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“Sorry about that,” she said to Lachlan.
“No problem.”
And he didn’t ask. Not so long ago, she’d have volunteered the information of who was on the phone and what they said. Now it was complicated for so many reasons.
“I don’t want to lie to you,” she murmured.
“I didn’t ask. And know better than to ask questions I don’t want the answers to.”
“You’re a detective. I thought you wanted all the answers.”
“Immie, I’ll always be here for you, no matter what…”
She didn’t need to be a genius to divine that there was an exception.
“But…?”
“If I ask, either you lie, and I know you’re lying, or you tell the truth… and I’m not ready to hear the truth of what lightens your voice like that.”
“I didn’t—”
“I know you, Im.” Damn, did he have to be so perceptive? “Just be careful.”
“Because I’m weak and vulnerable and I can’t take care of myself?”
“Because all those people you complain about protecting you, they have to be ready too.”
Did he mean him or her family?
“Who broke Sersha’s heart?” she asked, backing away from the murky subject of her own love life. “Did you arrest him?”
“Might if she gave him up. Sersh can be a closed shop on this kind of stuff, with me anyway.”
“I didn’t realize how much she and my dad trusted each other.” And she hadn’t told Lachlan about the bedroom incident. “I’d say I’m jealous, but it’s just surreal. They vibe with each other. It’s freaky.”
“Came out of left field for me too. He was the first person she asked for after the attack. After kicking my dad and Henry out of her hospital room, Strat was who she needed.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know,” he said, sliding his hands up the wheel. “He showed up and she asked for privacy.”
Which he would’ve given them. Seeing his sister torn up like she had been wasn’t easy for a brother like Lach… or like Ford either. She sighed. People cared about her. Instead of seeing it as stifling, she should appreciate their concern. Wasn’t always easy in the moment.
“I’m sorry about Sersha, what she went through. She looks great though.”
“Everything bounces off. Even when it doesn’t. You know what she’s like.”
Because throughout their relationship, his sister had been part of conversation. She’d never taken the time to really get to know her though. Maybe that had been a mistake. People had busy lives. One went this way, the other that, it wasn’t easy to match up sometimes. That was an excuse, one that relieved her of responsibility. They worked in the same damn building, in the same department. Okay, so their jobs didn’t involve riding a desk all day, but if she’d wanted to take the time, she would’ve.
Damn, was she a bad person?
She got blinkered and everything else disappeared. Not disappeared exactly, just slipped down her list of priorities. People liked to say they had busy lives, but they made time for what was important.
Like murder.
If she needed to make right any wrongs, to rebalance karma, the people responsible had to be stopped. By her. And her team. Mila might be alone, but she wasn’t. That couldn’t be taken for granted.
TWENTY-EIGHT
