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5
Bishop
“You sureyou don’t want anything?”
My jaw is clenched. I glare silent daggers at Tanner. Oh, I want something alright. I want to beat the fuck out of him. Except I’m not totally clear on the why.
Walking into his house like that to see him and Cora like, well, like that? It snapped something in me. I want to say it’s that he’s being insanely unprofessional. Not to mention morally absurd. I mean the girl is a victim—of what we’re not clear yet. But I want to scream “what the actual fuck” in his face. Kissing her, in his fucking boxers, with his hands all over her? Is he fucking insane?
The other problem is, I know what the emotion is that I’ve got burning hot like diesel inside of me. I’m just not ready to accept that feeling or exactly what that means or says about me.
It’s jealousy. I saw him and the gorgeous little runaway locking lips, and I was fucking jealous. I mean what the fuck does that say about me?
“No tea?”
“No fucking tea,” I snap at him.
It’s been ten minutes since I walked in. Cora’s in a hoodie sweatshirt now, and Tanner has some fucking clothes on. She won’t look at me. He’s just trying to play it off like I didn’t just see what we all know I saw. But whatever the hell was happening between the two of them can wait. Right now, we’re getting to the bottom of who this girl is and how the hell this has played out like this.
“So you’re Loretta’s niece?”
“Great niece,” she says quietly.
I nod. I’m not mad at her, at all. I mean what right do I have to be mad? It’s my dumbass friend I’ve got a bone to pick with. But for her sake, I try and soften my gruff look. “Start from the beginning, so I can get this.”
She nods and sips her tea. “I barely know Loretta anymore, and I haven’t seen her in years. She’s my grandma Nancy’s sister, on my mother’s side. We used to come here when I was a kid. My mom and my grandmother were pretty estranged, so Loretta was sort of a grandmother to me the once a year I saw her. When my mom passed…”
She shrugs, and I grit my teeth.
“I’m sorry,” I say gently.
“Thanks. It was a while ago. We really didn’t see Loretta much after that, since she’s not the biggest fan of my dad.” She looks at her tea. “Neither am I.” She sighs. “Sorry, I’m babbling.”
“No, this is helpful,” Tanner says gently.
She looks at him and smiles, the jealousy flares in me again.
“So, I moved to San Francisco for school two years ago.”
“Loretta and you get back in contact?”
Cora shakes her head. “No. She’s been traveling I think, and I just…” she shrugs. “I think she always wanted me to be this grand lady like her. And I was, well, not. I was broke, working crappy jobs, and in a school with no idea what I wanted to do in my life. I guess I was waiting until I got my shit together before I reached out. I think I was embarrassed.”
I chuckle. “I think I know the feeling. So, the shooting. If you want to talk about it, that is.”
She nods and looks at me hesitantly.
“I made my report,” I say quietly. “About the shoot-out tonight. But I didn’t mention you. The forensics are going over your great aunt’s house now.”
Cora pales.
“I, uh…” I frown. “I went over there first and got anything obvious. Hair out of the drain, wiped for prints, etc.” I turn and glare at Tanner. “They’re going to call you about the gun.”
He nods, and I turn back to Cora.
“So, this shooting.”
“I got a job as a cocktail waitress at this club my friend worked at. It really wasn’t my scene—clubs aren’t at all. But the money was okay even if the clientele was scummy. I’d only been there two weeks when I…” she shivers. “When I saw it.”
