The Rivals Read Online Free PDF Page B

turned to stare at him. “Forgotten Valley is owned by a couple of guys from Texas.”
    â€œDrew DeWitt, at your service, ma’am.”
    Sarah frowned. “I didn’t think the owners lived there.”
    â€œI moved back in December.”
    â€œMoved back?” Sarah said skeptically. “I didn’t realize you’d ever—”
    â€œMoved in,” Drew corrected. “Quit my job in Houston and moved here to…” He paused and said, “That’s another story.”
    â€œI’ve got time. It’s a long ride back to Jackson.”
    Drew shrugged. “I needed a change of scenery.”
    â€œYou could afford to quit your job?”
    He shrugged again. “It was only a job.”
    â€œYour work wasn’t important? What did you do?”
    â€œI was a litigator with DeWitt & Blackthorne.”
    â€œA lawyer? I can see why you wanted to get away,” Sarah said. As a policeman who caught the bad guys, she was leery of the lawyers who got them off. “What is it you plan to do now that you’re here in Jackson?”
    â€œI haven’t decided.”
    â€œI suppose if I’d quit my profession and moved a couple thousand miles away, I’d need more than six weeks to figure out what to do with the rest of my life, too. Just don’t do your thinking on the highway,” she said. “That way you’re more likely to stay among the living long enough to come up with another life plan.”
    â€œI was forced off the road,” he said.
    Sarah frowned. “Where’s the other vehicle? Didn’t the driver stop? Do I need to be looking for another reckless driver out there somewhere?”
    â€œIt was a friend of mine—and no, I’m not going to tell you who it was,” Drew said. “It was an accident. No one was hurt—”
    â€œThat bump on your head should be looked at by a doctor,” Sarah interrupted.
    â€œI’m not going to a doctor,” Drew said firmly.
    â€œHave you got someone to stay with you overnight, just in case?” Sarah asked. “A girlfriend? A wife? A friend? You shouldn’t be alone.”
    â€œI’m not married. And I don’t have a girlfriend…anymore,” he said bitterly.
    â€œAh,” Sarah said, eyeing him speculatively. “So you came here to nurse a broken heart.”
    He didn’t say anything, which Sarah took as a confirmation of her guess. She figured he must really have loved the woman to have quit his job and moved away when the relationship ended. “She dumped you?” Sarah asked.
    â€œI don’t want to talk about it.”
    â€œShe dumped you,” Sarah concluded. “What did you do to her?”
    â€œI didn’t do anything. She—Look,” he said, “this is none of your business.”
    â€œIt became my business when you let yourself get distracted and drove off the road.”
    â€œI told you—”
    â€œI know. It wasn’t your fault. A mystery woman drove you off the road. That woman wouldn’t have been the one you broke up with in Houston, would it? You let yourself get distracted by thoughts of her and—”
    â€œI wasn’t thinking of Grayson Choate. She never crosses my mind. I’m over her,” Drew insisted. “Your job is to drive, not to interrogate me.”
    â€œWell, actually…” Sarah hesitated, then said, “I’m a detective with the sheriff’s office. I only showed up to hook this wreck because…I’m helping someone out.”
    From the corner of her eye, she saw Drew slowly run his eyes down her body. She shivered, as though he’d touched her with his hands.
    â€œWell, well, well,” he said. “So you’re the law in Teton County.”
    â€œOne of many deputy sheriffs.”
    He turned to face her and said, “Are you going to write me a ticket?”
    â€œFor what? Being in the wrong