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For a brief second, Avery’s features flash with alarm. She hides her panic quickly, rolling her shoulders back and lifting her head. “I’m not afraid of them.”
Sadie’s never been the most compassionate—hell, some days I wonder if she has a sympathetic bone in her body—but I’m onboard this time. Her bluntness is necessary to make Avery comprehend the level of danger she’s in.
I address Sadie. “Are you still in?”
“I got saddled with backlogged parking tickets,” she says. “So I’m not benched, if that’s what you mean. I guess it could’ve been worse.”
It could’ve been, but still, there’s nothing pleasant about parking ticket duty. “We’re still working the case.” I glance between them. “I’m not officially, of course, but no one has any knowledge of your connections, Avery. That’s an angle that’s all ours, and we’ll work it.”
Sadie cranes an eyebrow. “Detective Quinn going outside the law?”
I lay a heavy glare on her. “Don’t get so excited. I’m not going vigilante”—I narrow my gaze—“I’m just not above doing a little side sleuthing. I still want all updates on Maddox and that law firm. Anything you uncover at Lark and Gannet comes to me.” I exhale heavily. “Keep me in the know until I’m back on the case.”
Avery catches Sadie’s notice, and some unsaid communication passes between them. “All right,” Sadie says, shifting her stance. “Mission Black Hat Quinn in effect. I’ll keep you posted.” She heads out of my office, and I’m left with a strange wariness I can’t place.
“Wondering how to begin again?”
I look at Avery, that heaviness on my chest damn near crushing me. “Yeah. Pretty much exactly.”
She sidles up beside me and slips her hand into mine. I stare down as our fingers lace together. “Come on,” she says, pulling me toward the door. “If we’re going rogue, let’s make it count.”
3
Frayed
Avery
The tap tap tap of our footfalls echos like the secondhand of a clock ticking down. The rhythmic patter against the linoleum could lull me to sleep. I march down the white-walled corridor as if I’ve been zombiefied, a medical examiner’s worst fear.
It’s ironic, I guess. A hollowed out shell of a woman, a corpse in my own right, on my way to the morgue. If not for Quinn risking his career to save me, I’d most likely be on a slab in my own lab right now.
I don’t know what would’ve happened if Quinn and Sadie hadn’t been able to stop that van. But I know, eventually, those men would’ve killed me. It’s not as if they were just going to let me walk away with their secrets.
Secrets.
They have one of mine, as well. And since I did escape, I wonder how long I have until Mr. A. K. Tie—the man who threatened me; the reason why I’ll never forget the cold bite of steel inside me—makes my damning secret known.
But after the events of the past forty-eight hours, lethargy is my immediate enemy—the threat weighing me down with each exhausting step.
I could’ve put up more of a fight with Quinn, dug my heels in and refused to be removed from my lab, where I have control over the evidence as it’s discovered. I could have—and I would’ve eventually worn him down, but the thought of resting was more tempting.
I want to laugh. Risk my life, my freedom, my reputation…for just one extra hour of sleep. But screw sleep. Sleep is my enemy, too.
Every second already lost will take hours to recover on this case.
I force my feet to keep moving forward, leading Quinn toward the crime lab. I’m hyperaware of him behind me, the press of his strong presence against my back. So when he grabs ahold of my wrist and pulls me into a nook along the hallway, I’m only slightly alarmed.
“What are you doing?” I look up into his face as he towers over me.
“We need to be on the same page.” He’s standing way too close, causing my heart to thump erratically in my chest.
I swallow hard. “We are, Quinn. I get it.”
He trails his hand up my arm, grips my bicep, his worry evident in that one action. “Get your team on point, but don’t give them any more information than needed.”
My shoulders sag. I’m not sure what to respond to first. His obvious concern, or his domineering temperament. As my defenses surge, anger over my situation rising anew, I’m swayed toward defensive. “They’re not idiots,” I snap. “They have access to all the same evidence, and they need to know what to do with that evidence.”
He releases a deep breath and removes his hand. “I meant about your circumstance. The only lead we have right now is your darknet connections. If someone in your lab gets wind of that…” He presses his lips together. “I don’t want anything leaked to the press. I don’t want these people you’ve been dealing with to get spooked and disappear.”
