Betrayal by Christina Dodd

into a playroom.”
    “Yes!” Brooke took Penelope’s hands. “See? I told you. You have the same vision for the house I do. Please stay and work with me. I know what the rates are for interior decorators”—she named a price that took Penelope’s breath away—“and I could help you get more work. There’s demand here. You could move to Bella Terra.”
    Penelope shook her head. “No, I couldn’t.” Because no matter what she told herself, she couldn’t live every day knowing she might run into Noah.
    Brooke started to speak, then turned her head toward the back of the house.
    DuPey appeared, pistol in his hand.
    He walked quietly for a man in boots.
    He focused his nondescript gaze on Penelope, for the first time really observing her. “Who are you?” he asked bluntly.
    Brooke introduced them. “Penelope Alonso Caldwell, chief of police Bryan DuPey.”
    “Welcome to Bella Terra.” He nodded with a little more sociability. “I hope to see you soon in better circumstances.”
    But Penelope noted his pistol never wavered, and she would bet a second investigation of her backgroundwould be conducted before the day was out. She didn’t like being treated like a felon when her worst crime was a shoplifting charge at the age of fourteen. She didn’t like this whole setup.
    “I’ve got to finish looking around.” DuPey entered each ground-floor room with his pistol at the ready, clearly anticipating trouble hiding behind every door.
    Could Penelope stay here when people she thought seemed perfectly normal pulled guns and knives and handled them competently, as if they’d had far too much experience in their use? “Brooke.”
    Brooke turned back to Penelope. She must have read Penelope’s wariness, for she said in despair, “You’re going to quit before we even start, aren’t you?”
    Penelope was going to back off. She really was. But Brooke’s pleading eyes reminded her how much they’d enjoyed their time together.
    Brooke waved a hand around. “Look at this place! It needs us. It needs you . Just from the few hours we’ve been together, I know how much you would enjoy seeing the house come back to life. Things aren’t as bad as they look.…” She hesitated, then corrected herself. “That is, they are, but you’re not involved. The trouble won’t touch you. We’ll keep you safe.”
    “I’d like to work with you on the house,” Penelope admitted. “But—”
    Still in high-alert mode, DuPey walked through the entry again and started up the stairs.
    Penelope’s gaze followed him as he disappeared into the dim light above. She needed to remember that she had no stake in the Di Lucas and their lives. She needed to recall what happened the last time she was in Bella Terra, and act with caution.
    On the other hand, she had to remain here until she saw Joseph Bianchin, and God knew when he would be back in town.
    Was meeting him at last worth the worry of working with a family that had already caused her so much pain? Was meeting Joseph Bianchin worth seeing Noah again?
    She straightened her shoulders.
    She’d already made that decision. Yes, she could deal with the Di Lucas and with Noah. The unexpected element was… murder. “Let me think about it before I agree.”

Chapter 12
    T he back door opened and closed again.
    Brooke reached for her pistol.
    Rafe called, “It’s us!”
    Penelope realized she had been holding her breath, and let it out with a sigh.
    The men tromped back from the kitchen, weapons stowed but, Penelope suspected, still easily accessible.
    Brooke looked at Rafe grimly. “Well?”
    “No footprints in the dirt in the back, but the porch has been swept,” Noah said.
    “I didn’t do it,” Brooke said.
    “I told him that,” Noah answered. “I said, ‘Brooke doesn’t do housework. As soon as she came to work for me at the resort, she established that very clearly and loudly.’ But Rafe is still under the delusion that his wife can be trained with firmness and