden. Hopefully by tomorrow we’ll have more information about what happened. Until then, I want to offer my sincere condolences,” Jake said, his grim expression never easing.
“Thank you.”
“Morgan, I’m so sorry.” Lacey’s eyes were filled with tears, and Morgan wanted to tell her to save them for something more tear-worthy, but she knew how harsh that would sound. How wrong.
The fact was, she’d loved Cody once. Might have continued to love him if he hadn’t betrayed her one too many times. In the nearly two years since he’d been in prison, Morgan hadn’t wasted time missing him and had rarely spent time thinking about him. But that didn’t mean she wanted him dead.
“It’s okay. I’m okay,” she offered, fighting tears she wouldn’t shed. There’d be a time to mourn the loss of life, but it wasn’t now. It wasn’t here. Later, when she was walking through the vivid green pasture behind her parents’ house, when she was staring up at the deep blue foothills of the Rocky Mountains, when she was all alone except for the grass and the sky and God, then she would cry. For Cody. For herself. For what they could have had, but had never managed to create.
“Can you think of anyone who would want your husband dead, Morgan?” Sheriff Reed asked.
“Ex-husband,” she said by rote. As if it mattered any longer.
“Sorry. Your ex. Is there anyone you can think of who had a grudge against him?”
“Not offhand. Cody could be charming when he wanted to be.”
“Did he always want to be?”
“If you’re asking if he had enemies, then you’ll have to ask someone else. Cody kept his business life separate from our life together.” He’d kept other things separate, too, but Morgan decided not to say as much. Not now with a roomful of people listening.
“If you think of anything…”
“I’ll let you know. Is there anything else you needed to ask? Because I’m exhausted, and I’d really like to go home.”
“Nothing that can’t wait for another time. I’ve got a cleaning crew getting your apartment and gallery in order. You may want to stay here for the night.”
“I’d rather not.”
“You can stay with me,” Lacey offered, but Morgan shook her head.
“I need to pack.”
“Pack?” Jake speared her with a hard gaze.
“I need to put some distance between myself and what happened tonight. I thought I’d go stay with my parents for a while.”
“And they’re where?”
“Washington.”
“That’s a long way from here.”
“I