Page 48 of D for Dead

Jake took his cup, scowled at the foul-smelling liquid and then at Rebecca. ‘Nothing happened.’

‘Happened?’

‘Nothing is going to happen,’ he corrected.

Rebecca believed he believed that. She wasn’t sure she did. ‘I need your focus here with me. You want to keep Amy safe? Help me catch this killer. Don’t go getting distracted.’ ‘Distracted? You mean like you are with Hickok?’

Rebecca’s cheeks heated as her temper rose a notch. ‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’

‘You think I haven’t noticed there’s something up with you two? Hell, everyone has. It’s no wonder we’re not making any progress with this case, what with you constantly at each other’s throats.’

‘We are not.’

‘Yes, Rebecca, you are. Don’t give me this self-righteous bullshit about Amy when you’ve got your own thing going on with Hickok.’

He glared at her, dark eyes flashing, but she saw the spark of humour behind his anger. He was pissed at her, but also amused. Rebecca guessed it had to do with the colour of her burning cheeks.

Were she and Hickok that bad?

‘Okay, so he brings out the worst in me,’ she admitted, keeping her tone as light as possible.

Jake nodded, the amusement in his eyes now stamping out the anger. ‘Sure he does.’

‘He brings out the worst in a lot of people. But there’s nothing going on. Don’t mistake the situation.’

‘Okay, so how about a deal? Nothing has happened…’ He stopped, made a point of correcting himself again. ‘Nothing is going to happen with Amy, so you lay off me, and in return I’ll lay off you about Hickok.’

‘What about me?’

Rebecca and Jake turned to see Hickok standing behind them.

He raised his eyebrows expectantly.

Jake glanced at Rebecca, then Hickok, grin widening. ‘Rebecca was telling me how much she’s enjoying getting the chance to work with you again.’

Hickok narrowed his eyes suspiciously, his sole focus on Rebecca. ‘Did she now?’

Her face now on fire, Rebecca pulled her best neutral expression and avoided looking at Jake, who she intended to kill later; instead she met Hickok’s gaze full on. ‘Sure. It’s been a real walk down memory lane,’ she muttered sarcastically.

Hickok held her gaze for a moment longer, eyes narrowing further, before turning his attention to Jake. ‘No trouble last night?’ he asked.

He was the one who had agreed to Jake’s request to take the nightshift instead of Rivers. Rebecca suspected it was mostly to piss the younger agent off. Hickok and Jake had had their disagreements, some of them heated, but both were united in the belief that Rivers didn’t know his dick from his elbow.

‘No trouble. It was an interesting evening.’ Jake shot Rebecca a look, daring her to make a sardonic comment as he pulled a plastic bag out of his jacket pocket.

She resisted, figuring she’d said her piece. Hopefully Jake would have the good sense to keep his personal life separate from his professional life. If not, well then, she’d deal with ‘if not’ when it happened.

‘This may be evidence,’ he said, handing the bag to Hickok.

‘What is this? Letters?’

‘They’re from a fan. Read them and tell me Mr X isn’t crazy.’

‘Mr X?’ Hickok grinned at Rebecca. ‘Sounds kind of kinky, eh, Angell?’

Rebecca rolled her eyes, refusing to let him bait her. She turned her back on him, focusing her attention on Jake.

‘We gonna take a look at the rest of these books?’