Fatal Reunion. Jessica R. Patch

“I’ll see what I can do. Where are you staying in case I need to contact you?”

      Oh, he was going to love this. “I’m staying with Harmony Fells. I can get you the address.”

      A puff of air escaped his nose. He shook his head.

      “We’ve changed. And I have nowhere else to go.” Piper had cut ties with everyone else she’d been involved with, and Mama Jean’s house was a crime scene.

      “The address?”

      Piper rattled it off.

      “Nice neighborhood. How does she afford that?” Luke scribbled the address on a notepad. The accusing tone in his voice rang loud and clear.

      Piper bristled. “She works for an insurance company, and she has her Realtor’s license. The house was a foreclosure. But I’m pretty sure that has nothing to do with your investigation, and from here on out, I’m only answering questions that pertain to my grandmother’s case.”

      Piper caught the corner of Luke’s mouth twitch north, but then he grew serious. “Fair enough. I think your grandma was an innocent bystander. This Baxter guy may have invited trouble. But if not, would there be anything you can think of that might have led to her place being trashed?”

      Piper had stewed over that same question during the drive. Was God punishing her for her past? Not that she didn’t deserve it, but Mama Jean was the sweetest woman on the planet, and she loved God, so why would He allow this to happen to her?

      “I don’t know. She lives on a fixed income. Doesn’t even have a computer or a cell phone. I can’t imagine someone thinking she had anything of value. It must have something to do with Christopher Baxter.” Mama Jean had blinders when it came to wounded souls. When she was stabilized, they’d have a talk about that, but until then Piper wasn’t going to sit by and let some lowlife get away with hurting her grandmother. And while Christopher Baxter might have been a thug himself, no one deserved to be murdered. She had every intention of finding out who had done this and why.

      “The detective in the theft unit told me the basement had been meticulously disarranged. Even a few holes in the walls. Whoever did this was hunting for something, Piper.” He eyed her until she fidgeted. “If they didn’t find what they were after, they could come back.”

      And if it was connected to Piper’s previous mistakes, they would. Invisible icy claws scraped down her spine. Was Luke trying to terrify her? It was working.

      “If it was something they wanted from Christopher Baxter, they got it. Otherwise, they’d need him alive.” Piper adjusted Mama Jean’s covers and ran her hands over her bony fingers jutting from the cast.

      She needed to be alone. She’d barely had time to process being back in Memphis. The fact that Luke Ransom was a foot away was too much to bear. Instead of trusting her all those years ago, he’d believed the worst about her. She’d never got over that pain.

      “You may be right. I just hope whatever is going on doesn’t implicate you.” Regret and a hint of accusation laced his voice.

      “I would never do anything to hurt Mama Jean, and you know that if you know nothing else.” Piper had half a mind to throttle him right here in the room. To insinuate Piper had anything to do with this—would ever intentionally put Mama Jean at risk... She rubbed her temples, a migraine trying to break through.

      “Getting one of your headaches?”

      The familiarity between them pushed against her chest. Piper had a sick feeling this was the first of many headaches to come. What if this did have something to do with her former messed-up life?

      * * *

      Luke might as well have been hit with an atomic bomb. The minute Piper had stepped into the room, he’d imploded. Lost his breath. And hated himself for it. She might have lied about loving him once, but Mama Jean was her world. The one person she refused to disappoint, though if Mama Jean ever found out about Piper’s infractions, it’d send her to her grave. But maybe not. Mama Jean was a strong woman.

      Strong like the one standing before him now. Hazel eyes that bordered brown. She didn’t hold the hard edge anymore, but Piper Kennedy radiated tough. And no doubt she was even fiercer than when he’d loved her a decade ago, considering the martial-arts path she’d traveled after leaving Memphis. Despising himself every time, he’d checked up on her throughout the span of ten years.

      Piper dropped her hand from her temple and clutched her purse to her side. “Sometimes. When I’m stressed.”

      “The theft unit will probably want to ask you some questions, as well.”

      “Why? Because you told them about my past?” Her voice invited a challenge.

      Luke wouldn’t share her past with a soul. Never had. For her sake and his. He’d put his career in jeopardy over Piper once, and now he was up for a promotion to sergeant. No way would he risk that. “No. Because you’re family. But since you’re bringing it up, you should know if this has anything to do with that, it’ll come out. They’ll look hard at you.”

      Her face blanched, and she white-knuckled her purse. “I’m clean.”

      “I’m just saying.” She didn’t have an ally in Luke anymore. Not since that night ten years ago when she gave him false information about a burglary, sending him on a wild-goose chase. While they were waiting to bust Chaz—at the wrong location—the real burglary went down and south quick. A woman almost died. And Piper had been right there in the thick of it. Betraying him for a criminal like Michaels.

      So why did he want to take her at her word now? Because he wanted to believe the best about her. Always had. He prayed she wasn’t entangled in this.

      “I have my own business. My own home. You can dig all you want—you won’t find anything.”

      That was what he was banking on. Luke was aware Piper owned a karate dojo in Jackson. That she’d competed in international championships. And won. She’d gone from scrappy to stealth. Beneath the still-raw pangs of betrayal, he hated to admit he was proud of her in that area. Unfortunately, just because her nose seemed clean didn’t mean it was. He refused to let tender feelings for Piper—though unwanted—cloud his judgment on this case and ruin his shot to move up.

      “They, Piper, not me. But if his murder leads me back to you, I can’t let it go. Not this time.” He brushed past her and out the door. If Piper had connections to this burglary, and ultimately Christopher Baxter’s death, he wouldn’t be played. Luke had wised up since his rookie days undercover with the theft unit. A pretty face wasn’t always an innocent face.

      Piper had proved that.

      The moment he’d laid eyes on her, when she was eighteen and he was only twenty-one, a fierce need to protect her gripped him. But he’d always been a protector—a fixer, like Granddad—whether it was a stray cat, a broken bird or a hungry dog. Piper had been broken, wounded—a stray—when they met inside that pool hall. Turned out the one thing Luke should have protected, he’d left vulnerable.

      His heart.

      Eric Hale, Luke’s partner, stood with a cup of coffee in his hand. “You were in there awhile. Did she wake up?”

      Eric had given Luke a few minutes to see Mama Jean. The woman had always cared about him. He’d checked in on her over the years, and she’d promised never to tell Piper. Looked as if she’d kept up her end of the bargain.

      “No. Her granddaughter showed up. I asked her a few questions.” Eric had no idea about his connection to Piper, and until he could figure out what to say about her, he’d like to leave it that way.

      “She offer anything useful?” Eric finished his coffee, trashed it, then fell into step with Luke as he zipped up his black leather jacket.

      “Useful? No.”

      “You believe her?”

      That was the question.