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“I said more than that,” Kipp said.
I rolled my eyes. “She came out of a house on Allen.”
“Allandale.”
Zach’s expression tightened. “Allen…”
I raised my hand to cut him off. “Allandale.”
“Makes more sense,” Zach replied with a deep laugh. “Since Allen isn’t a street here in Memphis.”
I shrugged away the knowledge that my listening skills sucked and I looked at Kipp, who winked. “I thought this might be an easy thing to do, but with you, apparently it’s going to be frustrating.”
I smiled with attitude just to dig at him. His answering sly grin sent a shiver of naughtiness rushing through me. I realized in an instant what I’d done—flirting with a ghost was so wrong.
Get a grip, Tess!
Zach set his beer down and the bottle clinked against the table, which came as the perfect distraction to draw me away from Kipp’s gaze.
“I’m taking it you looked into the house?” Zach asked. I peeked out of the corner of my eye to see if Kipp’s gaze remained on me. I didn’t need to look. His stare created tingles along my skin. He finally glanced at Zach and I released the breath I’d been holding.
“It’s a safe house,” Kipp said.
“A safe house?” I repeated.
I’d think the term meant protection. Judging by the distress in Zach’s expression, it meant the exact opposite. After a long pause, my curiosity stole over my thoughts. “And this is bad because?”
Kipp’s gaze returned to mine. “The only way Hannah could have gotten into the house was if a cop had been with her. There’s no reason why she would’ve needed to go there. Her record is clean. She’d been a good kid. It would’ve been for personal reasons, I’m sure of that.”
The implication of what he said became clear. “You think a cop murdered her?”
Kipp inclined his head with a solemn expression. “I suspect so.”
“What did he say?” Zach asked.
I couldn’t look away from Kipp. The thought that one of his own had been capable of this showed raw on his face. “He said a cop murdered her.”
“Shit.” Zach stared down at the floor, as if he tried to sort everything out, and fina
lly, he looked toward the recliner. “I know now why you kept the secret, but from me?” Rage burned in the depths of his eyes. “I could’ve gone with you.”
“I acted on a hunch,” Kipp replied. “I truly didn’t believe a cop was behind Hannah’s disappearance. I thought I’d go there and find nothin’. I didn’t expect someone to shoot me. I’d been merely nosing around.”
“He’d been only guessing,” I said to Zach. “And he didn’t think it was dangerous,” I added for Kipp’s benefit.
Kipp’s tone dipped lower. “I never said that.”
Zach slammed his fists down on the table to create a loud bang. “Well, look what your guess cost you.”
“It’s not his fault, you know,” I retorted.
Kipp exhaled, exasperated. “I never said that either.”
“Really?” Zach narrowed his gaze on me. “It’s not his fault? If he hadn’t gone out there alone, then he wouldn’t have been shot.”
Kipp raised a hand. “Can I—”
“No, you cannot.” I stared down Zach. “He obviously had been protecting you by not sharing the information. And let me just tell you, he has annoyed me beyond belief these past days to get me to come and talk to you. So you need to suck up your pride and listen to what he has to say.”
