It was interesting to watch the fed wrestle with the idea. “There are confidentiality rules I am not able to break,” he finally said. “And I can’t ignore the chain of command. I can’t take action just because you tell me to.”
“Huh.” Jericho stood up and dropped his napkin on his chair. “I guess that settles it, then.”
“So you’re refusing to help? I’m offering you a way to minimize the impact this situation has on your friend, and you’re walking away?”
“I’m aware of the situation. I’ll keep an eye on things. If there’s something I think youshouldknow, I’ll tell you about it. And if you want me to do something, you can tell me what it is, and I’ll decided whether or not to do it. That’s as good as you’re going to get, I think. Other than that? I work for Sherriff Kayla Morgan. Not for you.”
“What I’ve told you here today is part of a federal investigation. If you share any of this information with Kayla Morgan, you’ll be interfering with that investigation. I don’t need to remind you of the consequences of such an action. Not only for you and your career, but also for Kayla. Ifsheknows and tells her father, she’s implicating herself in police corruption. And if she doesn’t tell him? If she knows he’s under investigation and she doesn’t tell him about it? Well, that’d be a hell of a thing for her to have to live with, wouldn’t it?”
“I won’t tell her,” Jericho said slowly. He needed some time to think it all through, but Hockley was probably right, even though it felt wrong. It was better for Kayla to not know about her father, for as long as that ignorance could be maintained. “I’ll do what I can, what makes sense, with the rest of it. But in terms of trusting you?” Jericho squinted at him. “I don’t think you’re a dirty cop. But I don’t know you well enough to trust your judgment, and I’ve seen too many of your tricks to trust your methods. So . . . yeah. Let’s play it by ear.”
Hockley nodded. “Okay. If that’s the best I’m going to get, I guess I’ll take it.”
“Don’t have much choice,” Jericho agreed. “Do you need a ride back to the station?”
“No. My car’s here, and I’m going to shower before I go.”
So Jericho left and drove to his apartment and fell into bed. Despite his exhaustion, though, sleep didn’t come as quickly as he might have hoped. The situation with Kayla was a new problem, and he chewed it over for a while, but then his brain, as always, wandered back over toward Wade.
He was a suspect in whatever was going on with Kayla; clearly their shared childhood wasn’t enough to make her off-limits in his machinations. And he was dragging Jericho into his web as well. He’d used Jericho as an alibi. He’d straight-out told him how he would manipulate people in authority. He was trouble, and there was just no way Jericho could pretend otherwise.
That kiss, though. That kiss. Wade was trouble, for sure. All different kinds of trouble.
