There was no need for the detective to be so aggressive, he didn’t deny he had spoken with Henry that night. “I wasn't away from Summer’s house for more than an hour. That doesn’t seem long enough to grab someone, subdue them, bundle them into a car—and Henry was kind of a big guy—take him someplace, stash him away there, and then get back to Summer’s all in one hour.”
“Can Summer corroborate that you were only gone a short while?”
Thanks to the sleeping pills he had given her to help her get the rest she needed, she had been passed out for hours. He didn’t even think she knew that he’d left for a short time let alone know how long he was gone. “No, she can't.”
“You said you hate spiders,” Detective Bennett said.
“Yes.” He nodded slowly, getting the feeling he wouldn’t like where this was headed.
She laid out several pages of paper on the table in front of him. A quick glance showed they were emails. “Then can you explain why you were in contact with an exotic pet store about what was needed to care for a spider as a pet?”
That had been months ago. How deeply were they digging into his past? “A friend, an ex-girlfriend who I'm still friends with, is turning thirty next month. She’s always wanted a pet spider. I thought I'd get her one for her birthday.”
Both the detectives raised suspicious brows.
They clearly didn’t believe him.
And he was beginning to doubt they ever would.
The feeling of helplessness that had descended on him when the cops first questioned him grew. He finally realized honesty wasnotgoing to be the best policy this time around. They had made up their minds, and they were going to take everything he said and twist it to use against him.
He was done.
He wasn't answering any more questions.
He wasn't going to give them any more ammunition.
“I'm not saying anything else without my lawyer.”
* * * * *
12:31 P.M.
“Luke should be here by now.” Summer couldn’t settle to anything. Even at her meeting she had been edgy and anxious. Now that was over, she was at Hope’s new house. She was supposed to be helping her unpack stuff, but really all she was doing was pacing nervously.
“Try to calm down,” Aggie said.
“Iamtrying,” she muttered.
“Nick said he would call when he knows anything,” her friend reminded her.
“It’s been hours.” She wished she had gone to the police station with Luke despite his not wanting her to. She still would have been stressing, but at least then she would have known what was going on. The waiting was killing her.
“Nick is with him, and his lawyer, he’ll be okay,” Hope consoled her.
“Jonathon and Allina have already made up their minds. They aren’t even looking at anyone else.”
“You don’t know that,” Aggie reminded her.
“What if they don’t believe that Luke is innocent?”
“Are you so sure he is?” Hope asked.
“Yes.” She nodded emphatically. The more she worried the less she doubted. Luke was a good guy. She knew it. She felt it. He had helped her break out of her self-imposed prison, he had made her feel alive again, and he had given her herself back.
“Even after …” Hope let the question trail off.
“Even after what happened with my husband?” Summer finished the question for her friend. When she’d come to Hope’s new house after her meeting to wait with her friends for news on Luke, she’d decided since he already knew she may as well tell them about her past too.