She’d handed him the perfect opening on a silver platter. He hated to ruin the serenity between them but he had questions he needed answered if they were ever going to get to the bottom of this case.

“I’d like to hear more about Chicago. There’s a little spot not far away next to a pretty stream. We can sit and talk.”

“That sounds good. I need to stretch my legs or I’m going to be really sore tomorrow.”

She’d told him she hadn’t ridden in about fifteen years so she was going to be sore tomorrow no matter what, but stretching her muscles wasn’t a bad idea. When they arrived at the clearing near the stream Jason nose tied the horses and led her to an old fallen log where they could sit. He should have brought some wine or something to help relax her.

“So tell me about Chicago,” he opened, deliberately keeping the question vague.

“I told you about my family. What else do you want to know?”

Her tone was light but Jason sensed an uneasiness in the way she held her body stiffly next to his. She didn’t want to talk about this.

“What made you move to Tremont?”

He couldn’t see her face well in the moonlight but he could tell she wasn’t smiling or laughing. “A new job. I wanted a fresh start. A place where I wasn’t the middle sister in the Snow family. I can be whatever I want here.”

“What do you want to be?”

“Happy,” she answered simply, still looking at the stars. “I want to be happy.”

“You weren’t happy in Chicago?”

“I was as happy as I could be but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more out there.”

He steeled himself for her reaction. “Did the Tom Leeds situation make you unhappy?’

Jason heard the quick intake of her breath just before she hopped to her feet. He’d hit a nerve.

“I see you’ve been doing your homework. Is that what you were doing while I slept last night or did you have your brother do your dirty work?”

Brinley hadn’t bothered to disguise the disdain in her tone and he couldn’t really blame her. He was a man that liked his privacy and wouldn’t enjoy being investigated any more than she did.

“Actually I had one of my partners, Jared Monroe, do the research. Are you surprised that I had to do it? I needed to see if you had some link to Roger Gaines.”

She spun around, her body rigid with anger. “I told you I didn’t. You don’t believe me, obviously.”

He could hear the hurt in her voice and felt about one inch tall knowing he had put it there. He needed to make her understand this was about the case and not about her. He believed in her and everything she said.

Jason stood as well but she backed away, clearly not wanting to be near him. “I do believe you. But there might have been something you weren’t even aware of. How can I ask you tell me something that you don’t know?”

“Tom Leeds doesn’t have anything to do with this. You were just poking around in my life looking for some kind of scandal. Well, you found one. I wonder what I’d find if I did the same to you.”

More than she’d bargained for, that was for sure.

“I wasn’t,” he tried again. “If you’re the one clue to a murder I’d be a lousy damn cop not to check into your past. Let me ask you this…what would you say if I asked you to tell me about your life?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. “I was born in Chicago. My life has been pretty uneventful. I went to the University of Illinois and became an elementary school teacher in a private school. I’m not married and I don’t have any kids.”

“I hope you can see how that wouldn’t help me in the least. I didn’t want to upset you but I guess I should have told you straight out that I was delving into your background. I apologize.”

Brinley’s chin lifted and then she nodded. “Thank you. And I do understand. I really do. I was just upset that you mentioned Tom Leeds. That’s a situation I thought I had left far behind me.”

Glad that they were back on friendly terms, Jason reached and took her hand in his, gratified when she didn’t pull away. He didn’t want them to be enemies. If the arousal stirring inside him at the touch of her skin was any indication, he wanted something much more.

“Will you tell me about it? Is he still an issue?”

If this guy was making life difficult for Brinley Jason would happily get involved. Holding himself very still, he waited while she decided if she could trust him. Even in the moonlight he could watch the expressions flit across her features one by one until she settled on acceptance.

“No, he’s not a problem any longer. He really wasn’t even before I left Chicago.” Still holding his hand, she tugged him back to the fallen log where they’d been sitting earlier. “I think I better start at the beginning.”

Jason settled next to her while she gathered her thoughts. He wished he didn’t have to make her talk about something that was obviously upsetting but he didn’t have a choice. It was the life in law enforcement… Weeding through good people to find the bad. Sometimes innocents could get hurt in the process.

“I met Tom when I was teaching his daughter. He came to a parent-teacher conference and he was—oh, I don’t know—charming, I guess. Very charismatic. He had money and connections and he swept me off my feet. I kept saying that we couldn’t date and that it wouldn’t be ethical but he continued to send flowers and gifts. He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

A million warning bells went off in Jason’s brain all at once hearing her describe some rich douchebag who pouted when he didn’t get what he wanted. Brinley seemed too down to earth to fall for a guy like that.

“So I finally went out on a couple of dates with him.” She groaned and rested her head in her hands for a moment. “To say that he and I weren’t compatible is an understatement. He wanted someone to listen to him. Adore him. Needless to say after two dates I told him I didn’t think things were going to work out between us. That’s when the trouble started.”

“Sounds like he needed an attitude adjustment,” Jason observed, ready and willing to give the lesson if need be. “So he started stalking you.”

“Not right away. At first it was more subtle. He spread rumors about me at the school. Made it difficult to work there. Then he went to the board and said I wanted to keep his daughter Cicely back for second grade. It wasn’t even true. Cicely had issues but academics weren’t one of them. Mostly she wanted attention from her father and she didn’t care much how she got it. She was a real behavioral problem.”

“And the board listened to him,” Jason prompted. “Sided with him?”

Brinley rubbed her temple and nodded. “Some of them did, yes. I didn’t find out until later but several of the board members knew what he was like. He’d done this before to another teacher a few years ago. God knows who he’s torturing now.”

She shuddered delicately and he didn’t hesitate to place an arm around her, pulling her close to him. Resting her head on his shoulder, he felt her relax against him. Humbled by her forgiveness and trust, he stroked her hair and let her finish the story at her own pace.

“Even when it was over and he’d moved on to another victim I knew I needed a change. I quit and took another job but it wasn’t what I was looking for. I have a teacher friend who works in Denver who has a friend in Tremont. My family was shocked when I accepted the job but I have no regrets. This was the new start I’d been looking for and not just because of Tom Leeds.” She looked up at him and his heart skipped a beat at her beautiful face outlined in the moonlight. “I never mentioned Tom because I don’t think it could be him. He’s moved on and so have I.”

“He has an alibi and Jared can’t find a connection to Roger Gaines.”

“Because there isn’t one. Tom Leeds is a dead end.”

Jason hoped that was the case. “I just need to make sure. I can’t be too careful with your safety.”