Page 14 of Ghost Among Lies

"I could ask you the same, but considering I already know the answer, I don't feel it's necessary to waste my breath." Beckett smirked at me. Then he climbed out from the back and hopped into the passenger seat with a satisfied sigh. "Ah, much better. My ass is too damn big to be shoved back there on the floor."

"Then why the hell did you do it? If you wanted to come with me, you could've just asked."

"And risk you telling me no?" He quirked his brow. "Nah, this was better. Besides, we both know you aren't going out for a session. You're going to confront Hayes."

I kept my expression neutral. "Why the hell would you think that?"

"Because it's what I would do. Anita told me you were digging into him more, and he's too squeaky clean for your liking. The next logical step would be to confront him about it." Beckett settled back into the seat. "Tell me I'm wrong."

"You're not wrong," I reluctantly grumbled. This was one of those times it was annoying to have a former FBI agent on the team.

"Exactly." Beckett sounded too damn smug, and I wanted to punch him for it. I settled for using my words instead.

"Why do you want to come? I don't need a babysitter if that's what you're thinking. I can handle Hayes, and I don't plan on killing him."

I could never kill the man who still held my heart in the palm of his hand.

"Let's call it morbid curiosity."

"Suit yourself. But you do realize Anita's going to be pissed when she finds out what I'm really doing, and you didn't do anything to stop me, right?"

Beckett merely shrugged. "I'm willing to take one for the team."

He would soon find out he was going to be eating his words.

CHAPTER EIGHT

HAYES

I wasn't the least bit surprised when I walked into my house and found Toby waiting for me in the living room. After the way we left things, I knew he would be back once he cooled off. "How long have you been sitting there?"

"Not long." Toby stared down at the bottle of whiskey in his hand. It was the wee hours of the morning. Not an unusual time for my best friend to be drinking. "I hung out at the bar until they kicked me out."

I didn't know what bar he was referring to considering there were several in the area he was banned from. I wasn't even sure how many he was still allowed in. Toby had a problem with regulating his emotions when alcohol was involved. The fact that he didn't sound hammered was a miracle.

"Are you crashing here for a while?"

Toby didn't have a permanent place of residence. He had a room here he used whenever he felt like it. Which was more often than not.

"Nah. I have a run with the club the next few days. I'm going to head over there in a bit. I just wanted to make sure we were straight before I left."

My best friend was part of a motorcycle club. The run he referred to was probably something illegal. My hopes that he would settle in with a decent club that ran charity runs was quickly dashed. In typical Toby fashion, he hooked up with a bunch of bikers who thought they didn't have to follow the law. I would be a hypocrite for judging him.

We had an unspoken rule. I didn't ask him about club activities, and he didn't pry into my line of work when I went off in the middle of the night to clean up gruesome murder scenes. It worked for us.

"We're straight."

Toby glanced up at me. "I only get pissed because you're my friend, and I hate that you're still hung up on her."

I wanted to deny his claim. A decade was an awfully long time to allow my high school sweetheart to live rent-free in my head. If I were a smarter man, I would've forgotten about her and moved on. But there was this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I missed something major when it came to why Sloane abruptly left me.

I leaned my hip against the side of the recliner and crossed my arms over my chest. I wanted to buy myself some time before I responded. I wasn't exactly keen on a repeat performance of our last discussion.

"I know that, but until you've had that once-in-a-lifetime kind of love, you can't understand how I feel."

Toby blew out a breath and stood up. With a shake of his head, he mumbled, "Never gonna fucking listen."

I didn't bother to dignify that with a response. This was one of those agree-to-disagree moments.