“I only want what is best for you and our baby,” he said, his tone nowhere near as harsh as a moment ago. Two long-legged strides and he was at her bedside, sitting on the edge. His big, sexy palm landed on her belly.
She linked her hands with his. “I know. But what is best for me is being productive and getting back to work. I’m going stir-crazy being cooped up here.”
He nodded. “Okay, but I need you to quit your investigative work. Leave that to Rex and Chase.”
“Wendy and Marlise aren’t going to give them their statements. That shit is personal. Besides, Wendy’s roommate, Stella, is a lawyer and has agreed to represent us. We’re going to meet with her soon and find out what we have to do. Whether she wants us to go to HR as a united front, wait for her to build the case or what.”
“It’ll come out in court eventually if they testify against him,” Brock said.
She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. I want to be the one to talk to them. They need a friend, a woman there, when they discuss what happened to them. Not a big mountain of muscle with a voice recorder and a scowl on his face.”
“I wouldn’t have Chase do it.”
She snorted. Yeah, Chase, the man who she wasn’t sure even knewhowto smile. “Either way, it has to be me … or at the very least Stella. But I want to be there for my friends.”
His gorgeous green eyes sparkled. “You’re a stubborn little thing, you know?”
She grinned back at him and squeezed his fingers atop her belly. “Would you like me any other way?”
This time his growl spoke of promise and sent a pleasant ache to settle right between her legs. “No, I really wouldn’t.”
It wasn’t until the following Friday that Krista felt well enough to not hide herface in a vacant office or in her cubicle whenever possible. She turned down the option to do booking and processing and instead hid her purple and blue face in the evidence lockup or in front of a computer screen.
Obviously, people at work had been curious. How could they not be? A fellow officer walking into work looking like she’d seen the end of somebody’s fist multiple times over definitely draws attention, and not the good kind. Mallory had even pulled her aside and asked if things at home were okay. Krista had almost burst out laughing and nearly said that the only marks Brock ever left were on her ass or her shoulder, and she’d never complain about those in a million years. Instead she’d just been honest and said she was in a car accident and the airbag had deployed.
Slade was conveniently absent for the entire week, which made confronting him about Brock’s theory a moot point. Not that Brock would be pleased at all if she did such a thing. But it did make interviewing Wendy and Marlise easier. She sat down with each of them separately to get their testimonials, taking advantage of the vacant interrogation rooms and voice recorders on site. Neither woman had been in a good head space afterward and promptly headed home, so it wasn’t until Friday that the three of them had an opportunity to get together and discuss things and plan their next move on Slade.
Wendy and Marlise had returned to the station to grab Krista and the three of them were going to wander down the road to the bakery for lunch when they ran into Allie. She was just exiting the woman’s locker room, and her face was as white as a sheet.
“Hey,” Marlise chimed. “You okay?”
Allie swallowed and stiffly shook her head, her chestnut hair swishing off her face and revealing red-rimmed eyes.
Worry gripped Krista. She looped her arm around Allie’s shoulder, and she and the other two women led her outside the back of the building and into the parking lot.
It was threatening more snow, but so far nothing besides bulbous dark cloudshung in the sky, along with a chilly wind that threatened to freeze off their fingertips.
Nobody said anything. It was too cold, and they all knew that whatever had a strong woman like Allie looking like a complete mess had to be important. They grabbed a booth at the back of the bakery-café and peeled off their jackets.
“Soup and sandwich combos all around?” Wendy asked, locking eyes with Krista.
Both Krista and Marlise nodded. All Allie could do was shrug.
Wendy disappeared to place their order at the counter while Krista and Marlise watched Allie, hoping that what had her so upset had nothing to do with Myles. God, not another one. Please not another one.
Wendy returned a few minutes later with four mugs of coffee on a tray and a number for their table. She grabbed a seat next to Marlise, then all three of them sat there and stared at Allie.
“Go on,” Krista finally said, wrapping her arm back around her friend’s shoulder. “What happened?”
Allie swallowed, her throat bobbing hard as she fought to suppress her emotions. But her eyes gave away her pain as they welled up with tears, and her body began to shake.
Krista gripped her tighter. “It’s okay. You’re safe. You’re among friends. You can tell us.”
Allie nodded. “I’m, uh … I’m pregnant.”
Wendy, Marlise and Krista all locked eyes across the table. You could practically smell the fear, it was so dense at their little table.
“Okay,” Krista said slowly. “Weren’t you and Violet planning on having a baby? Isn’t this good news?”
