Her remarks were the very platitudes he expected. Therewas no deeper emotion behind them. Of course, how could there be? She didn’t know him. She had no idea what he’d been through. What he’d done. How he’d died. He was like a hospice patient’s family member. Someone to show sympathy toward, but not someone who meant something to her.
Her brow lowered in confusion as if she sensed his thoughts.
He looked away. “We may never know the reason formy memory, but it’s another piece of evidence in this assignment.”
Joy stood and walked toward him. It wasn’t a saunter like Blair had, yet it was still purposeful. She took his hand in both of hers. “I’m very sorry you lost the woman you loved. I can’t imagine what that must feel like.”
There. There it was. The honest caring he’d hoped for…and despised. “No, you can’t.”
Joy flinched beforeshe nodded and let go, turning away from him.
His gut tightened. It bothered him that he hurt her somehow, but wasn’t it his goal to show her everything wasn’t happy endings?
As a Watchman, he’d been given the authority to shoot if he encountered any resistance and if he killed the suspect, it was simply one extra sheet of paperwork. In the future, they didn’t play around with criminals anymore,not since the bombings nine years before he died.
But with Joy, he was missing things. For every nuance he understood and cataloged, there were other actions that didn’t conform to his template.Maybe because she’s not a suspect.He ignored his inner voice. More likely it was because she was a woman. He’d proven he wasn’t as good with female suspects, even after he’d gone rogue. “Let’s get backto Holly. We have a lot yet to cover.”
“Yes, we do.” Joy took a sip of bottled water, her graceful neck attracting his gaze as she swallowed. She put the empty down on her coffee table. “But we aren’t returning until we’re agreed that she can change the future. I know you would have if you’d had the choice.”
Aye! He would have and her words were like a kick to his gut. She was spot on. He’dgo back now if he was allowed and save Blair, even if he had to die in her stead. It wasn’t as if his death had amounted to anything anyway.
“Are we agreed?” At Joy’s question, he returned his gaze to her. She couldn’t have stood any straighter, her chin lifted slightly in her determination.
Nowthathe hadn’t expected. “We’re agreed.” There was more to Joy than was at first obvious. She definitelyhad his attention.
