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A shrug. One that tried to make him appear careless, but the lines bracketing his mouth belied the move. “When I linked the call at Katherine LaShaun’s place to your phone, the DA had to cough up the info.”
Ah, the phone call. She’d figured that would be traced back to her sooner or later. She just had been hoping more for later.
She’d forgotten just how good Ben’s contacts were. “I had to call her. I couldn’t let those boys see their father’s body. They never would have felt safe at that house, they never?—”
“Still trying to save the world?” he asked softly.
Her lips pressed together.
Jude had understood. She’d seen the way he looked at the boys.Had he seen himself in them?She’d bet that he had. Just like she’d seen herself.
Her hands flattened on the desktop. “I didn’t break any laws by calling Katherine.”
“You tipped off a suspect.”
She jumped to her feet.So much for playing it cool.“Please! You and I both know there’s no way Katherine killed Trent. That’s not the kind of woman she is!”
“She thinks he killed her daughter. She’d doanythingfor her girl, you know that.”
She did, but... “Katherine didn’t kill Trent.”
“You seem awfully sure of that.” He walked around the desk, moving until he stood less than a foot away from her. “Why is that, Erin? And why is it that Trent had your picture in what was left of his hands?”
Because he was another freaking present.She didn’t flinch. “There are things going on here that you wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh?” His lips twisted into a cruel smile. The smile didn’t suit him. Not at all. “Like I didn’t understand about you back in Lillian? Every time I tried to get close, you just shoved me back. When I was in the hospital, you didn’t even come to see me.”
“Because I was trying to protect you!” The words burst out. Oh, no, she hadn’t meant to tell him that. Now she was?—
“And I find out now that you’re cozying up with some low-rent bounty hunter!” His face reddened as his voice rose. “I saw the way he looked at you, the two of you are—wait, what the hell did you say?”
“Uh...”
The door flew open. “Asshole, don’traiseyour voice to her again.” Jude stood in the doorway, his claws out and his eyes glowing.
Ben looked at him and his jaw dropped.“What. The. Hell?”
Jude kicked the door closed with his heel but never took that deadly gaze off the cop.
“I told you there were things you wouldn’t understand,” Erin said. Then, “Jude, back off, okay? I’ve got this.”
“Bullshit. I could hear the prick yelling at you.”
Yes, well, with his shifter hearing, he probably would have been able to hear a whisper. “This isn’t the way to handle the situation.”
“He’s got claws!” Ben shook his head, hard.
“All the better to rip into prey.” Jude took a step forward.
“What’s up with his eyes? Why are they?—”
“All the better to see the jerk who doesn’t need to be attacking my lady.”
“Jude!” Her snarl had him faltering and glancing over at her. “I can fight this one on my own.”Not helping.No, his big show and tell was making everything a thousand times worse.
“Sweetheart, it’s time your cop learned the truth.” In that devil-may-care grin, she caught the edge of his teeth, those too sharp canines. Erin swallowed and really hoped that Ben hadn’t seen them, too, because if he said something about the fangs, she could already hear Jude’s smart-ass response.
All the better to bite.
