Deadly Intentions by Candice Poarch

Claxton, are you by any chance related to Alyssa Claxton?”
    â€œShe’s my cousin.”
    Officer Wright immediately focused on Brian. “Mr. Knight, why are you making an appearance here?”
    â€œTo see if the crime scene tape had been lifted. I need to get a few things from the house.”
    He nodded. “I want to remind you that this is not the military. Leave the investigating to the local police.”
    Brian nodded. “I’m just here to heal from my injuries.”
    Clearly the officer didn’t believe him. Alyssa must have spoken to him.
    â€œI’ll arrange for someone to let you into the house later today.” He asked a few more questions before he gave them stern looks and took his leave.
    They stayed a few more minutes, then drove to the rinky-dink motel Brian checked into the previous day.
    â€œLet me take you to a better place than this flea trap,” Lisa said.
    â€œThis is okay. I like living within my means.”
    Lisa could respect that. She didn’t know his rank, but the military didn’t pay a fortune. She turned into the parking lot, stopped in front of his room, and parked. She stared at the door in front of her. Her heart beat erratically. She was coming unglued. Two people were dead. Dead. Yesterday Lisa was riding on adrenaline. But today . . . Two people were dead, she thought again. She didn’t belong here. Her goal was to find the bowl, then tell Alyssa.
    She sat there so long, Brian twisted the key and took it out of the ignition. Then he laid his hand on Lisa’s. “Come inside with me for a few minutes.”
    She’d had enough. She should have let the cab take Brian home. She never should have clung close to him to get close to the bowl. She was ill equipped for investigating. She should have left it to Alyssa.
    â€œI’ve got a lot to do.”
    Lisa wanted to hand the information over to Alyssa, but Alyssa worked within the law and by that time, the bowl would disappear again. Maybe Lisa should talk to him. Maybe his grandfather hadn’t known he was buying a stolen bowl. Or maybe it was wishful thinking on her part. Lisa was at a stalemate—at another crisis moment. Would she make the wrong decision, as usual? Would Brian turn out to be just another lying man who had his own selfish agenda?
    He might be a fine-looking man, but this was strictly business, not personal. Lisa sighed, indecisive. Could she let go and trust again? The bowl was her family’s heirloom. She couldn’t afford to make another mistake. God knew she’d made too many in her lifetime. Okay, one of the things her sister tried to drill in her was that everyone made mistakes. Other people just learned their lesson and moved on. But other people didn’t continually make mistake after mistake. She was trying to turn her life around—to make herself worthy of her grandmother’s trust.
    And she didn’t want to end up dead like Harriet and Eileen.
    Just because a few people had deceived her didn’t mean that everyone would. Again, she had to remember this wasn’t personal. She wasn’t going to date Brian or become close friends with him.
    Inside the rundown motel room, Lisa sat on the badly sprung couch. “Do you really think Mrs. Mable drowned?” she asked. “I’ve never met her, but I know some people are really protective of their animals.” She’d run into plenty of them in her line of work, but to drown saving your dog?
    Brian sank to a chair. “Mrs. Mable lives next door to my grandfather. What do you think?”
    Should she trust Brian? What was it about him that made her want to? If she was wrong, there was always plan two. Alyssa.
    Her grandmother liked Brian and Lisa was pretty sure if Grandma trusted him, she could, too. Grandma was a good judge of character. Lisa decided to confide in him.
    â€œI believe your grandfather had a bowl that’s been in my family for