Anger flared inside her. Who did he think he was ordering her around like this? Maybe it was time she put him in his place.“I’m actually doing a story on you as well, Detective. A story my readers will find fascinating.”
“Is that right?” he asked, eyeing her a little wearily.
“Oh, yes. Lots of rumors have been swirling around about you, and I think it’s important to separate fact from fiction. Set the record straight.”
“As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what I think, too,” he admitted.
“So… would you like to comment on your dismissal from the NYPD?”
Instantly, his face hardened.“You know very well that was a hatchet piece that appeared in theNew York Post. No truth to the story whatsoever.”
“All I know is that you were accused of molesting a suspect’s wife, and that she filed charges against you, which caused your immediate dismissal.”
His eyes were blazing now with fury.“That story was a fabrication and a lie,” he growled. “Nothing about it was even remotely true.”
“Then you won’t mind setting the record straight? Give the good people of Hampton Cove your side of the story? Your version of the facts?”
“It’s not myversion of the facts, Miss Poole. Theyare the facts.”
“And what are those? And why haven’t you told them to anyone before?”
At this, instead of launching into a long-winded harangue about the mayor’s wife and the commissioner, as she’d expected, he simply closed his mouth with a click, and stood there glaring at her, visibly seething with anger.
“Oh, come on, Detective Kingsley,” she prompted. “You can do better than that.” She took a step closer. “Isn’t it, in fact, true that you claim you stumbled upon a secret liaison between the commissioner and the mayor’s wife? That you were consequently the victim of a cover-up, and that these false accusations leveled against you were simply a way of discrediting you so no one would believe your crazy story about the commissioner’s illicit affair?”
His eyes were blazing, his face taking on a darker tinge of scarlet. A vein was dangerously throbbing at his temple, and she took another step closer.
“Where did you hear that?” he finally demanded in a deep, low growl.
She shrugged.“I’m a professional, Detective. I have my sources.”
When he grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a vigorous shake, she knew she’d gone too far. “Tell me who told you about this,” he spat, his eyes boring into hers with an intensity that held her spellbound.
“I—I can’t,” she said, suddenly realizing the dangerous position she’d maneuvered herself in. Here she was, all alone in the woods, near the scene where Paulo Frey had been murdered, with a cop who stood accused of molesting a woman and had lost his job as a consequence. Why did she have to come out here alone? And why did she have to provoke this man? She’d poked the bear, and now he was awake and furious and ready to devour her!
“I want you to let me go now,” she said, squirming.
“Not before you tell me who told you about the commissioner.”
“I—I can’t!” she cried.
He shook her again.“Was it your father? Did he tell you?”
“Of course not! I—everyone knows the story. It’s all over town!”
He stared at her at this, aghast.“All over town?”
“Yes! It’s not a secret, if that’s what you think.”
He was still staring at her, his face ashen now. She wriggled out of his arms, and this time he let go, looking absolutely shell-shocked.
“And let me tell you that I, for one, don’t believe a word of it,” she said. “That whole story about the mayor’s wife? I think you made that up. I think you’re a brute and you went too far that day and you molested that woman.”
He blinked, finally coming out of his stupor when her words hit him. Surprised, she watched as a look of torment came over his face.“We’re done here, Miss Poole,” he said in a voice so quiet she had to strain her ears to pick up the words. “We’re done here,” he repeated, then started to walk away from her, his back straight, his shoulders stiff and his demeanor unreadable.
And as she watched him walk away, she realized what she’d done. The only two people in town he’d entrusted with his secret were her father and her uncle. In Chase’s mind one of them must have betrayed his confidence. How else could she have known? And now he would confront either or both of these men, and would probably never trust them again. She’d really done it this time. Maybe he’d even resign and leave Hampton Cove because of her. Chase Kingsley was obviously a proud man, and might simply walk away.
“Chase!” she called out, and hurried after him. “Chase! Come back!”
She caught up with him just as he reached his car, a pickup like hers, but more dilapidated. He whirled around.“What?” he asked, his jaw working.
“I, um…” She didn’t know what to say for a moment. How could she explain that she got all of her information from her cat? That was simply ludicrous. But how else could she have known? In his mind her father had broken his trust, or her uncle. She needed to tell him the truth, no matter howimprobable it might sound. Or… “I’ll tell you where I heard the story.”
“I know. All over town,” he gritted out.
“No! No, I’m the only one that knows. And… and Beah.”
He stared at her, his face inscrutable, and folded his massive arms across his chest, leaning against the truck. He wasn’t giving her an inch. “Go on.”
“I… I worked for theNew York Post for six months, as an intern, right after I finished college. I didn’t like it out there, though, and pretty quickly returned to Hampton Cove, where Dan had always promised me a spot on his paper. He was getting on in years, and couldn’t do it all by himself anymore. The work maybe wasn’t as exciting as working for one of the big papers, but it was good enough for me. But while I was interning at thePost I became really close to another intern. Beah Heaves and I became friends, and even after I returned here we kept in touch. We, um, we exchange information. When she needs help on a story about the Hamptons, or I need something on New York, we help each other out.”
“So?” he grunted, his eyes remaining steadily on hers.
“Well, I called her this morning, asking about you, and she told me the story about the harassment, and…” She hesitated, licking her lips. “She also told me that a crazy rumor had done the rounds that you were set up. That the harassment charge was simply a way to make you go away.”
His frown deepened.“If this reporter friend of yours knew about this, why didn’t she pursue the story? Why was this never printed in thePost?”
She lifted an ineffectual hand.“Isn’t it obvious? Because nobody believed the rumors. They figured you started them yourself, to get off the hook.”
He shifted, giving her a slight nod.“And what do you believe?”
She cast around helplessly. To be honest, she hadn’t made up her mind.
She didn’t have to, for his jaw worked when he growled, “I see.”
And then he abruptly turned and yanked open the door of his car and slid behind the wheel. When he turned back to her, his face was a mask of determination.“Just make sure that when you print your story you make sure to get a quote from the commissioner this time. Get him on record.”
“Why?” she asked, surprised.
“Because the scumbag has never come out openly and accused me of a crime.” He gave her a grim-faced look. “Just ask him the question straight to his face, and see how he responds. I’m sure a big-shot reporter like yourself will have no trouble recognizing a blatant lie when you see it.”
With these words, he started up the truck and the engine roared to life. Before she had a chance to respond, he was racing away, wheels spinning and leaving her in a cloud of dust and wondering what she’d gotten herself into.
For some reason, she was starting to believe that Chase Kingsley just might be telling the truth after all, which meant she’d been wrong all along.