Tom pressed his knuckles against the wall. “Shit.”
“Okay, that’s a possibility.” Finn scribbled something on the notepad before turning his green stare back on me. “What about Agatha’s cousin, Harlow?”
I frowned. “Well, if what Bianca says about his debt problem is true, and if it’s true that this place could be worth a lot when the property market changes, I guess he could have wanted Agatha dead for her inheritance.” I tucked my hair behind my ears. “He swore he knew Agatha wasn’t going to leave him anything in her will and he seemed pretty convincing, but—“
“If somebody has the balls to strangle an old lady in her own home, they probably have the balls to lie without cracking,” Pussy interjected.
I nodded. “Pretty much. And Bianca insinuated it wasn’t the first time he’d been on the wrong side of the law.”
“Bianca,” Tom muttered. I glanced at him. “Bianca, Bianca, Bianca. She’s really stirring the pot, isn’t she? Dropping all those interesting little hints in your ear. You know she’s one of the wealthiest women in Salem, right? If anyone could pull strings in City Hall, it’s her.”
Finn shook his head. “But why? She has all the money she could ever want.”
“And she wasn’t even in the country when Aggie died. She told me she was at a conference in San Francisco that week, addressing hundreds of dating experts every day. Pretty rock solid alibi,” I said.
The banging on the front door started again, increasing in intensity with every passing second. Tom began to pace the floor like a lion in a cage, anger flaring in his eyes. Every muscle in his bare torso strained against his inked skin as he clenched his fists. “Whoever the hell is behind this, I’m going to find them. I swear to God.”
I watched him pace back and forth, my stomach flipping and my chest tightening. Did he really care that much about me? I reached for him and grabbed his hand, pulling him onto the bed beside Finn and me.
“I told you, getting angry won’t solve anything, Tom.” I slid my hand along the side of his arm and his muscles rippled under my fingers. My phone buzzed on the side table and I grabbed it, swallowing a curse as Officer Bert’s name flash across the screen.
“Who is it?” Finn asked. When I didn’t answer, he eased the phone from my grip. His creamy complexion paled to alabaster. “Oh shit, Price, don’t answer.”
“You think he knows that the media is outside our house?” I asked, my mind spinning. I was definitely going to throw up.
“Of course he does,” Pussy muttered. “The whole city will know before long. This kind of thing spreads quick, especially once it’s in the news. Once you get the media involved, a frenzy always follows. Price, if they peg you as the murderer, everything is going to change, you do realize? That’s how these things work.”
“You think I don’t know that, Pussy? This isn’t my fault. I didn’t ask for any of this.” I fell back on the bed and covered my eyes with my hands, breathing in, counting to three, and letting it out slowly through my mouth.
A shadow fell over my face as something stirred above me and I opened one eye to find Pussy staring down at me with his brows drawn together under his thatch of blond hair. There was no trace of his usual arrogance, his face stripped bare. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to blame you.” His voice was quiet. Soft. I raised my eyebrows and he gave me a tentative smile. “I’m a jerk when I get scared, Pricetag. And I don’t want to lose you. We’ve only just found you.”
I pulled myself into a seated position and punched him gently in the stomach, feeling the silky smoothness of his tanned skin under my fingers. “Don’t be stupid, Pussy. You’re not a jerk when you’re scared.” I paused. “You’re a jerk all the time.”
“Funny, Pricetag, very funny.” Pussy’s voice was loaded with sarcasm but the haunted look had faded from his eyes. He walked across the room and leaned on the windowsill. “Okay, we need a plan.” Pussy gave me a forceful glare. “Under no circumstances can you leave the house, Price. You stay here with us, so we can protect you.”
I shook my head. “I can hide all I want, Pussy, but as soon as the police get a warrant for my arrest, there’ll be nothing stopping them from coming through that door and forcing me to go with them.”
Tom smacked his fist into a pillow. “That’s not gonna happen. They have nothing on you.”
“You look so sure of yourself,” I said.
“I am,” he replied. His eyes burned like crystal fire as he held my gaze, sending a shiver down my spine.
My phone buzzed again, this time a text message. “I’m outside, Priscilla. Come to the door.” It was from office Bert.
I stood and turned my phone toward the guys so they could read the message. Finn stared at the phone. “A text message? What the hell is this guy angling at? You can’t just text a suspect. My dad’s a cop and he would never…” Finn’s voice faded away as we all stared at him, open-mouthed. He sat back down on the edge of the bed. “My dad is a cop.” He looked at us, his eyes as full as a spring pasture. “I remember his face. He’s a cop.”
Without thinking, I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around his neck and he buried his face in my shoulder. I ran my fingers through his hair, overwhelmed by the depth of emotion I could feel in his embrace. What the hell had Agatha done to these men? What could they have done that warranted a life sentence in a cat’s form? Maybe she was right, maybe they deserved it, but looking around the room, I just couldn’t believe that. And there was only one way to unlock the door to Agatha’s magic and her memories, and if I went down for her murder... I straightened my back and reluctantly eased myself out of Finn’s warm embrace.
“I’m going down to meet Officer Fitzgerald.” I held my hands up to silence their protests and lifted my jaw. “Stop! I know you want to protect me, and I appreciate that, but I want to protect you guys too. And you need to respect that. You need to put your faith in me.” Even though my stinking ex hadn’t ever been able to put an ounce of faith in me. I slammed down the memory of Gerard’s curled lip when I told him I was going to need a little more money to keep my juice bar in business, and I clenched my fists. “If there’s any way to make this right, I’ll find it, guys. But it’s my battle. You’ve got to trust me enough to let me fight it.”
Finn released his hold on my hand, and I stroked one finger along his jaw. “We’ll talk later, about your dad.” Pussy nodded to me as I passed, his arms folded tightly across his chest, and his face uncharacteristically somber. As I reached the bedroom door, Tom broke away from the others and blocked my path. A storm raged in the blue waters of his eyes. I placed my hand on his chest and leaned in, pressing my forehead against him. “I have to at least go talk to him, Tom. You know I do. Hiding inside will just make me look even guiltier.”
His breath was a groan in my ear as he relented and shifted his body to let me pass. My phone rang and I glanced at the screen. Officer Fitzgerald again. I steeled myself. “Hello?”
“Priscilla? It’s Officer Bert Fitzgerald.” His voice sounded hoarse and ragged through the phone, nearly as exhausted as I felt.
“I got your message, what do you want, Officer?” I didn’t bother to try and cajole him, it was way too late for any of that.
“The media got wind of the case, Priscilla. Somebody leaked some of my private notes.” His voice was tight with barely controlled rage. “I need you to let me inside, Ms. Jones.” When I didn’t answer, he pressed on. “You realize I can get a warrant and come in?”