Page 12 of XO Karma

4

LILY

“You lied to me!” Liam’s desk rattles as I slam the newspaper on it in the middle of the precinct. “He killed again.”

He snatches the paper, then stands abruptly, eyes wide with an indecipherable emotion. A few officers glance our way, then quickly return to their own tasks. “Not here,” he states, walking away.

I step to follow him, and a tall, broad familiar figure slides in my way. “Breathe, Lil,” Jackson, Liam’s partner and best friend, says, placing a hand on my shoulder.

Craning my neck, I find his brown eyes analyzing mine. “Would you like to be next on my shit list?”

He holds up both hands in surrender and fights a grin. “Just preventing you from acquiring a charge for assaulting an officer.”

“Appreciate the concern, Detective Carter.” I tap his cheek and walk past. “But you’d have to catch me first.”

Liam stands in the door frame of an interrogation room, and after I pass through, it clicks closed behind us. The air is still, quiet, and thick with tension. Glancing at the camera in the corner, I note the recording light is off. “You need to calm down” are his first words, and I spin to face him.

“When in the history of ever have those words actually made a woman calm down?” I spout back, and his matching blue eyes bore into mine.

“I can explain.”

“Explain what?! How the Kodak Killer claimed another victim, and I had to find out from a newspaper article rather than my brother?”

He scratches the stubble on his jaw. “I was planning to tell you when I got home today.”

“I don’t live under a rock, Liam. You should have told me as soon as you knew. You promised to keep me in the loop so I wouldn’t be fucking blindsided in the middle of the goddamn coffee shop. Again.” Last time it was when the news came on during a date at a local sports bar. That was super fun. Sorry, can’t screw tonight, just found out my bestie’s murderer has struck again!

“You’re right.” The victory of his admission doesn’t ease the ache gnawing at my chest. “I’m sorry.”

“You lied the other night. You said it was a mugging gone wrong.”

“That wasn’t a lie.” He shakes his head. “There was another victim.”

The temperature in the room rises as I unclench my fists. “What?”

“The murder near Joe’s was a different victim.”

I pace the room, my mind struggling to catch up. “So, you’re telling me after being in hiding for months, the Kodak Killer has resurfaced to kill not one but two people?”

“No, the murders seem unrelated.”

“Wonderful!” I throw my arms in the air. “So there are two killers in Cleosville. You know what? This is what we get for you saying how boring it’s gotten around here.”

“So it’s my fault?” He huffs a laugh, tone amused.

“I mean, you literally screamed into the universe how calm it’s been, and minutes later, victims started popping up like Whac-A-Mole.”

“Really?” He folds his arms across his chest. “You’re seriously blaming me for a double homicide?”

I roll my eyes with a groan, trying to jump-start the rational part of my brain. “Fine. I acquit you from blame.”

“How generous of you.”

I lean against the opposite wall, mirroring his pose. “Do you have any suspects? For either case?” He shakes his head, and frustration bubbles through me. “Great.”

“But we’re working on it around the clock. Just lie low until we figure it out. No more late-night Karma runs⁠—”

“What?!” I push off the wall, my nostrils flaring. “I’m not agreeing to that.”