Page 25 of Everyone Loved Her
Blaze pushed back from the desk and stood to his feet, closing the case file of Sarah’s. They were so unorganized that while he and Dylan had been the ones assigned to it, he wasn’t sure it was all there in the file. They didn’t even have a digital filing system. He headed off toward the front of the building, where he’d meet with whoever it was wanting to see him.
I should’ve asked Brenda.But his head was hardly in a clear state of mind after the run-in with Garrett. He had lost his cool, but honestly, there was just something about Garrett that pissed him off. He had no specific reason for it.
“Lucas Wilson,” Blaze instantly recognized Sarah’s ex-husband as Brenda led him back. The man was a couple years older than Blaze, but he looked to be a full decade or more his senior. Lucas was squirrelly built, overly slender from partying hard and spending long hours working manual labor. His tanned skin was covered in ink, and he hid behind a thick beard and backwards snap back.
“You’re the only law enforcement officer Isomewhattrust in this town,” Lucas greeted him—or more like sized him up as he extended a hand.
Blaze took it, giving him a firm shake and then gesturing for him to enter into the dark-walled, plain room with a black table and four chairs. “Take a seat.”
“This seems more like an interrogation than just a nice friendly chat,” Lucas eyed him, no stranger to being on the wrong side.
“It’s the only place I have to talk,” Blaze said with a shrug. “Nothing’s being recorded or anything like that. What can I help you with?”
The roughneck leaned back in his chair, narrowing his gaze at Blaze. “Well, for starters, I wanna know why ain’t nobody doin’ nothing to help Sarah.”
Blaze knew that was coming. “We’re doing everything we can. You know how this county is. Takes a long time to get anything done.”
“She’s not just anyone.”
Blaze tensed his jaw, having heard that one plenty of times. “I know, and we’re doing the best we can. A lot of people cared about Sarah.”
“You cared about her. She talked a lot about you.” Lucas’s dark green eyes bore into Blaze’s, and he did his best to read the situation. Maybethatwas why Lucas had come here in the middle of night, knowing Blaze was working. “You were close.”
Blaze didn’t want to lie to him. “We really weren’t. If we were, I probably wouldn’t be working this investigation. Our entire time together amounted to a couple of nights getting drinks at Outlaws. I’m too busy to maintain a relationship.” Never mind the fact he wasn’t interested in the woman who had seemed to date every man in the tri-county area.
“Yeah, well, then why did she talk about you so much?”
Blaze drummed his fingers on the table. “Are you here to help with the investigation, or just here to interrogate me about Sarah?”
He sighed, running his hands over his face. “I don’t know, man. I’ve just never lived a life without her, you know? Sure, we’re nottogether,but we’re notnottogether, too. You know what I’m sayin’?”
Blaze tilted his head. “You mean, you’re not married but you’re still sleeping together, right?”
“Something like that.”
It wasn’t in the least bit surprising. “What can you tell me about your relationship with her then? I know we took an official statement, and you have an alibi of being with someone else the night of?—”
“Macy Lewis,” Lucas repeats the name that was on the statement, one that Blaze only vaguely remembered. “She’s an old friend of mine. We were reconnecting in Gale.”
“Right, on a Monday night?”
“Yeah, why not? I ain’t like you, cowboy. I don’t need my beauty sleep.”
He adjusted his hat on his head, and then leaned back in the chair, mirroring Lucas’s posture. “I don’t need it either, otherwise, I wouldn’t be working two jobs.”
“Touché,” Lucas said, his tone brightening. “I really just got one question.”
Blaze prepared himself. “And what’s that?”
“You think it’s a serial killer that got my girl or something?”
Blaze didn’t flinch. He knew better than to react to someone fishing for information, even if the term bothered him more than he wanted to admit. “We’re keeping the case’s information private for now, but there’s no evidence this is or isn’t an isolated event.”
“Huh, well, maybe you should figure it out. ‘Cause it sure seems like you don’t know nothin’.”
Blaze shrugged. “Yeah, I’d say that we don’t know much right now. But we’re working on it.” He ignored the chill that followed in the silence, shooting down his spine like an unwanted bolt of electricity.
“Look at you, Mr. Ranch Manager playing big detective,” Lucas leaned forward, resting on his elbows. He ran his tongue behind his lower lip, where a big fat dip rested. “I just hope you know what you’re doin’, because if we figure it out before you, we’ll be gettin’ our own justice.”