Read Paint It Black for Free Online

have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future. Do you understand?”
    “I tried to be part of your life. I tried to support you. Gail wouldn’t let me.”
    “Liar!” I shrieked, and my finger tightened on the trigger. “You walked away from us, and you never looked back. Why can’t you be man enough to admit it?”
    “There’s a picture in my wallet, of you and me when you were about three. I came to see you. Gail’s mother let me take you to the carnival once. Do you remember?” He reached for his pocket, and I poked him so hard with the gun that he fell backward in the snow.
    His mention of my grandmother jolted me. I vaguely remembered her. She would show up sometimes at our house, and my mother would always turn her away. I never knew what had happened between them, becauseshe died when I was ten.
    Dimly, I heard Cougar yelling my name.
    “Over here,” I shouted, and swiped at the tears on my cheeks. “If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. Do you understand?”
    “I understand,” he said heavily, as Cougar burst into the clearing.
    Woodenly, I recited the last two verses of his Miranda rights. Cougar cuffed him and hauled him roughly to his feet. More officers materialized through the trees, and the ATF took command of Barnes. They peppered him with questions, but he said nothing. He merely stared at me with sad eyes. I didn’t want to look at him, but somehow I couldn’t look away.
    “Are you okay?” Cougar asked, and I forced my attention to him while they dragged Barnes away.
    My heart leapt when I noticed Cougar was clutching his arm. Blood painted his fingers. “What happened?” I gasped. “Were you shot?”
    “It grazed me. No big deal.” He took a deep breath. “When you started up that hill, I thought the driver was going to shoot you in the back. I didn’t have an angle on him, but I saw him crouched behind the back bumper, watching you. I don’t know why he didn’t shoot you. I’ve never felt so helpless in my life.”
    He surprised me by pulling me into his arms andhugging me tight. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you and Angel both.”
    I pulled back and touched his face. “It’s over. We got him. And Hardhead’s going to be all right, too. You won’t lose either of us.”
    Cougar laughed and lifted an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that. Wait till Grady sees his Porsche.”
    I groaned. “I’m dead meat, huh?”
    He knelt to scrub his bloody fingers with a handful of snow. “Just keep looking all cute and pitiful,” he advised.
    I smiled, despite the sense of impending doom I felt. But Grady wasn’t the one I was worried about—not yet, anyway. Would Barnes tell everyone about us?
    When I’d first started work with the DEA, I’d made Grady ask one of his law school professors about the legal ramifications of my working Barnes’s case. He’d said that since Barnes and I’d had virtually no contact in my entire life, our connection should neither endanger the investigation nor get me fired. But that was little consolation, because I knew if the truth came out— when it came out—my career would be ruined. My team would never trust me again.
    I could pretend I didn’t know—his name wasn’t even on my birth certificate—but lying was Barnes’s thing, not mine. If the truth came out, it came out. I had no control over it now, but that knowledge didn’t ease the worry twisting my stomach. I already felt awful aboutkeeping it from my teammates, but what choice did I have? If I’d admitted who I was, they wouldn’t have let me near the case, and I’d wanted—I’d needed —to be a part of bringing Barnes down.
    “It’ll be all right,” Cougar said gently.
    Confused, I watched him stand and brush his hands on his pant legs. Then it dawned on me he was still talking about the car.
    He grinned, pinched my cheek, and cooed, “Now who could stay mad at a sad widdle