Page 55 of See You Again

Cami slowly closed the menu and placed it in front of her.

“Productive.”

Before she had a chance to elaborate, the server approached. Once they were alone again, she looked at him thoughtfully. “Do you really want to know the details, or should I keep it surface?”

“Tell me about your day,” James repeated, and she rolled her eyes.

“That’s not really an answer, but okay. I drove down to Wheaton—that’s where Amy’s family live. A lot of her friends from the time she disappeared live there as well. I needed to interview a couple of them today.”

“Amy. That’s the case you’re working on?”

“I told you about her disappearance. That’s why I need the ad money.”

“No,” he said slowly. “You mentioned her name and that was what you wanted the funding for, but you never told me what the case was about.”

Cami’s forehead creased. “I’d disagree with you, but I’ve never known anyone with such a precise memory. It’s what made you such a good study partner.”

“I think that was a compliment.”

“It was. It can be infuriating, but I also envy it.”

She shouldn’t. It was because his memory was so reliable that he’d never been able to let go of what happened between them. The pain lingered, no matter how much he wished otherwise.

Cami gave him a quick overview of the young woman’s disappearance as they ate their dinners.

“And the ex-boyfriend has been cleared?”

“I’m not sure cleared is the right word, but Mark, that’s the detective on the case, doesn’t think he or Janelle were involved. I haven’t been able to speak with either of them yet.”

James hadn’t thought he’d be interested in her podcast. He’d assumed it was a glorified gossip show, a retelling of someone’s tragedy for entertainment, but after listening to how Cami and her partner Madison methodically approached the case and weighed evidence, he was impressed.

Cami had always been brilliant in school, always scoring better than he did, but he hadn’t expected her logical, detailed approach. In his memory, Cami was free-spirited and always looking for an adventure. Something James had never been good at. Seeing her incorporate all of it into her career was sexy as hell.

“I imagine that, whether they are guilty or not, they want to put it behind them. Small towns can be tough once you get a reputation.”

“That’s exactly my point,” Cami jabbed her fork into a tiny carrot. “I don’t think they can move on any more than Amy’s family can. The entire town thinks they did it. Until they bring someone to justice, it will always hang over her head.” She frowned and set her fork down. “After today though, I don’t have a lot of hope that I’ll be able to speak with her. Her husband is absolutely against it. He made that abundantly clear.”

The hairs on the back of James’s neck rose. Something in her expression and tone of voice set off alarms. He consciously kept his voice even. “You spoke with him?”

Cami made a face. “In a manner of speaking. He must have seen the social media post Lindsay put out about me being in town, or Janelle told him about the message I left, because he tracked me to a gas station after I left the police department.”

James heard his pulse beat in his ears. “He followed you?”

“I doubt it.” Cami shook her head. “It’s a tiny town, I would have noticed. It could have been coincidence, but it seems unlikely.” She shrugged. “Maybe he guessed I’d go to the police station and waited there until a stranger showed up. When I stopped to get gas across the street, he must have seen his chance.”

The beating turned into a roar at her nonchalant tone. The angry husband of a possible murderer had waited for her and confronted her in full view of a police station. And she shrugged? James grit his teeth trying to hold on to his temper. “Do you carry a gun?”

Cami’s eyes widened. “What? No! Why would I need a gun?” Her face relaxed. “You sound like Madison. I’ve never had any trouble before. Besides, I have a taser. Do you carry one?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Well, I’ve taken a self-defense class, too.”

James closed his eyes. “Please, tell me you aren’t talking about the one we took together a million years ago.”

“Do the tactics change?” Her tone was defensive.

“I was in that class with you. I know exactly how bad you were at it.”