Читать книгу A Face in the Shadows - Lenora Worth - Страница 11

“Mr. Buchanan, you need to come down to the station with us.”

Parker Buchanan looked from the two officers standing at the front door of his house to the woman standing in shock behind him. Before he could speak, Kate Brooks pushed her way around him.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, glaring at the investigators, daring either of them to step forward.

Out in the backyard, her son’s ninth birthday party was in full swing and Parker didn’t want this to ruin Brandon’s big day. “What do you want?” he asked, his tone firm and in control in spite of the tremors pushing through his pulse.

“We just need to ask you some questions,” one of the officers answered.

Parker knew both of them. He’d gone to college with Nikki Rivers and he’d seen her partner, Jim Anderson, around town. And he knew why they were here. In fact, he’d been expecting this visit for a while now. Ever since the body of a classmate, Josie Skerritt, had been discovered a few months ago buried on the campus grounds, their entire graduating class had become suspects. Then Cassie Winters’s brother, Scott, had died mysteriously just a few months ago. Everyone who’d known either Josie or Scott had been questioned. Now, it would seem, Parker’s number was up. He glanced at Kate, thinking it made sense that their time together would have to come to an end. Wasn’t that just his luck? Whenever something good started happening in his life, the bad was soon to follow.

“Let me get my jacket and cane,” Parker said, pulling Kate back away from the door. He limped to a nearby umbrella stand and grabbed one of his many walking sticks. The one he picked up now had a scrolled silver handle. A bit of embellishment to compensate for his permanent disability.

“They can’t do this,” Kate said, turning toward him, her blue eyes full of doubt and fear. “Parker, you should call Seth, at least. You might need a lawyer.”

“I don’t have anything to hide,” he replied, memories swirling like ink spots in front of his eyes. “Look, Josie knew all of us. It’s only natural they’d want to question me again, especially since she and I were good friends.” He gave Kate a warning look, then glanced toward the officers. “I’m surprised they haven’t already called me. And I do have something that might interest them, remember?”

Kate stood back, her hands at her sides. “But…they want to take you with them—that sounds more like an arrest.” She turned toward Nikki. “Can’t you just talk to us here? C’mon inside where we can talk privately and I’ll make some coffee.”

Nikki shook her head then looked down at the planked porch floor. “Sorry, we can’t do that, Kate. We’ve been ordered to bring him in—just for questioning.”

“And we can’t go into the details,” Jim said, his tone apologetic. Then he looked back at Parker. “It shouldn’t take too long.”

Parker nodded, then tugged on his jacket. “I’ll be back soon,” he told Kate, hoping that was the truth. “Just stay here and keep the party going. Wait for me, okay?”

Kate gave a quick nod. “I’ll be right here, I promise. But what should I tell Brandon?” she asked, her blue eyes widening. “He’s going to wonder why you’re not out there with everyone?”

Parker leaned close, taking in the floral scent of her perfume. Wrapping his arms around her, he gave her a light hug, then closed his eyes to block out the memories. “Tell him I’m helping the police find the bad guy.”

Then he let her go and left with the two officers.