“I brought the autopsy report since you didn’t come swimming this morning,” she snapped to cover her discomfort. “Where were you?”
She didn’t want to admit she’d missed him…and worried about him. He never missed a swim.
When he tried to help her with her coat, she batted him away. “I can do it.”
He held up his hands, looking so masculine in a navy sweater and jeans. “What crawled up your ass?”
At his direct approach, she threw her coat aside. “I don’t like lying to Jillie about this. That’s what.” Who cared if it were a half-truth? She wasn’t about to say she was mad at him for asking her to give him everything.
His hearty sigh filled the silence. “Yes, lying fucking sucks. Hopefully we won’t have to do it for much longer, and this will all be over.”
The emotion in his voice stopped her from yanking off her gloves. “What are you so upset about?”
The intensity of his gaze rocked her back on her heels. “I don’t like lying to a Hale either.” He hung her coat. “I missed our swim because something came up with my family. I should have called.”
She pressed her hands to the navy bustier she was wearing under her green sweater, seeking balance. She didn’t know what to say. Their conversation made it seem like she had a right to know where he was. Like they were exclusive.
“Is everything all right?”
“No, but it will be. Thanks for bringing the autopsy report. I assume you read it.”
She let him change the topic, but it only made her more curious. What was his family like? What had made him the man he was? Scary thoughts.
“Of course, I read it. The suspense was killing me. There’s nothing there. It’s a paragraph.” She dug into her purse and thrust the paper out. “Read it yourself. Then I have some things to share.”
He grabbed the report. “Let’s have some coffee.”
She followed him into the kitchen, trying to ignore what a showstopper it was. Gleaming stainless steel appliances, acres of granite countertops, and copper pots hanging from iron beams over a double stove.
“Grandpa and I are still trying to figure out how to ask for the police report without raising suspicion.”
He started the coffee in a shiny, expensive appliance that had to be European.
“You talked to him? Good. Let’s wait a bit on the police report until we think this through.” He grabbed the autopsy report and started skimming it.
Hopping onto the bar stool in front of the massive gray granite counter, she swung her leg back and forth. “Then I can tell—”
“It mentions alcohol in her system, but nothing else? What the hell?” Tanner tossed the report aside.
“I’ve thought about this. I think Gene left out any illegal substances to protect her family. They’re elders in his church. We can ask him quietly.”
“I’m sorry. What are you talking about?”
“Gene Kerris, the coroner. He goes to the same church as Jemma’s family.”
“Christ! Obstruction of justice for moral purposes?”
“Who said it was obstruction of justice? He would never do that!”
“There’s no mention of marijuana or anything laced. How do you know him again? Gene, right?”
Meredith inhaled the dark roast scent of the coffee before taking a drink from the cup he offered her. “He’s my dad’s best friend. Lives down the street. They’re fishing buddies.”
“Well, you said he was a family friend.”
“Yes. He and his wife have been part of our lives forever. They’re probably my favorite of my parent’s friends.” She smiled, rubbing her thumb against the rim of her coffee cup “Gene’s a nut, always cracking jokes. He has the scariest house around Halloween, and he used to freak out all of the kids by saying that he had a real corpse in the basement. Anyone who had the nerve to show up at his door got a whole bag of candy.”
He leaned back. “Did you?”
She took a deep breath as his long, lithe form stretched out toward her. “Yes. My dad promised Jill and me Gene was only kidding, but he held our hands as we walked up the steps.” It was a good memory. Her dad had helped her face her fears. Where had that brave little girl gone?
“Now, I’m officially in The Twilight Zone. We have a Halloween-loving coroner with a sense of humor who left out details about marijuana and maybe more in an official report to protect some people in his church? What century is this?”
She pulled her hair. “You don’t get it! This is a small town. Gene’s protecting Jemma’s family from a church scandal. She was a good kid. People can be narrow-minded sometimes.”