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“What do you know about Lennox Maison? About her past?”
I’m quick to pull out the chair beside his at the pub table he’s occupying. “Not much.”
“And by that you mean nothing?”
“Exactly.”
Colton shifts his weight. “How long have you been hooking up with her?”
The question comes out of left field, enough so that I cock an eyebrow before I can stop myself. “What did she tell you?”
“She didn’t have to tell me anything,” Colton says, his fingers peeling the label on his half-empty beer. “I’ve noticed the way you look at her.”
“I’ve never disrespected her.” It isn’t fully true. I did some pretty disrespectful things the night we met, and let’s not talk about what happened earlier beside that building.
He shakes his head. “You watch her like you know her. Listen, I get not wanting to talk about it, but I’m a cop.”
I nod, knowing exactly what he means. He’s as trained as I am, if not more so due to the nature of his job. I won’t lie to the guy, but I’m also not sharing any information about what happened between Lennox and me. Doing so would be disrespectful, and that thought surprises me too. I’m not one to go and brag outright, but I’ve been known to make the odd comment about spending time with a woman when asked. I think all men are guilty of it. Well, at least men who aren’t in committed relationships.
Colton smiles as I wage a war in my head, and it makes me feel like he knows something I don’t. But I’m not opening any more fucking doors with anyone where Lennox Maison is concerned.
“Listen.” He leans in closer as if he’s about to say something he isn’t willing to share with anyone else. “Lennox’s sister Elle was sexually assaulted and murdered when she was a kid. A previous case wasn’t worked to its potential, and it left the perp open for doing it a second time.”
The woman is willing to arrest anyone she believes is connected to Elizabeth’s murder. She’s afraid of becoming that cop who missed something.
“She was a later in life baby, so there was a thirteen-year age difference. Her sister’s death destroyed her family. Lennox’s dad died a couple years ago from a heart attack and her mom died a year after him. She’s alone. Has no one. And from the way she acts, I don’t think she wants anyone.”
“She’s afraid to lose someone else.”
Colton nods.
A million red flags are going up—warnings to leave her alone and just let her live her life the way she wants—but for some reason, it doesn’t make me any less intrigued.
“The cop who missed the information in the case ended up committing suicide. The man who was later arrested committed suicide. There was no justice. It all left a lot of unanswered questions. There have been murmurs around the station about this case being a copycat because the details are eerily similar to what happened fifteen years ago. I imagine it’s taking a toll on her.”
This information makes me seethe, my hands threatening to shake with the unspent energy raging inside of me.
“And someone thought it was a good idea to make her the lead on the case?” I ask through clenched teeth.
“One thing you’ll learn about Lennox if you spend any length of time with her, is that she doesn’t want to be coddled. She was going to have to take lead, eventually.”
“That sounds like a company line,” I mutter.
Colton looks around before he speaks. “He’ll never admit it, but I think Monahan regrets making that call. If it means anything, I argued against it. He’s still scared you’re going to sue the department.”
“I’m not going to sue the damn police department.”
He grins like he knew it from the beginning. “Any chance you’ll put that in writing to calm the chief’s ass down?”
I shake my head. “I’ll let him stew in it a little longer.”
“Of course you will,” Colton says with a laugh.
“Why exactly are there so many cops here tonight?”
“Someone mentioned coming to make sure nothing happened to the women when they left, and somehow it turned into a group thing. I honestly think some of these guys think they’ll protect the ladies by carrying them home.”
“Even that one?” I ask, pointing to a guy with a cocky grin as he flirts with a woman near the bar. “Or is that his wife?”
“Not his wife,” Colton says, sounding frustrated. “Pete Dresden is a great cop, but a seriously shitty husband. He’s been married three times and divorced twice. I don’t know why he keeps traveling down the damn aisle. It would be a lot cheaper for him if he didn’t.”
“Lennox ever been married?”
Colton scoffs. “I don’t think marriage will ever be Lennox’s thing.”
We chat a little longer, but Colton eventually heads home. I stick around the bar until closing once again and follow Rochelle to her house, waiting to go home myself until she gets inside and flashes the lights for me.
