Death and Her Devotion (Rogue Vows #1)(13)

Stevie knew her mother was actually serious. “I will.” She took her mother’s hand, giving Patsy her full attention. “Don’t take my distraction for disinterest. I’ve been looking forward to this day for months. I can’t wait to be with Zane. Thank you for doing this for me. I know all your hard work will make it a perfect day.” The words came from her heart. What would I do without my mother?

Patsy pulled her close, touching her forehead to Stevie’s. “Love you, darling.”

“Love you more.”





CHAPTER FIVE


The organizational committee had gone their separate ways, each one with a job to keep Solitude’s head above the rising sea of people. Every time Stevie glanced out the window, more people had congregated across the street. Carter had been assigned to corral the media in the huge clearing next to the grocery store and herd people away from the front of the police station. Stevie watched him have words with one photographer. Carter’s back stiffened as the big photographer waved his hands and mouthed off in protest. Carter stood his ground, and Stevie was glad she couldn’t hear the exchange of words. She doubted they were pleasant.

Carter moved quickly to stop a young woman with long, black hair as she made a beeline for the police station door. Stevie breathed a sigh of relief and focused on Kenny’s interview notes from the campers at Crying Indian. She didn’t need any more Chase Ryan groupies bursting through the door.

To her surprise, Carter opened the door a minute later, letting the woman enter ahead of him. “Hey, Stevie,” he said. “I think you’ll want to talk to this woman.”

Stevie scowled. The Asian girl was striking. Another groupie? “What can I do for you?”

“I’m Jenny Blair,” she stated with an expectant look.

The name meant nothing to Stevie. “I’m sorry, but why are you here?”

“I’m Brandon’s mom. I was told to wait here for him.”

A small shock rolled through Stevie. She’s not a groupie? “I don’t suppose you have proof of who you are?”

The woman frowned. “I have a driver’s license . . . but it doesn’t say ‘Brandon’s mom’ on it.”

“Let’s see it.” Stevie studied the plastic ID. Jenny lived in Portland. That part lines up with what Josh told us. But Stevie wasn’t about to be snowed again. “You’ve talked to Spider?”

“I spoke with both him and Josh this morning,” said Jenny. “Their last call said they were leaving the campground to move into some place in town and that they’d meet me here. I’ve been driving for over four hours. Do you have any water?” she asked.

“I do.” Stevie still wasn’t convinced the girl wasn’t a scam artist. “Do you have any pictures of Brandon?”

Jenny’s face lit up, and she pulled out her phone. Her wallpaper was a shot of Brandon in a pool.

“How about a picture of the two of you?”

The woman wrinkled her forehead and starting searching through her photos. “Why are you—oh Lord. Don’t tell me Cyndee’s been here already?” She glanced up with wide eyes and held out a photo of her, Brandon, and Chase.

“You know Cyndee?”

“I’ve heard all about her. No wonder you’re being cautious. I appreciate it.” Jenny ran her finger across the screen and showed Stevie a half dozen photos of her and her son. Many of them included the guys Stevie had met that morning.

Stevie went to grab Brandon’s mother a water bottle.

Jenny accepted it with gratitude. “I wanted to get something to drink at that deli, but it’s crazy out there. And it’s getting hot.”

“I suspect some enterprising teenagers will soon show up with coolers of water bottles to sell at a nice profit. Sit down and tell me about Brandon. I met him this morning and he seems to be doing all right. He’s sticking close to Spider.”

Jenny sat in the chair in front of Stevie’s desk. She picked at the label on her water bottle. “I miss him. We’re rarely apart.”

“I understand he lives with you while his father lives in LA.”

Her brown eyes were sad. “Brandon’s father didn’t want to get married. We’d been dating for a year or so when I got pregnant, but he was about to move away. He even accused me of getting pregnant to keep him from heading to LA.”

Stevie blinked. To her, Spider hadn’t seemed the type to strike out like that, but his words to Jenny must have been spoken in a highly emotional moment. “That’s horrible.”

“Portland is my home. I wasn’t about to leave. It’s a good place for Brandon to grow up.”

“He doesn’t see Spider very often, does he?”

Jenny shifted in her chair, her gaze moving to the crowds out the window. “This trip once a year is about it.”

That poor boy. The yearning look on Jenny’s face told Stevie she still had strong feelings for Spider. Stevie decided to change the topic. “Do you know much about Chase? We’re trying to find someone who could have been angry enough to murder him.”

Jenny met her gaze and held it for a long time. “I wouldn’t know.” She shifted her gaze back to her water bottle.

Stevie’s bullshit meter went off. She knows something.