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That’s what Rio liked about Digger, she never had to spell it out for her. Maybe she could pick up on the trickery going on inside the department tomorrow and nobody would be the wiser. It would be disguised as a casual lunch date between friends.
    Rio eased the phone shut and slipped it inside her pants’ pocket. If Digger was right, this was bad.
    Who was she kidding? Digger was always right. This was no time to start doubting a woman who’d been nicknamed for her ability to “dig” into her powers of clairvoyancy and predict nothing but accurate prophecies. Not once had Digger been wrong in all the years Rio had known her—since junior high.
    Fear knotted apprehension inside Rio’s gut. Sheer resilience moved her toward the door. If somebody was out to get her, was the note she found on her desk real? Did that letter have anything to do with the spy inside the department?
    Suddenly, nothing about her world felt safe.
    Opening the door, she heard Eddie’s voice, soft and low. Instinct and uneasiness urged her to stop and listen.
    “I don’t know,” Eddie was saying. “I think I can salvage it, but you need to make sure the obstacle is removed.”
    Obstacle? What obstacle? And what exactly did Eddie think he could salvage?
    Perhaps Rio’s analysis that Eddie LaCall was too good to be true wasn’t too far off base.
    Was he the mole? Rio didn’t like condemning the man without proof, but he was definitely up to something. If he was the spy, what did he know about that creepy letter?
    Suddenly, Eddie LaCall lost a bit of his appeal.

CHAPTER 4
    ANSWERING the phone had been a bad idea, especially with Rio in the next room. Stupid move. Really stupid. Eddie gave himself a swift mental kick. He’d have to be more careful in the future. No more meds.
    Disconnecting the call, he drew a breath and willed away the caught sensation before turning to Rio.
    “Sorry.” She shook her head, probably trying to feign nonchalance, and tucked her fingertips inside the waistband of her slacks.
    “It’s alright,” he said. So long as she hadn’t heard too much.
    She leaned against the doorjamb, leaving lots of risk-free space between them. No need to be so guarded. Eddie had a feeling she could hold her own.
    A chill sliced through him and confusion fogged his brain. His legs felt like toothpicks trying to hold up a brick. Everything went black and he stumbled forward.
    Seemingly from out of nowhere she caught him. He worried his frame would overpower hers and they’d both end up on the floor. She may be a kickass cop, on more levels than one, but when was a mountain ever stopped by a molehill? He was bigger than her. It was the law of physics, plain and simple.
    The molehill moved the mountain toward the couch, proving him wrong. But, just as the law of physics promised, she succumbed to the pressure and they fell together onto the sofa.
    Eddie’s hands trembled. What the hell...? He’d been so fixated on not hurting her that a gashing pain had snuck up on him and was now sawing his head apart with a dull hacksaw.
    Pills. He needed pills. But he didn’t want them. Drugs meant losing control. Telling his secrets.
    No. He could fight this. He could win. He just had to be stronger than the pain.
    Her fingers invaded his mouth. She shoved in something that tasted a lot like chalk—damn it, the drugs.
    “No, I don’t want it.” He protested, twisting his head back and forth, but she was too pushy. He coughed and she barricaded his mouth with the palm of her hand.
    “Swallow it.” Her stern voice reminded him of Mrs. Larche, his second-grade teacher. She was scary. There was nothing scary about Rio, even though all their coworkers thought differently.
    Okay. Okay. He’d swallow it. “Water,” he said, barely above a whisper.
    “I’ll get you some water. But just lie down, okay? Don’t try to get up.”
    “Somebody named Billy called.” Eddie propped his feet on the coffee table.
    His mother’s chastising voice