But since it won’t do either of us any good, I retrieve my phone, then grab Beckett’s hand and pull her back toward the door. “When this comes out—and it will come out,” I warn as I glance back at him, “you’re going to find that you should have helped us when we asked.”
“Ican’t believe he called him non-essential.” Beckett shakes her head as I hand her a mug of tea. She’s seated on my couch, cross-legged, wearing leggings and an oversized t-shirt. Lauren turned in about an hour ago, though I think that had more to do with needing her own space than actually going to sleep.
“He’s an arrogant jerk,” I reply as I take my seat next to her. “Always has been, from what I hear. Gives good cops a bad name.”
“Is this really a dead end?” she asks.
I know what she’s thinking, why that’s the first thing on her mind. Not ten minutes after we left Seymore, I got a call from my captain. He wasfuriousand demanded my resignation. Which I have every intention of delivering to his desk as soon as I’ve wrapped this up. Not that I told Beckett that last part. She already feels guilty enough that I got reprimanded. If she finds out I lost my job? It’ll only do more damage.
It doesn’t matter anyway because I’m done there.
Probably in Seattle altogether.
And what’s bad is I don’t really care. Financially, I’ll be fine. I have plenty of money saved up to live on while I figure out my next move. Mentally? That will be an adjustment.
All I ever wanted to be was a cop. I wanted to help people, to bring bad guys to justice, and make the world a safer place. But now? After dozens of undercover jobs and working tirelessly to bring justice to murder victims, maybe I could use a breather.
“Maybe it’s time to make a call,” I say as I lean back on the couch.
“What call?”
“Doesn’t Tucker Hunt have ways of getting information that police cannot?” I ask, choosing my words carefully. I don’t know the extent of his reach, but I do know that, when things went sideways when his brother was in town, Tucker was able to get information we otherwise couldn’t access.
Beckett arches a brow. “You want me to call Tucker?”
“We need answers, and clearly, we’re not going to get them any other way.”
Beckett smiles. It’s the first real smile I’ve seen on her face since she found out about Lauren and the fact that Paul wasworking with Lucian Creed. “My-my, Detective. How you have evolved this past week.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, well, don’t get used to it.”
Laughing softly, she withdraws her cell phone.
I check my watch. “It’s nearly eleven; will he still be up?”
“If he’s not, he won’t answer,” she replies as she taps his contact and puts it on speaker phone.
“Hey there, Beckett,” Tucker greets after two rings.
“Hey, Tucker. So, listen, I’m in a bit of a situation and could use some?—”
“Where are you and what do you need?” All amusement fades from his tone, and he slips into straight business. It honestly warms me to know that Beckett has people who have her back no matter what.
And while I don’t know a whole lot about the Hunts, my impression of them grows.
As she fills him in on everything, from receiving the photograph to Lucian Creed and discovering Lauren’s existence, I get up and walk to the back windows to stare outside. The solar lights I placed around the vicinity of my back fence glow softly, and I let my gaze travel around the yard.
Dirty cops.
What if I’m right?
What if Seymore had something to do with it?
Will they come for both of us now?
My hands tighten into fists at my sides, and I take a deep breath.Lord, please help me. I’m floundering here.
“Man, Beckett. You should have called me the second you got that picture,” Tucker says when she finishes filling him in.
