Page 16 of Slay Bells

“Good evening everyone. I have questions for each of you. Anyone else that may have been at the cabins today as well.” His small eyes went to each of them. “It’s going to be a long night.”

Gabriela frowned. “Is he friend or foe?” she whispered to Jeremy.

“Both.”

“Detective Sanders, this is Gabriela Diaz, a writer from California. She’s the one who found Maloney.”

Sanders eyed her as if she were a clue. “Young lady. Sorry about the way Montana welcomed you.”

So maybe he wasn’t so bad.

Two hours later, her opinion changed. Detective Sanders had her go over every detail of the walk to the scene and what she saw several times. Each time he’d stopped her mid-sentence to ask more questions until she wanted to punch him in the face.

Finally Jeremy stepped in. “I think you’ve got what you need. If anything else comes to mind, I’ll ensure to let you know.”

Gabriela wanted to cry from exhaustion allowing Jeremy to guide her to the kitchen where Williams had already questioned Henry and another ranch hand. Natalie and Rick were told to go in to be interviewed by Sanders.

Their questioning only lasted ten minutes or so. However, both looked as drained as she felt when they returned to the kitchen.

“You should probably stay here at the main house tonight. We’ve done a sweep of the area, but I imagine you’re nervous.” Jeremy’s hazel gaze met hers. The green was darker than normal, she supposed due to the intensity of the situation.

“I agree, stay here. This is horrible. I insist,” Natalie said seeming to be close to tears. “I feel horrible about all this.”

Gabriela decided she wasn’t going to cower. She didn’t expect anything to happen with all the police crawling around.

In San Diego it was nothing to wake up to sirens at least once a week or have to skip an elevator when some sort of public servant took it over for some emergency in her building.

“I’m okay. I’m from the city. Stuff like this is not a big deal.” This however was different. Not only was it a small town, but also everyone seemed to know the victim and his family. And of course there was the fact she’d found the body.

“Is there anything else you noticed or saw that you can think of?” Jeremy asked as they walked to her cabin. She suspected he didn’t offer to drive so that it would give her time to breathe fresh air and consider his questions.

“No. Like I said, I thought I saw a shadow in the woods, but it seemed too small to be a human. I thought maybe it was a large bird or something.”

He nodded and took her arm to guide her around a tree stump. They made it up the steps and Gabriela unlocked the door.

He insisted on walking in first while she waited just inside. Finally he came back to the front room. “Looks to be clear.”

A tremble traveled through her at his proximity. “Jeremy?”

“Mmm?”

“Did you check the closet?”

His lips quivered. “Yep. Under the bed too.”

“Okay.” She didn’t move. Aright so yes she was spreading it a bit thick. But the way he was acting all heroic made her insides turn to mush. Besides, why not play the scared victim just for a bit and see how he handled it.

He led the way into the bedroom, turned and put both arms up on the wall trapping her. “Is there anything else I can do for you Gabriela?”

So he’d seen right through her ploy. “Umm. I guess not.” She bit her bottom lip, sure she was blushing.

Then he kissed her.

And she forgot everything, the dead body, the weather and even her name. The kiss was sudden, unexpected and oh so very perfect. The way his mouth moved over hers made her legs wobbly and stomach flip. The man definitely knew how to do it right.

When he broke the kiss, she remained still, her eyes closed needing to keep the sensations just a bit longer.

“Are you all right?” Jeremy cupped her jaw. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…”