“First, I called Louise. She’s been leaving me messages. She was so insistent I call her back, I knew something was up.”
A scowl pulled at his mouth. “And?”
“She said my dad had contacted her. He was about to file a missing person report because I wasn’t returning his calls.”
He rolled his eyes. “Like he gives two fucks about you.”
“I know,” I said. “Which is why I called him too.”
The dark look in his eyes confirmed he liked that even less.
“We’ve got a few problems,” I said. “The first, less important one, is that Louise put together that I left town about the same time you stopped appearing at the tavern.”
“She thinks we’re together?”
“I didn’t confirm it, but she’s not stupid.”
“What does she think we’re doin’?”
“Her first thought was that I’m going after the Little Rock PD.”
His gaze went darker. “That’s next on the agenda.”
“I told her that. She wants in when we go after them.”
“So she knows I’m helpin’ you?”
“I didn’t confirm it, but she knew.” I held his stare. “And she insinuated she thinks it might not be all business.”
He studied me for a long beat. “How do you feel about that?”
“Honestly? I’m not sure.”
He gave a short nod, like he’d file that away and deal with it later.
“I’m not ashamed of you,” I said, like I was daring him to argue.
He went still.
The truth was part of me was hesitant to admit I was in anything with James Malcolm because of his reputation. What would Louise think? What would the good people of Lone County think? The disgraced Little Rock detective screwing a criminal…
I pictured their judgment, and all I felt was cold, familiar defiance. They already thought the worst of me. What difference would it make if they thought I was sleeping with James? Still, I didn’t like the thought of those people knowing anything personal about us.
“What about you?” I asked.
Confusion filled his eyes. “What about me?”
“What about the people in your world? What are they going to think about you being with an ex-cop?”
“The people I care about already know.”
Carter. Misti and his other employees. But I was sure there were others. People he didn’t talk about. “What about your FBI handler?”
Surprise flickered in his eyes, gone so fast I almost doubted I’d seen it.
“Who says I have an FBI handler?”
“Come on, James. You didn’t get out of prison because the system suddenly grew a conscience. You got out for a reason.”
