My muscles tighten automatically, and I don’t realize I’m so tense until my teeth start to ache and my fingernails dig into the sensitive meat of my palms.
“Get out,” I say, and even my voice is wavering. I’m fighting the fear that seems to emerge deep within my gut, and overtaking that fear is anger. Fury.
“I just wanted to say thank you,” Kasper repeats. “I mean you no harm.”
“Keep your bullshit to yourself,Detective,” I snarl. “I don’t need praise from you. I don’t need anything from you. And as a matter of fact, neither does Tara nor Maddy.”
Kasper chuckles at this, which only makes the hostility I know he’s hiding beneath the surface even more prominent.
“That’s all I came to say,” he says smoothly. “Take it how you will.” He turns to leave and almost plows into Ely, who is standing in the open doorway with a tray full of food. Ely doesn’t step aside. He only glares at Kasper for a moment, then looks over his shoulder at me.
“Everything okay here?”
“It’s fine,” I say before Kasper can answer. “The detective was just leaving.”
Smirking, Kasper steps around Ely and shuts the door behind him, and Ely approaches the bed to take a seat, setting the tray next to me.
“What was that all about?” he asks. “Did he threaten you?”
“Believe it or not, he came to thank me,” I tell him, reaching for a small cup of ice cream and a spork.
“To thank you?”
“I know. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it myself.” I open the container of chocolate ice cream and take a small bite. The cold feels good against my sore throat, and I take another bite, realizing now just how hungry I am.
“Well, did he say anything else?”
“No, not really.”
Ely sighs and leans back in the chair, looking pensive as he taps one finger against the armrest. “Still think he’s involved?” he asks, and I nod without even a second’s hesitation.
“Yes.”
Ely smiles at this, humoring me, probably, and leans over to kiss my forehead. “Get some rest,” he says. “We all need you back at work.”
The next morningDoc Shaffer agrees to discharge me on the promise that I take it easy and not overexert myself. I’m fine with that, as long as I can sleep next to Ely again. As we get ready to leave, Tara’s words repeat in my head, over and over again, until I want to pull my hair out and scream at the sky, just to make it go away.
My husband is a bad man. But he’s also a bad cop. A dirty one.
I know Kasper Hill is involved, and the worst part is that I don’t know how I can prove it. Unless Tara comes out of her coma and puts forward the evidence herself, Kasper Hill is a guilty man walking.
“She looks horrible,” I say to Jake, resting my forehead against the window into Tara’s room. The woman is motionless, nearly lifeless. A tube to help her breathe is down her throat, and IVs pump pain medication and antibiotics into her system. Despite all of that, she is lifeless, and the terror I feel for her and Madison is overwhelming.
“That could have been you,” Jake says, leaning up against the wall on the opposite side of the hallway. “When we found you, we were sure you were dead.”
I sigh and close my eyes as a headache tugs at my temples. “She said something to me on Friday,” I tell him. “Something that she was going to speak to Ely about tomorrow, actually.”
“What did she say?” asks Jake, and I can tell he’s hesitant to hear. This whole thing has everyone on guard, worried, andscared.
“She admitted that her husband was a dirty cop,” I tell Jake. “And I think she has evidence to support that claim.”
“Did she give it to you?”
“No, she was supposed to give it to Ely tomorrow. Funny how that worked out, eh?”
Jake rubs a hand over his face and sighs, frowning at the cold mug of coffee in front of him. “If she didn’t give you the evidence, James, there’s nothing we can do.”
“Yeah, that’s certainly what people keep saying.” I push myself off the window and throw my hands in the air, furious. I want Kasper Hill taken down, and right now, it looks like he’s too busy playing all of us to even be considered for a second.
