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The two of them stood outside of the station, the wind lifting Anne’s hair and the long train of his leather jacket. William couldn’t say he wasn’t happy to see the suspicion erased from her face. In the end, all he really wanted to do was close this distance between them and start up where they’d left off. His luck for the day seemed to have run out, though, because as he reached for her hand, she pulled back.
Not in public. Not in front of the station. Not anywhere.
William sighed. “I’d hate for you to be out there blind, love. I don’t know who this hit man is, but he’s dangerous and has clearly spent some time in the gun range since I last heard of him in the field. Keep your Kevlar on, if you go out looking for him, hm?”
“I’ll be careful.” Wry amusement curved onto Anne’s lips. “You remember that I’m the cop, and you’re the civilian, don’t you?”
“You remember that I’m not just a civilian?”
Anne’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I wish I could forget.”
William cleared his throat. “Got things to do, darling. Happy hunting.”
“Wait.”
William turned back to her, expectantly. Her expression was soft, her lips parted just slightly as she looked over him.
“Yeah, love?”
“Let me see your hand.”
William didn’t have to ask which hand. But he gave her the right one anyway.
“You know I mean the left.”
“How should I know what you’re on about? I’ve about had it with police shenanigans for the day.”
Anne tilted her head to the side and made that face. That stubborn, bossy face of hers. He wanted to grab her, throw her against the wall, and kiss that look off her face. But he’d probably get gunned down by the trigger-happy wankers inside.
Instead, he rubbed his middle and ring finger together inside his pocket, feeling the ridge of the little scar there, and knowing exactly what she was on about. She’d guessed how he knew that scar would be there. She remembered the other scar on his side, made by a knife wound long before the two of them had met.
“You and I aren’t anything to each other anymore,” he said very quietly, lest someone actually be listening. “I’m no longer one of the people you have to protect. And even if I were, remember that I’m one of the bad guys, and you shouldn’t protect me anyway.”
Anne narrowed her eyes and curved her lips to the side. “Bad guys don’t tip-off the police.”
“Don’t go getting any romantic notions, Anne.” William rolled his shoulders back. “You’ll just be disappointed again.”
He could feel her eyes on him as he walked back to his car.
***
One of the first lessons Anne had learned in the force was to always check in with your CO. Unfortunately, between handcuffs and dead bodies, she and Jeffers hadn’t found the time. Therefore, that afternoon when Lopez got back to the station, they’d both been called into his office for a vigorous tongue lashing.
“Does your ass hurt, too?” Jeffers whispered on the way back to their desks.
Anne suppressed a smile.
“Could’ve been worse though. I’ve gotten verbal spankage from every superior officer that’s come through this building,” he continued.
Anne picked up a file on her desk and shook her head. “Maybe that means you should keep your weapon to yourself.”
“Hey, that Spencer guy is nothing but trouble. I know you’re not dumb, Anne. Why are you listening to anything he has to say?”
Anne sighed. “To be honest, I never thought he’d give us information period. But he was absolutely right that there was a mark on the body, and that the examiners would miss it.”
“Did it ever occur to you that Mr. British knew where the mark was because he put it there?”
Anne wrinkled her nose at Jeffers. “Are you serious?”
