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“Yeah,” Olivia said. “I get that. Like the new door in your fence?”
Nutsbe put his hands on his hips and looked down at Beowolf. There was an endearing bashfulness about the move.
“You’re not great around crying, I’ve observed,” Olivia said.
“Women crying?” He brought his head up to catch her gaze. “Can’t stand it.”
“Is there a story there?”
“Not that I know of.”
Beowolf turned around to face the judge. Stabilized and packaged for transport, he lay under the reflective blanket on the gurney.
“I’ve been that way from as far back as I can remember,” Nutsbe said as the paramedics wheeled Judge Greenway toward the ambulance staged on the road. “You ready? Iniquus left a car for me up the block away from this mess.”
“So efficient. It reminds me of house elves. And a hotwash, huh? I’ve had people on the stand mention them. I’ve never been through one before.”
Nutsbe was wiping the drool from Beowolf’s chin. “This isn’t exactly a hotwash. A hotwash is when you come in from a mission. And then you review what went right, what went wrong.”
“Which we’re doing.” Olivia bent to get her shoes. “Mission Beowolf. Right?” Nutsbe held her elbow as she slid her foot into one shoe, then the other.
“Then we decide what needs further training, decide if new protocols need to be developed for next time.”
Without hose, Olivia’s skin pinched, and she had to run a finger along the inside of her shoe to settle her foot in properly. “Please, god, let there never be a next time. I get it. Not really hotwash. Okay. I’m a little disappointed.” She stood on both feet. The walk to the new car was going to give her blisters, such a petty grievance. “What do we need to talk about at Iniquus?” She stepped forward and stared at the wide pool of blood that the police were photographing.
“The trajectory of the bullet, for one.”
“Coming right at the judge.” She frowned.
“Coming right at us,” Nutsbe corrected.
She twisted to look up at him. “How’s that? The judge was yards away.”
Nutsbe turned Olivia and wordlessly used his finger to draw an arc from where the sniper had been down to the blood where the judge had stood.
“Right.” Olivia gave an emphatic nod. “The judge. It hit him in the leg.” That last part trailed off. Olivia recognized that something was wrong with her thought process.
Nutsbe moved around behind her, stretching his arm forward so she was lined up with his finger. “Would you agree that’s where we were standing when Beowolf pulled you down?”
“Yes.” Her lungs lost their elasticity. Air couldn’t go in, and air couldn’t go out. A shiver traced her spine, jolting her body.
Nutsbe put his free hand on her arm to steady her. “Watch the arc again.” He traced his finger through the air.
Olivia turned and grabbed Nutsbe’s arm with both hands, staring up into his eyes. “If we had been standing there, the bullet wouldn’t have hit the judge in the leg. It would have hit one of us instead.”
That was a kill shot.
Chapter Nineteen
Nutsbe
Nutsbe offered his arm to Olivia, and she took it, walking alongside him, her hip brushing his as they moved easily together.
He’d prefer to hold her hand, but he had to be ready if he needed to jump into action.
Beowolf trotted along on a loose lead. As they made their way to the SUV location, Iniquus sent to his phone. Nutsbe was using Beowolf as his barometer, watching to see if he was predicting an impending shitstorm. Right now, Beowolf’s posture seemed relaxed.
“Hey, Nutsbe, how would Beowolf have known to drag me to the ground the way he did?” Olivia asked as they moved down the sidewalk.
