Sanctuary

in the way. You sit down, Kate. Come on, now.” She took Kate’s arm and led her toward the sofa beside Lexy. “You sit down and have a brandy. You’re worn out.”
    “I’ll get the brandy,” Lexy said.
    “Just give her mine,” Jo told Lexy as she rose. “I don’t want it.”
    “If fussing over me will keep the two of you from snapping at each other, then fuss away.” She took the brandy Lexy offered her and smiled weakly. “We should have fresh coffee for when they come in. I don’t know when Brian last made any.”
    “I’ll take care of it.” Lexy leaned down to kiss Kate’s cheek. “Don’t you worry.” But when she straightened she saw Giff in the doorway.
    “They’re coming in. They want to talk to Jo.”
    “All right.” Jo closed a hand gratefully over the one Lexy touched to her arm. “I’m ready.”
     
     
    “HOW much longer will they peck at her?” Brian stood on the front porch, listening to the jungle sounds of cicadas and peepers filling the air.
    “It can’t be much longer,” Kirby said quietly. “They’ve had her in there nearly an hour. They didn’t keep Nathan more than an hour.”
    “She shouldn’t have to go through this. It’s bad enough she found the body, helped drag it out of the water, without having to go over and over it again.”
    “I’m sure they’ll make it as easy on her as they can.” She only sighed when he whirled and scalded her with a look. “Brian, there’s nothing else to be done, no other choices to be made. A woman’s been murdered. Questions have to be asked.”
    “Jo sure as hell didn’t kill her.” He threw himself down on the porch swing. “It’s easier for you. Big-city doctor. Seen it all, done it all.”
    “Maybe that’s true.” She spoke coolly to mask the hurt. “But easier or harder doesn’t change the facts. Someone decided not to let Susan Peters live any longer. They used their hands and they choked the life out of her. Now questions have to be asked.”
    Brian brooded into the dark. “They’ll look toward the husband now.”
    “I don’t know.”
    “They will. It’s the logical step. Something happens to the wife, look to the husband. Odds are, he’s the one who did it. They looked to my father when my mother left. Until they were satisfied she’d just . . . left. They’ll take that poor bastard into some little room. And questions will have to be asked. Who knows, maybe he’s the one who decided not to let Susan Peters live.”
    He shifted his gaze to Kirby. She stood very straight, very composed under the yellow glow of the porch light. She still wore Jo’s baggy sweats. But he’d seen her with the police, watched her relay information, rolling clinical terms off her tongue, before huddling over the body with the team from the coroner’s office.
    There was nothing delicate about her.
    “You should go home, Kirby. There’s nothing else for you to do here now.”
    She wanted to weep. She wanted to scream. She wanted to pound her fists against the clear, thin wall he’d suddenly erected between them. “Why are you shutting me out, Brian?”
    “Because I don’t know what to do about you. And I never meant to let you in in the first place.”
    “But you did.”
    “Did I, Kirby? Or did you just jimmy the door?”
    Jo’s shadow fell between them before she stepped out. “They’re finished here. The police.”
    “Are you all right?” Kirby moved over to her. “You must be exhausted. I want you to go upstairs and lie down now. I can give you something to help you sleep.”
    “No, I’m fine. Really.” She gave Kirby’s hand a quick squeeze. “Better, in fact, for having gone through it step by step. I just feel sad and sorry, and grateful to be whole. Did Nathan go back?”
    “Kate talked him into going upstairs.” Brian rose, walked closer to study her for himself. She looked steadier than he’d expected. “I don’t think it would take much to persuade him to stay here tonight. Cops may be tromping around the river for hours yet.”
    “Then we’ll persuade him. You should stay too,” she said to Kirby.
    “No, I’ll be better at home.” She looked at Brian. “There’s no need for me here. I’m sure one of the detectives will drive me back. I’ll just get my bag.”
    “You’re welcome to stay,” Brian told her, but she flicked a cool, composed glance over her shoulder.
    “I’ll be better at home,” she repeated and let the screen door slam shut behind her.
    “Why are