Cole wrinkled his forehead in thought. “No,” he said, confidence ringing in his voice. “I built my company honestly, with integrity. I didn’t want to do it the wrong way, the way my…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but he knew Jamie had filled in the blanks. The way my father did. But talking about his dad in front of the sheriff was about as appealing as painting his toenails pink, and he had no desire to give Finnegan more ammunition against him. Poor Cole Donovan and his crappy relationship with his daddy. Finn would pounce on that like a hungry lion.
“I have some professional enemies, sure,” Cole admitted. “Some guys I may have outbid on certain projects.” He paused. “George Winston comes to mind, but I can’t see the man going on a murder spree to get back at me for outbidding him. Competition is the name of the game. Anyone who gets into real estate development knows that.”
“What about disgruntled employees?” Jamie asked. “Someone you might have fired, someone who left the company with a bad taste in their mouth?”
Helplessness jammed in his chest, causing him to shrug. “I don’t think so, but I can look into it. I’ve got a very discreet P.I. I use from time to time. I was actually considering calling him to run his own side investigation about Teresa’s murder, but—” he shot Finn a stony look “—I figured you wouldn’t appreciate the interference.”
“How generous of you,” Finn said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Cole ignored the barb. “But I’ll give him a call now, see what he comes up with.”
“It’s worth a shot,” Jamie said. “Sure, we can keep digging around and try to sift through the endless amount of people who hated Teresa, but someone has tried to kill me twice. And since my presence on the case is hardly threatening, what with all the progress I’ve made, it makes more sense that I’m a target because someone is after you, Cole.”
Because they were involved. She didn’t say it, but the tell-tale blush on her cheeks said everything. Finn noticed it too, and frowned.
Cole ignored a nudge of annoyance. So what if the sheriff didn’t approve? He and Jamie were both consenting adults. They didn’t owe Finnegan any explanations.
“It’s an angle we can’t ignore,” Finn admitted in a grudging tone. “If our guy is going after the women in your life, then it’s most likely someone you know.”
“I’ll call my P.I.,” Cole said again.
With a nod, Finn pushed away his mug and stood up. “Come on, Jamie, let’s go.”
She remained in her seat. “I already told you, I’m staying here.”
Finn looked livid. “So someone can shoot you again?”
“I won’t leave the house this time. I pretty much painted a target on myself by walking out in the yard. I was distracted and didn’t think.”
“You’re still not thinking,” Finn grumbled. “Just because this theory of yours makes sense doesn’t mean he—” he jerked a hostile thumb at Cole “—isn’t a threat to you.”
Jamie let out a sigh. “I’m perfectly safe with Cole.”
Though her conviction brought a rush of warmth to his chest, Cole suddenly had to question the truth of her statement. Was she safe? It sure hadn’t felt like it an hour ago.
But could he really let her leave? Every protective instinct he possessed told him not to let this woman out of his sight. Great sex aside, he genuinely liked her, and the memory of watching her fall to the grass with a bullet wound to her arm tore at his insides.
Maybe they didn’t have a future, maybe great sex was all they’d ever have, but Cole suddenly realized that until Teresa’s killer was caught, he was not going to leave Jamie Crawford’s side.
“I hate it when he’s angry with me,” Jamie confessed as she and Cole settled in the living room after Finn was gone.
Her friend had made several more attempts at getting her to leave with him, but Jamie had stood her ground and Finn had eventually left in a huff. She hadn’t liked the angry way he’d stormed out, but it wasn’t enough to change her mind. Cole wasn’t to blame for what happened earlier. She’d gotten shot because she’d been foolish, because she’d been so frustrated with the lack of progress on the case that she’d stupidly drifted to the other end of the yard without thinking that anyone might be out there.
But who had shot her? Why was someone watching Cole’s house? It troubled her, and apparently it bugged Finn too, because he’d arranged to have his deputy Max stand guard in the woods for the next couple of days. Jamie had a feeling the mysterious shooter would be long gone though. He had to know that the forest wouldn’t be safe for him to hide out in any longer.
“He’s worried about you,” Cole said. “Frankly, so am I.”