Midnight Exposure (Midnight #1)(55)

Reed’s expression was strained, the shadow of the building casting his chiseled features in stark relief. “You can’t just leave.”

Jayne took a step back. “I have to.”

“You’re alone and vulnerable. Someone is stalking you. You have no credit cards. No driver’s license. Three hundred bucks isn’t going to get you far if you factor in a hotel room. You haven’t been able to get in touch with your family.” Reed ticked the items off on his fingers. “What will you do if he follows you? There’s a lot of empty space between here and Philadelphia, and at the moment, much of it is buried under several feet of snow. You don’t even know that all the roads are clear.”

Jayne had no idea what she would do. But she had to break away from Reed before she drew the killer to his door.

“He still wants you.”

Her head ached with fatigue as she held back tears. She raised her chin. “We don’t know that. Maybe he destroyed everything important in the fire.”

“Then why did he try to grab you again? The fire had already been set.”

Good point. Shit. Moisture gathered hot in the corners of her eyes and she blinked away from Reed’s piercing gaze.

“I’ll be safer anywhere but here.” More accurately, she wasn’t going to be safe anywhere, but Reed and Scott wouldn’t be in danger once she was gone.

“I can’t let you just drive away all alone.” Reed’s voice softened. “Let me call Becca Griffin. Get her to keep Scott for the night. Then I’ll drive you to the airport in Bangor. You can wait there for the next available seat on a flight to Philadelphia. With all the heightened security, you’ll be safe at the airport. Hopefully, we’ll able to contact your brothers by then. Surely one of them would come get your Jeep.”

Jayne hesitated. It actually sounded like a rational plan.

“OK.” Her eyes grew hot, filling with tears. She looked away from the man she’d grown to trust in a very short time. “I’ll start calling airlines. I’d have to borrow more money.”

“Not a problem.” Reed pulled his cell from his pocket as he opened the door to the SUV. “May as well sit in here where it’s warm. I’ll start at the back of the alphabet. You take the front.”

“All right.” Jayne climbed in the passenger seat. The leather was cold on the backs of her jeans-clad legs, but Reed switched the heat on full blast. Before she could dial, a tap on the window made her jump. Doug Lang stood outside the passenger side of Reed’s truck, breath fogging in the damp air. Jayne lowered the window.

Doug’s face compressed into a piggish scowl. He handed Jayne a manila envelope. “Read this before you decide you’re safe with him.”

Reed didn’t speak, but his knuckles turned white on the steering wheel as Jayne opened the clasp and slid a few stapled pieces of paper from the envelope.

Doug jerked his gaze to Reed. “Nathan won’t let me make this public. Thinks it makes the town look bad, but you and I both know it’s only a matter of time before the reporters figure out who you really are. And why you’re hiding behind your middle name. Your whole life here has been a lie, hasn’t it?”

Jayne looked at a computer printout of a newspaper article. Reed’s picture stared back at her. The headline sent the blood rushing from her head. No. This couldn’t be. She couldn’t trust the wrong man twice.

Did Atlanta Homicide Detective Jefferson Kimball Get Away with Murder?





CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE


Reed stared at Jayne’s back. His gut twisted. Pressure built inside his chest. “It’s not what you think.” He turned toward her. Jayne opened the door and jumped out of the truck. Reed climbed down from the cab and rounded the hood. As he stepped toward her, her posture went defensive, one hand extended in front of her, palm out.

She backed away, turquoise eyes open wide and brimming with betrayal.

Reed halted and lifted both hands in surrender. “Jayne, I didn’t kill my wife. The case dragged on, and the press wanted someone arrested so they skewered me. They wouldn’t leave us alone. Christ, they even parked outside Scott’s elementary school. That’s why we moved here. That’s why I use my middle name now. I can’t stomach the thought of Scott getting hammered by the media again.”

No doubt Jayne was thinking about another man she’d once trusted, the fellow student who’d attacked her.

“I’m sorry, Reed.” She slid behind the wheel of her Jeep. Her voice shook. “I need to think.”

“Where are you going?”

She didn’t answer as she slammed her door. The locks clicked with a finality that made the ache in Reed’s chest swell. She’d trusted him, and now she thought he was a killer.

Reed’s raw throat clogged as she pulled away.

“Better start packing, Kimball.” Doug’s mouth twisted as he spat out the words. “This town will turn on you once everyone finds out you’ve been lying all this time. But you’ll have to hang around for the investigation. I’m sure the state police detective will want to speak to—”

Reed turned his back on the cop midthreat. The cop’s voice faded under the weight of Reed’s thoughts.

Jayne was alone. Vulnerable.

But what could he do? She’d left him. Because he’d hidden his past. Doug was an *, but he was right. Reed had been living a lie for years.