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done with what he’d come to share. And whatever it was, it was bad.
    She felt sick for a moment, dizzy. If she hadn’t been a trained athlete, taught to run to the net to take control of the game, she might have decided to sit down after all.
    Instead, she met the intensity of his green eyes and gave him her game face. Nothing shakes me. Go ahead, aim at my head and see what happens. “Just tell me.”
    “The shirt . . . it’s a gym shirt from Kendall Falls High. It belonged to your brother.”

7
    CHASE WANTED TO LOOK AWAY, BUT LIKE A RUBBER NECKER at the scene of a horrific accident, he kept his gaze on Kylie, waiting for her to buckle. She couldn’t possibly not react to this news.
    He thought of how she’d looked when he’d arrived. A fine film of healthy perspiration had glistened on her arms and legs, toned muscles flexing as she fired tennis balls at the kid like rockets. She’d chided and teased and taunted the boy with such affection, and just like that, she was there, the girl he’d fallen for so many years ago. Right there .
    With someone else.
    Ladies and gentlemen, meet Chase Manning, jealous of a damn kid.
    How stupid and immature could he get? But she did it to him. Kylie. The woman who ripped his heart out and stomped all over it all the way to the other side of the country. As if she couldn’t get far enough away from him.
    “How do you know the shirt is Quinn’s?” she asked, her steady voice breaking into his thoughts.
    He focused on her, on her blue gray eyes so level on his. She hadn’t even flinched at what he’d said about the shirt. She’d absorbed it, thought about it and come back with a logical question. No shock brimmed in those steel eyes. No denial. No anxiety. No nothing. What the fuck?
    Shaking his head, he consulted his notes even though he didn’t need to. He did need, however, to remind himself that he was there as a cop, not a jilted lover.
    “His initials are on the label,” he said. “There was only one Q.M. at Kendall Falls High back then. Maybe ever.”
    “So I suppose this means construction stays shut down,” she said. Even, steady, unshakeable. Incredible.
    He cleared his throat. “Until we can do a search for more evidence, yes.”
    “I’ve probably got a week of wiggle room financially. That’s it.”
    “I can’t promise we can get it done in a week. It’s a large area to cover, but we’ll work as fast as we can.”
    She nodded, not a smidge of slippage in her expression. “Okay then. Is that all?”
    He almost gaped at her. Is that all? For a moment, he thought she hadn’t gotten it, that maybe he should spell out what finding Quinn’s shirt meant. But, no, even the queen of denial couldn’t dodge the facts.
    “No, that’s not all,” he said. “I have some questions about Quinn.”
    “You should probably talk to him, then. Last time I saw him, he was in his office.”
    “My partner is talking to him now.”
    “Then what do you need from me?”
    “Do you remember where Quinn was at the time of your attack?”
    “I assume he was home. At least, he was when I left for my workout.” Ruthless control. Not even an eye-twitch of emotion.
    “Did you talk to him before you went?” Chase asked.
    “This is a waste of time.”
    “Humor me.”
    “Yes, I talked to him. He was supposed to go running with me but changed his mind at the last minute.”
    “Why?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “I think you do. You two didn’t have the best relationship, as I recall. Did you have a fight?”
    “As I’m sure you can imagine, everything that happened that day before I went running is somewhat of a blur.”
    “Then let’s talk about what happened after you went running.”
    Her eyes narrowed for the briefest of moments before she clamped down on the flare of alarm. “I went over that with the police back then. I’m sure they kept notes.”
    He ignored the sarcasm. “I need you to go over it with me now. I’m new to the case.”
    She clenched her