Deadly Fear (Deadly #1)(34)

The tray in Donna’s hands wobbled just a bit. “Wh-what? Why’s the FBI in Gatlin?”

“Just following up on an old case,” he said smoothly, trying to divert her attention. An old trick. Divide the focus, get to the truth faster. A handy way of questioning that had worked well for him in the past.

“What old case?” The tray steadied, but Luke was willing to bet Donna’s heartbeat hadn’t climbed back down yet.

“Investigating the murder of a friend of yours…” Monica tucked away her ID. “Saundra Swain.”

Donna fired a fast glance at the bar. “Saundra.” Her face paled.

“Was Saundra seeing anyone?”

Hesitation, faint, but there. “No.”

Luke smothered a sigh. Now why did people always want to lie?

“Really?” Monica sounded surprised. The woman was a pretty good actress. Actually, maybe she was too good. “That’s not what we heard in town.”

They’d actually heard jack shit outside of the bar. The folks of Gatlin were a tight-lipped bunch, at least when they were sober. Maybe once they started knocking back drinks…

Donna’s lips, painted a dark pink, tightened. “I’m tellin’ you, when Saundra d-died, she wasn’t seein’ nobody. No. Body.”

“But what about before she died?” A quick press from Monica. “What did I hear?” Laser blue eyes turned on him. “I’ll have to pull out my notes, but I think it was Kevin; no, Kenny—”

“Kyle.” The woman looked like she’d pass out any minute. Because talking about her dead friend hurt? Or was it something more? “She and Kyle weren’t seeing each other, okay? That was long over. Saundra knew she could do better. She ditched him, told his ass to hit the road.”

“Right.” Luke drummed his fingers on the sticky table top. Got the first name, just need the last. “And where can we find old Kyle? We need to clear up a few things with him.”

A toss of her hair. Really blond hair. So blond it kind of hurt the eyes. “Hell if I know. Bastard split town right after…” Her lips trembled. The crack showed in her shell then. Pain. “He cut out a few weeks after we buried Saundra.”

“Kyle—right.” Luke gave a nod. “His last name was—”

“West,” Donna snapped out. “And if he knows what’s good for him, he ain’t never comin’ back.”

“Guess you didn’t like him much.” Luke figured that was a big understatement. “Wanna tell us why?”

One shoulder lifted in a hard shrug. “He screwed around on Saundra. She caught the jerk with his pants down.…”

Now he had a feeling she meant that literally.

“That man was her life. She stayed in this shithole for him…”

So Donna wasn’t exactly loving Gatlin, either.

“—and when she found out what he was really like, she planned to split as soon as she could. She was almost there.” A sad shake of her head. “Two more weeks, and she would have been long gone.”

Instead she was just dead.

“She didn’t get out, he did.” Monica tilted her head back and studied Donna with steady blue eyes. “Doesn’t really sound fair, does it?”

“Hell, no, it—”

“Donna!” The bartender’s voice roared across the room. “Table six needs a refill!”

She jerked her head. “On it.” Her tongue swiped over those too pink lips. “You think—you think Kyle had anything to do with Saundra’s death?”

“Is there anyone else who might have wanted to hurt her?” Luke asked softly, not really answering.

“No. Saundra—she was good. Class, you know? Never said a bad thing about anybody. She didn’t deserve what she got.”

“Most people don’t,” Monica murmured.

Donna stared down at her. “Find the bastard who hurt her, would you? Maybe I’ll sleep better then.” She spun away, blond hair fluttering.

“I doubt you will.” Monica pushed away the beer she’d never tasted. “It doesn’t usually help.”

But Donna was already at the bar getting more drinks, flashing a big smile at the bald bartender, and acting like she didn’t have a care in the world.

But Luke had heard the quaver in her voice. Donna did care.

Luke leaned toward Monica. “There wasn’t a mention of this ex-boyfriend in the file.”

“There should have been. The guy would have been at the top of my suspect list.”

His, too. Sometimes, the people you loved the most could be the ones who hurt you. Very, very badly.

He sure as hell knew that lesson.

“I’m going to step outside and call Sam,” Monica said as she rose, brushing back the midnight hair that skimmed her cheeks. “Let’s see what she can find out about this Kyle West.”

If anyone could find the guy’s deep dark secrets online, Luke figured it would be Samantha.

“Try to keep your eyes off Donna’s chest while I’m gone, okay?”

He blinked. Wow. What was that? Jealousy? “Baby, you don’t have to worry.” Donna wasn’t the one he wanted. Only Monica.

Her lips parted, and he saw a flash of surprise in her eyes. She hadn’t meant to say that. Ah, maybe that fa?ade was falling away. His lips rose in a half-smile as she spun away from him and hurried away.