Fugitive Filling by Jessica Beck Page A

invite him in?” I asked Jake as we both stepped back inside the cottage.
    “I offered, but he didn’t want to stay. He heard that we were the ones who found Teresa Logan’s body, and he wanted to hear all about it.”
    “Did he know her?” I asked.
    “According to him, they were engaged at one time,” Jake said.
    “But not still, right?” I asked incredulously. It was hard to believe that Teresa would have agreed to marry anyone, based on the way she flirted on a wholesale level.
    “No. They went to law school together, and he always assumed that they’d get married when they graduated. According to him, that had been the plan all along, but she’d broken it off the night before they marched across the stage to get their diplomas.”
    “So, he’s got to be A. He had to have written the note Miranda found in Teresa’s trashcan,” I said.
    “That’s how I figured it, too,” Jake said.
    “It’s kind of odd, him showing up like this right after she’s been murdered.”
    “He told me that he heard the news when he got back to his office, and he took time off work immediately to hurry up here. He admitted to me that he’d been trying to get her back, and he claimed that just when he thought she was warming up to him again, this happened. He seemed heartbroken enough about it.”
    “Do you believe him?” I asked my husband.
    “The truth of the matter is that if Miranda hadn’t read that letter and shared its contents with you, I would have completely bought his story. He made a very compelling argument that everything he said was true, and I found myself giving him the benefit of the doubt. He must be one heck of an attorney, I can tell you that much. I’m not that easy to sway.”
    “Even given what he told you, I’m still not sure why he’s here,” I said. “What good can possibly come from his presence, even if everything he told you was true?”
    “He claims that there’s still unfinished business he had with her and that he wouldn’t be able to rest until her killer was caught, but I wonder.”
    When Jake didn’t continue, I asked, “What exactly is it that you’re wondering? Would you care to share it with me?”
    “Sorry. Did I not finish the thought?”
    “You did not,” I said.
    “I’ve been mulling over one possibility since he first introduced himself. What if he killed her himself?” Jake asked as he frowned.
    “Wow, is that always the first place your mind goes?”
    “What can I say? I spent too much time in my career questioning the motives of anyone even remotely connected to the case I was working on at the time. Alexander Rose appears to be angry that she was murdered, but it feels a little contrived, if you know what I mean. Maybe he’s dealing with it as best he can and my suspicions are based on nothing more than my eagerness to think the worst of people, but I don’t completely trust him.”
    “Could your attitude have anything to do with his chosen profession?” I asked Jake as I took off my jacket.
    “Maybe. I’ve certainly had enough cases snatched away from me at the last second by aggressive attorneys to make me mistrust the lot of them,” Jake admitted. “Anyway, he’s asked me to keep him informed, and I could swear the man actually tried to pay me for the privilege. When he found out about my background in law enforcement and that I was a private citizen now, he actually asked me if I was for hire, if you can believe that.”
    “It’s not that crazy a concept,” I said. “Lots of private detectives are former cops, aren’t they?”
    “I don’t know. I never really thought about it,” he admitted.
    “Maybe it’s something to consider,” I said.
    “I don’t know. I’d have to give it a great deal of thought, and I’m not ready to make that kind of decision right now anyway. There’s just too much going on around here at the moment. For at least the foreseeable future, I’m sticking to being an amateur. It’s an interesting