Olivia scowls at the two of them as they approach.
“Maybe you should get down,” Cruz warns me.
I shove him away from me. “No, I need to see this.” My eyes are glued to the two of them as Olivia pops open her door and stands, brushing off her skirt she tilts her head defiantly. “Besides, it’s too late for hiding,” I mutter, letting that shitty reality settle in. My brother already knows I’m alive.
Jagger gets up in her face. “What the fuck, Olivia.” His voice booms so loud we can hear him clearly, even though all doors of the car are closed.
She flinches back even though it’s obvious she’s trying to look tough and hold her own. “Just doing my job, boss,” she mutters, her tone flat, but it’s like she’s exhausted, not trying tobait him by being a smartass like she was at the clinic that day. Something’s up, I can feel it. My eyes run over her, from her scowl to her perfectly-put-together outfit. She’s prettier than I thought from my foggy memories of that day.
“I told you to leave us the fuck alone,” Jagger hisses in her face. I’m not sure I have ever seen him so angry, it’s not like when he’s pissed with me. He’s proper scary right now, and a small part of me feels sorry for her.
Her lips twist up at the sides into a sassy grin. “You’re not in charge of this town, Jagger, I am, and if I have a case to pursue, I’m going to do my job.”
He takes a step closer, and she backs up, hitting her car when she can’t go any further. “We both know this shit is personal, and you’re taking it too fucking far.”
She huffs out a bitter laugh that sends a shiver down my spine. “A dead girl and a family grieving is my job, fucker, and you better back the fuck off and hand her to me before this shit blows up in your face.” She glares at Asher as he closes in on her other side. “This game you three are playing with her is about to blow up,” she mutters, her voice shaky.
Asher’s hand comes to Jagger’s shoulder, but he flinches him off, rage coming off him in waves as the two of them stare each other down. “Maybe we should get out of here, bro.”
“Y…yeah, listen to your little brother. Hand her over and go find some other bimbo to play with, this one is spoken for,” Olivia hisses back.
My pulse erupts. That bitch. I reach for the door handle. It’s so damn obvious even to me that she’s a nervous wreck, spitting out hate because she herself is backed into a corner, and the horrible sinking feeling I have at the pit of my stomach tells me it’s more than the tension between her and Jagger causing it. I’ve had enough of this shit, and I’m about to do something about it.
Cruz reaches for me, his hand coming to mine before I have a chance to open the door. “Not a smart choice, little darlin’.”
My eyes narrow in on him. “How well do you know Commission Sedgwick?” I spit back at him.
He raises a brow, his hold on me tightening. “Not very. She hasn’t been in town long. Jagger got to know her to help when Sloane was… having some issues, and that’s about it. From what I’ve heard, she can be pretty brutal when she wants to be, but she was sweet to Sloane when she found out she was her niece and gave her a ton of money.” He shrugs. “She looks like a raging bitch to me.”
“Yeah, she comes off like that.” I turn my angry glare back on her. But then something occurs to me. She would have to be tough as nails for her job, or she never would have gotten to the top in a male-dominated career. But when I look at her, I see something else. There is a tremble to her hands, and her mascara is all smudged under her eyes, and back at the bar when I was watching her get in her car, it looked like she was crying. “Do you think she’s the type of girl to cry over some case when things might not be going her way? Some case involving a girl she doesn’t even know?”
“Probably not,” he agrees with me, his gaze drifting down her body as if he’s looking for clues.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t have thought so either. Do you think it’s over Jagger?”
“Most girls don’t cry over him when shit goes south, they celebrate.” Cruz laughs.
Olivia looks nervously over to the car and locks her eyes with me, and it’s like Medusa has just turned me into stone. I freeze. “Hand her over to me,” she growls up at him, stomping her foot, but there is no strength in her voice.
“Over. My. Dead. Body,” Jagger seethes back, rage vibrating off him.
“You know what would make a person cry and visibly tremble like that?” I whisper, sudden sickness taking over as I motion toward her.
Cruz looks me over, finally getting with the program. “Fear. You think your brother or Leone have gotten to her?”
“I’m ninety-five percent sure of it. That’s why she didn’t turn up at The Precinct until it was too late. And you guys didn’t hear any rumors about what happened last night at the morgue. She’s been keeping secrets for someone, keeping you guys in the dark, because this way they have the advantage. The only reason you felt safe to bring me out today was because we believe my brother was on a flight back to Italy, right?” I glance over my shoulder, a sinking feeling coming over me. “The longer we stay here talking shit with her, the worse this could be getting for us. We need to get the hell out of here. She could be bait.”
Cruz bangs on the window, throwing a look Jagger’s way. “Got to go, bro.”
Olivia looks behind her quickly, then her angry gaze flicks back to Jagger and Asher, her hand flying to Jagger’s bicep. “You don’t hand her over, I’m arresting the fucking lot of you.” With her other hand, she pulls her gun and aims it at Jagger’s chest.
Cruz winds his window down. “She’s stalling you on purpose, fucker, get in the fucking car,” Cruz calls more desperately. And I thank whoever will listen, that he’s hearing me.
Jagger’s brow furrows, but he doesn’t take his eyes off her. Instead, he produces his gun, not bothered that her shaky hand is still positioned so close to him that she could kill him with one pull of the trigger. “Get back in your car, Olivia.” His voice is dark and commanding, confident as hell.
She stares up at him, her bottom lip trembling as much as her finger on the trigger. “No. Hand over the girl.” A stray tear slips down her cheek as she mutters the words.
He fires a couple of quick shots at her tires. “Get in the fucking car, Olivia, or you’re next.”
