Professor Cavin came up behind me, looking in.
"You and my mom… "
He nodded. "Yes. This is where it happened, during our last study retreat here."
He walked away quickly, heading outside to the porch.
I used the time alone to search the small cabin, looking in drawers and cupboards, hoping for something that would lead to the book my mother wrote. All I found were a few dust bunnies and some expired cans of food.
Frustrated, I joined the professor outside and sat next to him on the porch swing facing the lake.
He stared at the horizon. "Alice was a beautiful woman. One-of-a-kind. She had a passion for life I'd never seen in anyone else. That passion glowed within her and made her a star in a world of darkness."
"I wish she was still here." I kicked my feet out in front of me to make the swing move faster.
"I do too. I know she would hate seeing you go through all this. It would break her heart, but she would fight for you with every fiber of her being."
I sucked in a breath and watched a squirrel climb a tree, wishing I could be as free and unencumbered. "I'm being framed," I said.
Professor Cavin looked at me, his eyes narrowing. "Why?"
"Someone wants that book my mom was working on. They think I have it, or that I can find it, and they want me to trade it for Brig. That's why I wanted to come here. I… I don't know, I guess I hoped this cabin would hold some clues as to where my mom put it."
The professor nodded sagely. "Who would know about the book? And who would think you had access to it?"
Who, indeed? Plenty of people would have known about the book. She hadn't kept that part a secret.
But only one person would have reason to believe I knew where it was. Only one person had a letter from my mother saying, The book is with Cat.
Maxwell.
Chapter Twenty Five
Hidden Pictures
THAT NIGHT, I told Ash my suspicions as we sat in the upstairs patio outside our bedroom, taking in the sights and sipping on cabernet.
"I don't think it's Maxwell," he said, stroking my hand. "Alice trusted him with that letter, with that information. If Lauren's right and Alice started to suspect someone close to her, it couldn't have been Maxwell or she wouldn't have confided in him, right?"
"True." He had a point. "But maybe she was wrong. Maybe my mom trusted the wrong person, suspected the wrong person."
We sat in silence for a few more moments as my brain churned with ideas. "What if we bait him?"
"Who, Maxwell?"
"Yes," I said. "I'll tell him I found the book and see what happens. If he's the killer, he'll act."
Ash frowned. "That's risky, sweetheart. Acting could mean hurting you."
I cuddled up against him. "That's why I have you to keep me safe."
"Speaking of, this weekend we're going shooting and doing some hand-to-hand combat training."
"Okay, deal. But first, we set this plan in action."
Ash pulled me unto his lap. "That's not what's happening first."
I smiled, rubbing against his already-hard cock. "Oh, really? What are you doing first then?"
"You." His hand slipped under my shirt and up to my breast as he kissed me, first tenderly, slowly, then with deepening, toe-curling passion.
"Shouldn't we go back in the room?" I asked.
"Why? No one can see us out here. I want you under the stars."
He lifted me up, switching places with me, pushing me into the couch while he kneeled in front of me and stripped my pants and underwear off. The cold air hit the warm folds of my pussy as he spread my legs and licked the sensitive flesh between my thighs.
I moaned and thrust my hips toward his mouth. Using two fingers, he entered me, finding the right spot to rub as he used his mouth to bring me to climax.
I came hard, my body bucking under him, and he shoved his cock into me as my pussy still clenched and unclenched. "God, you're so tight, Cat. You feel so good."
He fucked me hard and fast and I begged for more, faster, harder, as another orgasm wracked my body. I dug my fingers into his back, scratching his flesh as a wave of pleasure released in me and I sank my teeth into his shoulder. He moaned and nipped at my neck as we fell into each other's arms, breathing heavily and leaving trails of cold air between us.
"That was… amazing," he said.
I shivered in his arms. "You're amazing."
It was too chilly to sit there half-naked, so I pulled on my pants and curled up in his arms, satiated from our lovemaking and content to stay there forever. Ash, however, had other plans.
He stood and went into the bedroom, then came back with two Cuban cigars. "It's time we smoked together. You said, not too long ago, that you wanted to."