“Do you still have it?”
Rachel froze in place. She could practically feel his breath wafting against her neck. She could hear his heart thundering in his chest. His arm had brushed against her shoulder, sending heat splaying through her veins, and the sensation was unwelcome. Travis Gage was a man she should despise, and her body’s reaction to the closeness of his touch, his musky scent, the determination in his voice, just angered her more.
She refused to turn around, afraid of what she might feel if she looked him square in those gorgeous brown eyes. Through clenched teeth, she replied, “I’m not showing you my dead sister’s diary.”
“Rachel,” he spoke roughly into her ear. “If I’m responsible for Carrie’s death, I need to know.”
“I told you what I read.” She held her breath, trying to keep that manly scent from drifting through her thoughts.
“She mentioned me by name?” He moved closer, raising the temperature in her veins.
She pressed her body to the car, attempting to put some space between them. “I know what I read.”
“She said I’d called her the day she died?”
“Yes…well.” Her thoughts grew confused, and suddenly Rachel had her own interest in seeing the diary again. Her sister hadn’t exactly mentioned Travis by name. She’d never put names in her diary, but Rachel knew the codes. She had called him BF. That always stood for boyfriend. And Travis was her boyfriend. There was nothing in there about a break-up, she was certain of it. Or at least she’d been certain.
“Show me the diary, Rachel.”
Against her better judgment, she turned and what she saw left her stunned. His face was pained, and in his eyes there was nothing other than raw confusion. She’d always believed Travis was the BF Carrie had been referring to in her diary. She needed to believe it. She needed to have someone to blame, and as silly as it seemed, she had actually sought comfort in knowing who was responsible for shattering her sister to pieces.
If it wasn’t Travis, that meant someone else was out there, some unknown person who had destroyed her sister and walked away unfettered. Who was it? And did that person know what he or she had done?
Fear began to tremble in her hands. Her body went cold with the thought that the answers she’d always held on to may not be answers at all. If she was wrong about the diary, if it wasn’t Travis, then the closure she’d thought she had was suddenly gone.
She didn’t want to believe it, but somehow he’d succeeded in leaving her riddled in doubt.
“It’s at my mother’s house.”
“Fine, give me a minute to head back into the store to reschedule an interview. I can follow you—”
“No,” she said sharply.
Her mother’s house was not a place for visitors. Hell, it wasn’t a place Rachel went very frequently. The memories were too painful, the sights too sickening. And, depending on her mother’s state, she didn’t need the additional embarrassment of someone standing witness to the impurity from which she was born.
“I’ll get it myself. We’ll look at it at my house.”
Travis backed away, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a business card.
“I can be reached at the cell phone number,” he said, handing her the card. “Can you get it today?”
Rachel never knew what she’d find when she went to her mother’s house. One of these days she was certain she’d find the woman dead, which meant her afternoon could be spent with the coroner. Or worse, her mother could be entertaining one of the many suitors who stumbled in and out of her house in a drunken stupor. Rachel learned long ago to steer clear if she found a strange car in the driveway. Lord knows how many days it might be before the coast was clear enough to enter her childhood home.
“I don’t know if I’ll make it over today. I’ll try and I’ll let you know.”
A heavy sigh released from his chest as he lowered his hand from the car and opened the door for her. She tossed her purse on the passenger seat and slid behind the wheel.
Holding the door, Travis gave a grim smile. “Thank you, Rachel.”
This bad day was just getting worse. Not only had Rachel’s beliefs been ripped out from under her, she was now on her way to the one place she avoided like sour milk.