us
when you get a match on the gel. Thanks.”
“As the man said, not a problem,” Micki responded evenly, but Olivia knew that look in her friend’s eyes. She’d expect an
explanation.
As if I have one
. “Abbott’s going to want us in his office at oh-eight in the morning,” Olivia said, changing the subject. Her captain was
big on meetings starting at oh-eight.
“Looking forward to it,” was all Micki said. “I’ll try torun the girl’s prints before then. Afterward, we can grab a coffee. Catch up.”
“You bet,” Olivia said flatly, then turned to Micah Barlow who was watching her too closely and she felt a flare of temper.
That she’d even considered David Hunter for a nanosecond was partially Barlow’s fault, goddamn meddling bastard. “He’ll want
you there, too,” she said coolly. “You know where to find Abbott’s office?”
“I’ve worked with your captain before,” Barlow said. “I’ll be there.”
She jerked a nod, then headed to her car, Kane at her side. He didn’t say a word until she’d unlocked her car door.
Leaning against her hood, he folded his arms across his chest. “And that was…?”
She jerked open her door. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Kane pushed her door closed with the palm of his hand. “Olivia.”
She sighed. “One mammoth mistake, okay? One I don’t care to repeat or discuss.”
He looked disappointed. Kane did like his gossip. “Oh, all right,” he grumbled. “Here’s Weems’s home address. You want me
to lead?”
“No, you did it last time. It’s my turn to break the news.” Unlike other detective teams, they never flipped a coin. They
split the nasty duties fifty-fifty. It had always been that way, even when she was totally green and he was her mentor. “I’ll
meet you there.”
She opened her door when Kane walked away, then stopped, suddenly uneasy. Looking over her shoulder, she saw David standing
next to his truck, watching her, and a shudder rippled across her skin. For a moment theireyes locked, then his chin tilted as if issuing a challenge. He pulled a new glove on his hand, then turned back to his work.
Trembling, Olivia got in her car.
I don’t need this. Not now.
He’s had seven months. Seven fucking months to say something. Do something.
She’d waited, patiently at first. Then the hurt started to rise, higher, deeper with each passing day. Each passing week.
Until she’d given up.
I’ve given him enough time.
It had been two and a half years since the night they’d met at her sister’s wedding in Chicago. Since the night they’d…
Dammit
. Remembering wasn’t supposed to make her want it again. But it did. Which made her pathetic. He’s had two and a half years
to do something.
Maybe he’s waiting for you to make the first move.
And maybe you’re the biggest idiot on earth
. She knew for whom David waited.
And it sure as hell’s not me.
Cursing herself for even entertaining the notion someone like him could be waiting for her, she followed Kane, ignoring the
reporters’ questions. There would be a press conference soon enough. She was about to inform Mrs. Henry Weems that she’d become
a widow, that her life had been irrevocably changed.
As she drove, she rehearsed the words that four years in Homicide had not made any easier to say.
David could hear nothing over the low roar of the truck beside him as he pulled a pike pole from its compartment, but he knew
when her car pulled away. Turning, he watched her taillights disappear through the construction gate.
She’d been tired tonight. Worried.
And not happy tosee me
. Irritation had filled those round blue eyes of hers. But there had been more. Compassion, concern. And then shame. The shame
scraped at him as he knew he’d put it there.
But most of all, he’d seen the bone-weariness that weighed so heavily on her slender shoulders. He’d been watching her closely
enough over the last seven months
Justine Dare Justine Davis