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If they were going to get through the next few hours in each other’s company, she needed to dust off her own acting skills.
Or were they people skills? Alexia wasreallygood at her job. Her talent for solving cold cases had landed Tripp’s niece’s file onherdesk.
Her train of thought hit its own slick spot and she felt her brain skidding sideways. Just how hardwasthe man to be on his feet at all? Even the slightest of taps from a moving vehicle was known to break bones.
Tripp caught her attention by jerking a thumb toward the store. “If we’re hitting the road, I’m gonna grab some snacks.”
Snacks? She shrugged. Hewasa man.
“Knock yourself out,” she said.
He cocked a brow. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Haven’t you already done enough harm?”
She rolled her eyes and stifled a grunt. The guy was insufferable. How she was ever going to sit next to him in the car for even a few hours would be a true display of her dedication to her work. Maybe she’d get her own plaque for her service long before twenty-five years.
As soon as he limped to the entrance, she whipped out her phone again. After stabbing a fingertip at the name of the contact, she brought the device to her ear.
“Are you already calling for backup, Alexia?” her boss asked after just one ring.
“No, I’m not calling for backup,” she ground out. “I just got off the phone with my partner.”
“I know. He filled me in a second ago.”
Eric’s statement took some of the wind of fury out of her sail. “And? What do you think about taking Tripp to the crime scene?”
“You want my honest opinion, Alexia?”
She barely let that thought skim across the wrinkles in her brain before she shook her head. “No. Look, the guy doesn’t seem like he’s going to do all the terrible things you claim he will. If he is a killer, I don’t think he wants to kill me.”
She thought about that for a beat. Okay, maybe Tripp didn’t really like her, and shehadhit him with her car, but that didn’t mean he wanted to see her in a shallow grave.
“Look, Eric, I didn’t call to get more of your opinions on the subject. I only want to keep you in the loop.”
“Because you know my position on taking Tripp to the scene of the crime.”
She scrubbed her hand over her face. “I didn’t have much choice.”
“Why is that?”
Her stomach hollowed at what she was about to admit. “I kind of…hit him with the Humvee.”
“You—” A long groan projected into her ear. “That’s a government vehicle. We’re liable, Alexia!”
“Yes, but taking him to the scene is the trade for him shutting up about me almost running him over!”
She darted a look at the store. No sign of Tripp.
Another groan from her boss filled her ear. “Where is he now?”
“He’s getting snacks.”
“Are you sure he didn’t run off? Is he really getting snacks?”
Her stomach plummeted. “Of course he’s getting snacks.”
Swinging to look at the store again, she urged her number one suspect to walk back through those automatic doors carrying a bag stuffed with… What did guys like Tripp snack on?
Potato chips. And beef jerky.
