Fulfilling Promises (Red Starr, Book Five) (6 page)

“He knew I l-loved him, right?” Devyn whispered, needing to hear the assurances from the only other person who loved Joey as much as she did. Death didn’t make love vanish. “The things I said…”

Trigger wrapped his arms around her a little tighter, giving her a chance to grab a hold of his hand. She interlaced her fingers with his, pulling their entwined hands underneath her chin in comfort.

“Joey knows,” Trigger murmured back, pressing his lips against her hair. He squeezed her hand. “He used to love getting you riled up. Don’t you remember? He would goad you until you couldn’t take any more, prompting a tantrum that would have him laughing for hours. You would say things in the heat of the moment. Your passion for right and wrong was only one of the many things he loved about you.”

“He was so infuriating at times.” Devyn inhaled a shaky breath and swiped at the streaks of moisture on her cheeks. Had Joey cried? Had he known he was dying or had he held onto hope that someone would come along and save him? Another sob wracked her body. “I want to yell at him for leaving. I want to go back in time and tell him I love him.”

“He knows, Dev. He knows.”

“I want him to walk into the bar, to say it was all some sick joke. The Staties have it all wrong,” Devyn muttered harshly, wanting to hit something so that she physically hurt. She wanted the emotional pain to fade. “Why did he leave me, John?”

“He didn’t leave you,” Trigger replied just as severely as she’d asked the question. “He was taken. He would never, ever have left you. I give you my word that we will find out who did this. They will pay for what they have done.”

Purpose. Trigger’s words gave Devyn purpose and she was finally able to breathe when the muscles in her body somewhat relaxed until the weight of reality slowly settled back over her.

“They aren’t looking for anyone because they think they’ve already found the guilty party.” Devyn shifted until she was lying on her back. She was and wasn’t surprised to see Trigger’s bloodshot eyes. Guilt sliced through her at how she’d treated him yesterday. Or was it earlier today? She wasn’t sure what time it was. “John, I’m—”

“Don’t you dare,” Trigger warned, cutting off her apology. He lifted up on his elbow and rested his head on his hand, allowing him to look down at her with an expression she’d never seen before. “You said those things because there was at least a half-truth to them. I
did
leave, but I didn’t do it intentionally to hurt Joey. I had my life to live and so did he. There are no regrets besides wishing I’d visited more, but he understood how much I loved him like a brother. He truly knew we’d be here together in the end.”

“Joey didn’t deserve to die like that.” Devyn fell silent when she heard the sound of voices coming from the living room. She quickly met his gaze. “Who’s here? And please tell me it isn’t Jenna. I can only handle so much of her before I—”

“No, not Jenna.” Trigger brought up a hand and brushed a strand of hair away from her forehead. Devyn looked up at him in curiosity. “My parents and sister. Jay is at home with the kids.”

Devyn wasn’t comfortable with having Jack and Gail in her small apartment above the bar. It wasn’t much, but it was still hers—just a large front room with a screened-in balcony overlooking the street. The kitchen was more modern than the rest of the place with relatively new appliances. A small dining room was attached while the stairs up from the bar came out at one end of the hall. Two large bedrooms and a bathroom were at the other. She had faults and one of them was pride. Her place was kept immaculately on display.

“You should go then,” Devyn said softly, not regretting that it had been Trigger who’d seen her like this. He understood her pain and while there were still things they had to clear up about each other, now wasn’t the time. She also didn’t want anyone else witnessing her at such a low. Joey had been the one to be close to Trigger’s parents, not her. “What time is it anyway?”

“You slept most of the day,” Trigger said, not making a move to get up from her bed. He must have been in the living room when she called out. Her face flushed upon realizing his parents would have heard her as well. “And I’m not going anywhere. There are things we need to discuss.”

Devyn had never considered herself good enough for John Dixon. He was a man destined to go places and see all manner of things. What had he said before? He was just back from an assignment in Nigeria. She wasn’t even sure she knew where that was on a map.

They’d kept their previous affair on the quiet side, which wasn’t an easy thing to do in this tiny town. Sure, it had gotten around, but she doubted anyone would have mentioned it to his parents. Trigger had only moved back to Amberton for a short time, not even remotely long enough to call it a real relationship. Besides, they were nice people and she highly doubted they’d want their son with someone of her kind of reputation, especially now considering she was a suspect in her brother’s murder.

“We can talk another time, John,” Devyn tried to reason, really needing some time to herself now that she was somewhat back in control of her emotions. She glanced over at the small alarm clock, noting it was after nine o’clock at night. She should have known considering that the alley lights were on and shining through her bedroom window. It wasn’t like it was much of an alley either, since there weren’t any businesses on the other side. It was just a gravel access road running from the small parking lot to behind the line of shops and her bar. She’d wasted enough time lying around. “You should go and spend time with your family.”

“They’re fine for a few more minutes,” Trigger countered rather somberly, resting a hand on her hip to prevent her from sitting up. “There’s something you need to know first.”

Devyn had never been fond of surprises and now was no exception. Nothing ever seemed to rattle Trigger, so whatever he had to tell her wasn’t good. He was disturbed by what he had to say. She braced herself as best she could.

“The police were here earlier,” Trigger stated, as if a visit from the police was a natural occurrence. Devyn closed her eyes as the questions in her mind swirled, but it couldn’t have been about arresting her or she would have already been gone. They would have just barged into her apartment. “They questioned a lot of folks downstairs, along with Isaac.”

Devyn didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Were they just trying to find out about her motives? The questions they’d asked about her relationship with Joey during her initial interview earlier in the day hadn’t been normal. Did she love or hate her brother? What had he done to make her say she’d lost all respect for him on that last phone message? Why did he have her necklace on him? The questions were relentless and now they were interrogating her customers. Nothing good could come of that.

“Why didn’t you come get me?” Devyn asked in irritation, kicking off her covers and shoving his hand aside. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top she loved to sleep in, so she didn’t worry about her lack of clothing. Besides, he’d already seen way more of her than the little bit of skin she was showing now. She walked over to the attached bathroom and flipped on the light switch, but stopped short of stepping off of the carpet and onto the cold tile. “Wait.”

Devyn turned around quickly and marched to the side of the bed where Trigger seemed way too comfortable. He’d shifted her pillows and was now leaning up against them on the headboard. His calm demeanor only managed to work her up even more.

“Please tell me that you didn’t give them those files from the garage,” Devyn practically pleaded, shaking her head with her own answer. He wouldn’t do that. Trigger wouldn’t have done something like that knowing she wanted to go through them first. “Trigger, tell me, damn it!”

“No, I didn’t give them the boxes of my business files,” Trigger finally confessed, still watching her too closely. What did he want from her? “But there’s a reason I didn’t and we need to discuss it.”

The voices in the living room became more animated, reminding Devyn that his family was still occupying her apartment. She wasn’t having this discussion with his parents and sister in the next room, so she quickly turned and grabbed a pair of jeans out of her dresser. She stepped into them and pulled the denim over her shorts.

“What are you doing?” Trigger inquired cautiously, sitting up a little straighter. He never did like it when she didn’t always clue him in on what she was thinking or planning to do. They had not quite reached the point where they knew each other’s minds intuitively. She was her own person and didn’t have to ask his permission to say or do anything. “Devyn? We’re having a conversation, so you can’t just—”

“I’m not discussing anything while your family is out in my living room within earshot,” Devyn whispered in frustration. How could he not understand that she didn’t care for people in her space? Hell, the first time they’d had sex, she all but kicked him out five minutes after they were done. He was lucky she allowed him to get out the door with his pants on. “I’m going to tell them that you’ll be home shortly and they can head on out.”

“Don’t you dare—”

Devyn didn’t wait for Trigger to finish his sentence. Instead, she grabbed a black T-shirt and pulled it over the tank top she was wearing, glancing down quickly to make sure she looked somewhat presentable as she made her way out of the bedroom door. She tried not to think about the fact that these people had heard her cry out in her sleep. Embarrassment wasn’t something she dealt with well.

“Hi, everyone,” Devon forced out, plastering a smile on her face. It slowly faded when she realized they were all bringing in food from downstairs. They literally had her small dining room table fixed up with plates and dishes from the kitchen she was so proud of. If nothing else, she could cook up a fine Southern meal. That was literally the only talent she thought she possessed, but she was relatively sure that was a meatloaf in the middle of the table. “What are you…”

“I hadn’t told her you guys made dinner for her,” Trigger explained somewhat guardedly, coming up behind her and resting his hands on her shoulders. She would have pulled away had she not been in shock.

Devyn had known Jack and Gail for as long as she could remember, but they weren’t what she would say close family friends. Joey and Trigger had been inseparable back in the day, so of course she was well acquainted with the Dixons from that standpoint. Katie and Jay came to the tavern at least twice a month, more so during football season. It was a small town, but that didn’t mean they were all that close. As in “let me make you dinner” in her own inner sanctum. This was rather an uncomfortable situation and she wasn’t quite sure how to act.

“Um, could you please give us a moment?” Devyn asked politely, noticing there were two little boys on her couch. Apparently, Jay and the kids had decided to join the rest of them. She recognized the children, but had never formally met them. A bar wasn’t a hangout for those under twenty-one. “We’ll be right back.”

Devyn backed up on purpose, forcing Trigger back down the hallway into her bedroom. She didn’t turn around until she had the bedroom door closed behind them.

“Why are they here, Trigger?” Devyn asked, already knowing the answer and wishing she didn’t. “Please tell me they don’t know about us. I’m barely keeping my shit together and this is the last thing I need to deal with right now.”

“It’s a small town, Devyn,” Trigger replied, crossing his arms patiently and only managing to infuriate her more. “Of course they knew we were together before I left for San Diego. They know what Joey meant to me and they know what you mean to me.”

“We’re friends,” Devyn declared firmly, wishing she could chisel it in stone. Trigger’s earlier comment about how he would have taken things further had he thought she would have wanted to only incensed her more. He hadn’t wanted to change the rules before and he shouldn’t be doing it now. She understood all too well that he wasn’t meant to stay in Amberton, which was why she’d put the stipulations on their previous arrangement. It certainly hadn’t included his family making her dinner. “We agreed to be friends with benefits and then eventually only friends.”

“And we are,” Trigger confirmed, lifting one hand and pointing to the door behind her. “They’re just here to give you support. That’s all. They are here for you because they care.”

His dark eyes appeared to want to say more on the subject and she breathed a sigh of relief when he didn’t. Devyn had enough to deal with at the moment and Trigger would most likely be gone in a couple of weeks anyway. She could handle a quick dinner with his family if it meant she could then spend the rest of the night going through the files from the garage.

“Fine,” Devyn agreed, wanting this to be over with as quickly as possible. She brushed past him and made her way to the bathroom, only to turn back to satisfy her curiosity about something. “You said there was a reason you didn’t give the police the notes Joey had kept. Why?”

“Because the boxes are gone, Dev. Someone stole them.”

‡

T
rigger set the
last plate on top of the tray his father had used to bring in dinner from the kitchen, noticing that Devyn hadn’t eaten all that much. She’d taken a quick shower earlier and then joined everyone around the table for a surprisingly relaxed meal. His family had given their condolences first thing, but no one had brought up the fact that she’d been taken in for questioning. The conversation was mostly made up of his family’s trip to Disney and the boys managed to keep the discussion flowing until the hour had passed quickly.