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Julie is having a hard time of it, helping me get out. Everyone wants me to be the scapegoat so the police don’t have to do any real work and the community can feel safe at night.”
    Rose reclaimed his hand, prying it away from his thigh. She had an overwhelming need for some human connection. He was so distant and different, but she knew the man she loved was still in there somewhere. His bitterness just overshadowed the rest right now. “It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Let’s find the killer and prove you’re innocence, like you said.”
    Max sighed and squeezed her hand before lifting it to his face. He kissed her fingers. “I wish it were that easy, Rose. I really do.”
    Leaning in to him, she couldn’t help but notice his smell. Even somewhat sweaty from spending the afternoon in his car, his musky scent was not unpleasant. It was comforting and familiar. She wrapped her free arm around his shoulder and kissed his cheek. “It can be.”
    Max’s breathing accelerated and he jerked away from her, standing abruptly. “I have to leave. Be careful.”
    As Rose sat in shock, Max yanked open the door and left without looking at her.
    Didn’t he say he still loved me?
    Rose picked her beer up from the end table where she’d left it and took another swig, her hands shaking when another thought hit her.
    I left him on his own all that time, believing he killed someone. It’s a fine line between love and hate. All his rage needs a focus. What if that’s me?

Chapter Five
    M ax sat in his car outside the old boathouse on the lakefront. It was even more worn and dilapidated than it had been the last time he’d gone there. The last time he made love to Rose.
    The past week had not gone well. Although he watched Rose from afar, learning her routine and always making sure he was parked nearby whenever she switched jobs or came and went from her house, he hadn’t approached her.
    He knew she saw him watching, but she didn’t try to speak to him either. It was a tenuous situation that couldn’t continue. Max kept waiting for Calvin to slap him with charges for stalking, but he couldn’t stay away when Rose was in danger.
    He also couldn’t continue tormenting himself with thoughts of how soft and sweet she’d been, kissing his cheek. He couldn’t handle that. Not when she still believed he might be guilty.
    It was time to figure out who did this, and why. Over the years, Max had many theories about who might have killed Sage, but no way to investigate his suspicions.
    Jimmy Durant was at the top of Max’s list. The little punk might have claimed to care about Sage, but Max had seen the way Jimmy watched Rose. He’d lusted after her from the moment he was old enough to realize what sex was. Plus, all five girls in the area had been murdered after Jimmy got his driver’s license. As if that wasn’t suspicious enough, Jimmy lied to keep Max in prison. Why do that, unless he needed to cover his own ass?
    The only problem with that theory was Max didn’t have a good motive for Jimmy to kill Sage, unless the jerk figured he could get Max and Sage out of the picture all at once and then have a free shot at hooking up with Rose. Jimmy had seemed to like Sage, though, even if he didn’t love her. Killing her to get her sister seemed extreme...even for someone like him.
    Also, the killings stopped as soon as Max went to jail to await trial. That had him confused too. Why did the killer stop?
    Calvin Black certainly lingered near the top of the suspect list. The guy had always been a punk. Four years older than Max, Calvin had just become an officer when the killings started. It was Calvin who connected the dots and pushed for the conviction against Max. It was Calvin who now wanted to keep the public thinking Max was guilty of harassing Rose.
    Did the power go to his head as a new cop and Calvin went on a killing spree, raping and beating young girls who challenged his authority? If that was the case, it