Anger filling her, she shoved past him, opening the bedroom door, and storming down the hallway and then the stairs.
“Peighton,” he called, hurrying behind her.
Frank looked up as she stomped into the living room, reading her face and immediately sitting up straighter.
“Why did Sarah Nealson have your card?” she demanded, holding it out to Frank.
He took the card from her, still looking confused. “Who?”
Clay hurried into the living room behind her, stepping up beside her. Their arms touched and Peighton realized he was trying to make her feel safe. But he could stop, she realized, she’d never felt safer than surrounded by these two men. “Sarah Nealson,” she repeated, “Clay’s wife.”
“I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head and handing the card back to her. “She could’ve gotten it anywhere, I guess.”
“You didn’t know her?” Clay demanded.
“I don’t think so,” Frank said. “What is this about?”
“Clay found it in his wife’s wallet.”
“So?” he asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.
“So, I’m trying to prove to him that it’s just a coincidence,” Peighton said.
“As opposed to what?” Frank asked. He stood up, waiting for an answer before frowning and looking directly at Peighton. “What exactly am I being accused of here, Peighton?”
Peighton took a breath, seeing the annoyance in his face. “Clay doesn’t think Todd’s death was an accident.”
“What do you mean by that? I thought his death was ruled an accident by your department?” he addressed Clay.
“It was,” Clay said simply. “But we make mistakes.”
“So, what makes you think it wasn’t an accident?” he asked. “And why wouldn’t either of you have come to me? Did it not occur to you that I run a security company? I literally investigate for a living. I could help.”
“Why wouldn’t you have already investigated?” Clay challenged him.
Frank raised an eyebrow. “Because I didn’t know I needed to. I was told it was an accident and had no reason not to trust that.”
“So, what if Frank investigates? What if we give him the information you have on Beelzebub and let him check into her?” Peighton offered, looking at Clay.
Clay looked uneasy, not responding.
“Beelzebub?” Frank asked, his interest obviously piqued.
“It’s a woman who’d been talking to Clay before his wife was killed. Clay found emails between her and Todd as well, so we think they may have been connected.”
“Hold on, why would Todd be talking to a woman?” Frank asked.
Peighton paused. “You know, I hadn’t thought of that. I couldn’t correct you when you first told me about their affair, but now that you know the truth…Todd wouldn’t have been talking to another woman.”
Clay shook his head. “Unless he, like me, had believed she was a man. I met Beelzebub on a sports website. I thought she was a man. There’s a good chance Todd did too.”
“Man or woman, that doesn’t matter. The point is we need to locate the Beelzebub person and find out how they were connected to Todd and…Sarah, was it? How was your wife killed?” Frank asked.
“She was run off the road by another driver,” Clay said.
“And how did you find out about Beelzebub?”
“That,” Clay began, “is a long story.”
“Well, get talking,” Frank said, “if you want my help. And trust me, you do.”
Thirty-Nine
PEIGHTON
Peighton woke up sweating. She rolled over, throwing the covers off of her body in an effort to cool down. Beside her, Clay stirred, opening his eyes slowly. He lifted his head, rubbing his eyes and yawning.
“Good morning,” he said, smiling.
“Good morning.” She leaned over and kissed him softly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. I forgot you were here.”
He touched his chest playfully. “Ah, right to the heart!”
She laughed. “I haven’t slept with a man in over fifteen years, so you’ll have to cut me some slack.”
“Well, you haven’t lost your touch,” he told her, kissing her again.
“I’m so flattered,” she told him as their lips parted. She sat up in bed, running a hand through her tangled hair as she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She glanced at the clock. “Oh, it’s almost eight. I planned on taking Kyle back-to-school shopping today.”
Clay sat up, grabbing his pants off the floor and pulling them on. “I’ll head out then.”
“Actually, would you want to join us?”
“Are you sure Kyle would be okay with that?” he asked.
“I think he would. It would be a chance for you all to get to know each other better. You haven’t really been given that opportunity. You don’t have to, though, if you don’t want to.”
He walked over to her side of the bed, sitting down as he pulled his shirt over his head. “I want to. He’s a cool kid,” he said. “I’d love to get to know him more.”
She smiled as she stood up, pulling her robe over her. When they walked out of the bedroom, she was surprised to see Kyle was already awake, sitting on the living room couch.
“Morning, kiddo,” Peighton greeted him. His face looked even worse than before, the purple bruise had now faded to a dark black. He smiled at her.
“Morning, Mom, morning, Clay,” he greeted them both, no hostility in his voice. Peighton was relieved. It had been so long since her son had regarded her with anything but anger and resentment. She only wished they could’ve made it here sooner.
“I was thinking of taking you back-to-school shopping today, what do you think?” she offered.
He thought for a moment. “I don’t know. What will people think of my face?”
Before Peighton could answer, Clay spoke up. “They’ll think…man, I wonder what happened to the other guy?”
Kyle smiled half-heartedly at his ridiculous dad-joke. “I don’t know. Don’t you think it would be better if we waited?”
“It’s up to you, sweetheart,” Peighton said. “But I’m happy to take you if you want to go. We can even leave Pawley’s Corner if you’d like. That way you won’t have to see anyone you know.”
“It’s not that. I don’t want to avoid anyone, I just don’t really feel like going out today. I thought we could just hang out here. They’ve got a Walking Dead marathon on.”
Peighton smiled. “I’m fine with that.” She looked at Clay, raising her eyebrows. “What do you say?”
“Uh, sure. Yeah.”
“Are you a fan?”
“I’ve never watched it,” Clay answered.
Their jaws dropped. “Oh, sit down, my friend. We’re about to educate you,” Kyle joked, patting the couch beside of him. Clay looked at Peighton, who nodded, before he moved to sit beside Kyle. Kyle began explaining the show as he turned the volume up, pointing to different characters.
Grinning to herself, Peighton walked into the kitchen, planning to start cooking something for breakfast when her phone began ringing. She hurried back toward the bedroom, grabbing it from the nightstand.
“Frank?” she asked, seeing his name on the caller ID.
“I’ve got her,” he said.
“What?” she asked.
“Beelzebub.”
The world around her seemed to freeze, goosebumps immediately lining her arms. “What?” she repeated.
“I found her. Or, I should say, him.”
“What are you talking about?” she demanded, her voice shaking.
“You guys should have let me help a long time ago. My system was able to pull the location where the email addresses were set up: a library. He thought he was being smart. Too bad that half of the times he responded to emails, he was using a cell phone on a home WiFi network. I’m guessing he thought because it was a burner cell, he was safe, but he didn’t know who he was dealing with.”
“What are you saying, Frank? Who is it? Who is he?”
“It’s Drew, Peighton. Beelzebub is Drew.”
The breath disappeared from her lungs instantly, her blood running cold. “What do you mean? How do you know it’s Drew?”
“The address. The cell phone signals were all coming from an address in Absher. When I ran the deed, I found out the house is registered to Andrew Ross, aka Drew.” He said it so simply, as if her entire world wasn’t being shaken.