Free Obsession by Kathi Mills-Macias

worried. I know this guy is a detective, and he may be a really nice guy, but… he's not blind. You're an attractive woman, and I can't help but think that his willingness to help you with this situation has at least something to do with his wanting to be around you. I'm sorry, but that's the way I see it.”
    She opened her mouth to protest, to tell him that there was absolutely nothing about Abe's behavior to indicate an interest in her as a woman—but she couldn't. Deep down, she, too, had suspected as much. But that didn't change the fact that she needed Abe right now. Besides, suspecting he was interested in her didn't make it so. His intentions could be completely aboveboard. She only hoped the same was true about her own. The realization shocked her, and she resolved to put such thoughts out of her mind.
    “Whether Abe has any personal interest in me, I can't say for certain—although I doubt seriously that he does,” she added quickly, hoping she sounded as convincing as she was determined to be. “Either way, this is strictly a professional relationship—and a temporary one, at that. As soon as we've settled this question about Dad's death and any possible involvement with the Julie Greene case, Detective Abe Matthews is out of my life.”
    Brad's smile widened slightly. “Sounds like a promise.”
    “It is.”
    “Then make me another one.”
    She raised her eyebrows questioningly.
    “From now on, I want to be told about any and all aspects of this so-called investigation before they happen. No more of this ‘after the fact’ stuff, please. And if Abe decides to go snooping around on some investigative hunch and invites you to come along, will you at least think twice before saying yes? I'd rather not have you spending any more time alone with this guy than absolutely necessary. Fair enough?”
    “More than fair.” She reached up and put her arm around his neck, pulling him down to her for a kiss. He quickly obliged, sealing the promise. They didn't even notice that Melissa had come out of her room and was standing, motionless, in the shadow of the hallway.
     

     
    The weather had cooled off a bit, but the sun still peeked through the clouds as Abe pulled up in front of the general store at Eagle Lake. It was just before nine o'clock on Sunday morning, and only one lone vehicle—a rusty '78 Ford pickup with an empty gun rack in the back window—occupied the parking lot in front of the old building. Abe hoped he would find Maude Olson inside, feeling as talkative as she had been the day before when he and Toni were there.
    Forcing his thoughts, once again, away from Toni Matthews and on to the task at hand, he stepped inside the dimly lit store and paused, taking a moment to let his eyes adjust. As they did, he looked around, but Maude was nowhere in sight. A slightly built older man, with a thin wisp of gray hair combed from one side of his head to the other in a vain attempt to disguise his baldness, stood behind the counter. He was handing some change to the only other person in the store, a middle-aged, heavyset man in a plaid shirt, overalls, and boots. As the customer pocketed his change, picked up his package, and walked past Abe to the door, the fish smell that wafted after himconfirmed Abe's hunch that the man had probably already been out on the lake that morning. Abe stepped up to the counter.
    “Hello,” he said, as the older man eyed him curiously. “Are you, by any chance, Simon Olson, Maude Olson's husband?”
    “Not by chance, by design,” he answered, flashing a crooked smile. “And who might you be, and how do you know my wife?”
    Reluctant to give the false impression that he was there in any sort of official capacity, Abe refrained from showing his police identification. “I'm Abe Matthews,” he said. “I'm a friend of Toni Matthews. In fact, I was up here with her yesterday, and we talked with your wife.”
    Simon's blue-gray eyes lit up in recognition. “Aha. The wife