UP IN FLAMES

“Though I hate to admit it, you never know. Christopher must have kept a lot of secrets. That’s probably the reason he had his own bank accounts and why I was surprised that he emptied our joint one. Clearly, he needed money for something. But what specifically, I have no idea.”

“Even more reason to find out.”

Since Alaric might be the only person she could trust right now, she decided to ask for his help. “I’d like to go through his papers in his home office. Once we’re finished doing that here, I’d like to check out his office downtown.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Alaric replied. “I wouldn’t mention this to Chloe Davis just yet. It might be better if you surprised her.”

Since she hadn’t yet reached a decision about whether or not to trust Christopher’s campaign manager and assistant, she nodded. “Agreed. Do you mind coming with me and helping me look? You might see something I miss.”

“Of course not. When do you want to start?”

“We can go now. I need something to keep me busy and distract me from all of this. Besides, the thought of going back to that house after all this time and everything that has happened just stresses me out.”

A shadow crossed his handsome face, making her wonder. But when he smiled a second later, the kind of smile that made his eyes sparkle and sent a jolt of awareness right through her, she had to wonder if she’d imagined it. Probably so, projecting her own worries onto him. At this point, she’d do anything to avoid thinking about that kiss the previous night. She’d spent most of the night lying awake thinking about the way his lips felt against hers.

“Great. Let’s get started.”

After fetching them both a bottled water, they got into Alaric’s car and drove to the house she’d once shared with Christopher. Vanessa still had her keys and she led the way back to Christopher’s office. Alaric stayed behind her, not too close, but not allowing any great distance either.

At the end of the hall, she opened the heavy oak door that led to Christopher’s space. It felt weird to enter the room, since it was the same room where Christopher had died.

Alaric whistled as they stepped inside. “This is a hell of a man cave.”

Turning slowly, she swept her gaze over the room. “It is,” she agreed. “He used it to entertain clients or backers a lot. Only when it was just the men. When their wives accompanied them, we tended to stick to the rest of the house.”

He cocked his head, considering. “I’m sensing you didn’t come in here often.”

She shrugged. “I didn’t. Early on in our marriage, Christopher let me know of his need for a private space. This was it.”

Expression inscrutable, he watched her. “Did you have one too?”

“I didn’t need one,” she admitted. “When Christopher was home, he pretty much kept to himself in here. The rest of the house was mine.”

“Sounds lonely.”

Despite the sympathy she saw in his gaze, she didn’t want to talk about her marriage. Not with him. Especially mnot with him. “Let’s get started with the file cabinets,” she said instead of answering. One tall five-drawer cabinet sat on each side of the long mahogany credenza behind the desk. “I’ll take the right, you take the left. If you find anything that even remotely seems questionable, please put it on the desk for us to look at later.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he replied, trying the handle. “Except it’s locked.”

“He kept them locked, though I’m not sure why. Maybe he thought the cleaning people might get nosy.”

Alaric met her gaze. “Or he was worried about you looking at documents he didn’t want you to see.”

“No, he told me where he kept the key, and eventually gave me one for myself.” She swallowed, suddenly feeling worried. “He actually said in case something happened to him. It makes me wonder if he knew something.”

“You mean like a premonition?”

“Maybe. Or there might have been earlier threats and he didn’t tell me.”

She could tell this possibility intrigued Alaric.

“Well, hopefully if that’s the case, he kept some sort of record of them. That might help narrow down a list of potential suspects.”

“He probably did. Christopher kept records of everything.” She shook her head, remembering. “He even kept a notebook logging what suits and ties he wore to events. He didn’t like to repeat himself too often.”

Alaric laughed. The rich warmth of the sound felt out of place here, inside the solemnness of Christopher’s sanctuary. She forced herself to look away, focusing on the oversize desk.

“I actually believe his will is in here, in one of the file cabinets, not at his office like Chloe thinks. I could be wrong. I guess we’ll find out.”

She opened the desk drawer, thankful that Christopher had given her the key. She suspected he’d done that because he knew she’d respected his wish for a private space. Once she’d unlocked the left side, she moved over to the right. They were identical and shared the same key, though it took her several tries to unlock the second one. Once she had, she pulled out the bottom drawer and sat on the floor in front of it. “Let’s get to work.”

A moment later, Alaric pulled out a drawer and did the same thing. She’d chosen to work on the right-hand side because Christopher had told her that was where he kept his personal files. The side she’d given to Alaric was for business and political files, at least according to Christopher. They spent an hour sifting through paper in companionable silence. She’d finished with the bottom two drawers and decided to take a break before moving on to the next one.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

Standing, she stretched and eyed Alaric . He was so engrossed in reading something that he didn’t even notice.

“Did you find something interesting?” she asked, moving closer.

“Maybe.” He glanced up at her, frowning. “Did you and Christopher sign a prenup?”

“No. We talked about doing one, but never got around to drafting it.” Christopher had just put out his political feelers for running for governor and had been informed he needed a wife and family pronto so he’d gotten married to her in a hurry. Odd how what had seemed perfectly logical at the time now seemed kind of pathetic.

“That’s weird,” Alaric said. “Because this file contains a prenup, but it’s for Christopher and someone else.”