But Not For Lust by BJ Bourg (comprehension books .txt) 📕

on Phoebe Watts when I ran all the other names from my neighborhood canvass, but she’s clean.”

Amy nodded thoughtfully. “Is this a list of every name that’s come up in your investigation so far?”

I nodded.

“Let me do some background work on these people. I can’t go out into the field right now, so I’ll do what I can from my cockpit here.” She slapped the arms of her chair. “After all, it’s a comfy one, so I don’t mind spending some time in it.”

I nodded and handed her the notepad, leaving it open to the page that listed all of the names, dates of birth, addresses, and phone numbers. I stood to walk out of her office and stopped at the door. I turned to face her. “Amy, it’s damn good to have you back.”

“I’m not back yet,” she admitted. “I can barely walk without falling and I can’t drive yet, so it’ll be a while before I’m chasing bad guys and kicking down doors again.”

Surprisingly, her comment was cheerful and hopeful, and I knew she was gonna be okay.

“Well, I’ll take your help however I can get it,” I said, smiling and leaving her to her work.

I rounded up Susan and told her I wanted her to ask Betty to come down to the station so she could question the adulterer about her affair. Susan agreed to do so, and we drove back out to the house.

“Sorry, but I’ve already told you everything I know about that night,” Betty said when Susan and I met with her and Susan asked her to accompany us to the police department.

“So, are you refusing to come with us?” Susan asked, arching an eyebrow.

“I guess so.” Betty folded her arms across her chest and met Susan’s gaze. She had changed into dress jeans and a loose-fitting blouse. She now wore makeup—lots of it.

Susan decided to question her again right there in her front yard, but—try as she might—she couldn’t get Betty to admit to having an affair with anyone. She repeatedly professed her love and unwavering devotion to Dillon.

“I’m not that type of girl,” she said to Susan. “I would never cheat on my husband.”

Although Betty contradicted herself a few times and Susan even caught her in an outright lie at one point, she continued to insist that she was faithful to her husband and that there had never been a man at Phoebe’s house when she would visit.

“Every now and then, we just like to get together and have a girls’ night out,” she said flatly. “I’m sure you know how that goes.”

After Susan realized it was a waste of time interviewing Betty, she and I proceeded to Phoebe’s house. Once again, I let Susan do all the talking. While Susan was as skilled an interviewer as there was, Phoebe was as stubborn a person as I’d ever seen—equally as stubborn as Betty. Even when faced with absolute proof of the contradictions between her story and Betty’s story, she never wavered in her denial.

At one point during the interview, Susan suddenly asked, “How many times have you slept with Betty’s boyfriend?”

“Never!” Phoebe blurted.

That question came right after Phoebe had finished answering a different one about Logan Pitre and whether or not she’d ever spoken with him.

“Has he ever flirted with you?” Susan asked smoothly, without blinking an eye. But it was too late—Phoebe had recognized her error.

“I…I meant to say that she doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Phoebe said after stammering for a moment. “Betty would never do that to Dillon. She saw how much it hurt me when Burt cheated on me. She would never do that herself.”

Although Phoebe tried to show confidence in her statement, I could see that there was a sense of sadness in her eyes. She was fiercely loyal—I had to give her that—but it appeared she did not approve of her friend’s extramarital affairs.

Susan worked every angle she could find, but Phoebe would not budge. She simply would not give up her best friend and former sister-in-law.

“We only need to know the name of this mystery man so we can question him about Ty,” Susan had finally said as she began to wrap up the interview. “We don’t care about the affair and no one will ever find out.”

Phoebe had grunted and said, “That’s what you think. Word travels so fast in this town that Dillon will find out long before you even get to the front of the street—and he’s way out in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.”

When Susan pointed out that Phoebe had all but admitted Betty was having an affair, the woman only shrugged and said, “I’d die before giving up my friends. Now, if you want to know about my ex, I’ll tell you every single one of his dirty secrets, beginning with how he’s hiding his earnings from the IRS. For years now, he’s been accepting cash for certain jobs and not reporting it.”

  CHAPTER 45

“You’ve got to admire her loyalty,” I said when we stopped at M & P Grill to pick up plate lunches for everyone at the office. The restaurant served a seafood dish every Friday, and today it was shrimp spaghetti, corn, garlic bread, and a small salad.

“I guess so.” Susan carried the individual food containers while I carried the cans of drinks. “I’d die with your secrets.”

“Not me,” I said with a shake of my head as I steadied the drinks against my chest with one arm while I opened the door with the other hand. After setting the drinks down on the console, I climbed into the driver’s seat. “I’d sell your secrets to the first tabloid that paid me ten bucks.”

She chuckled. “And what secrets do I have that are worth ten bucks?”

I thought about it as I pulled to the edge