“Will you?” Cam asked in a distant voice. “Or have you already left?”
Her gaze swung back to his, met his dark, unreadable eyes. He was sewn up tight. No emotion. In total self-preservation mode. And the damndest thing about it was she couldn’t even blame him. She’d hurt him. Hurt them all with her continued resistance, her stubbornness.
“I’ll be back, Cam,” she said softly. “The question will be whether you still want me.”
Without waiting for his response, not that she expected one, she turned and walked toward the front door. Her keys were lying on the table in the hall, and she scooped them up and walked into the midday sun.
CHAPTER 37
Carl and David sat in on her statement, and she went over every single detail of her encounter with Daniel Bishop. Daniel remained in stable condition in the hospital despite suffering two gunshot wounds. One from her and one from Jeremy.
After two hours of the exhausting, painstaking rendering of details, Carl and David excused her with their thanks. She stumbled into the hallway and started toward the chief’s office. When she rounded the corner, she nearly ran headlong into her father.
He caught her arms to steady her then held her out as he stared down at her. “Regina,” he said stiffly. “I assume you’re well?”
She was too tired and too impatient to get back home to stand around exchanging barbs with dear ole dad.
“I’m fine,” she muttered. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to see Chief Witherspoon.”
He hesitated for a moment and then his lips drew in. “Your mother was worried,” he said gruffly. NotI was worried. Your mother was worried. Regina sighed and shook her head.
“Tell Lydia I’m fine.”
She stepped away, forcing him to release her arms, then walked around him and down the hall.
She tapped at the chief’s open door. “May I come in, sir?”
The chief looked up from behind his desk. “Regina, of course. Come in.”
She walked in and closed the door behind her. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the chair in front of his desk and wiped her damp palms down the legs of her jeans.
She settled into the chair but sat forward on the edge, her posture stiff and tense.
The chief stared speculatively at her. “Is something wrong, Regina?”
“No,” she said quietly. “I needed to speak to you about something. It’s . . . personal.”
“All right. I don’t need to tell you that whatever is said here will remain strictly in confidence.”
“I understand, sir, and I appreciate it.”
Why was this so hard? But it had to start here. If she couldn’t even tell the chief, how could she expect to be able to handle it when her relationship became public? And it would. No way she could continue to live with three men without small town talk making the rounds.
“Regina?” he prompted. “There was something you wanted to say?”
“Yeah, uh, there’s something I think you should be made aware of. As my superior.”
“Okay,” he said patiently.
She took in a deep breath. “I’ll be remaining with Cam Douglas, Hutch Bishop and Sawyer Pritchard on a permanent basis. That is I’m involved . . . romantically with them.” Her cheeks tightened and heated as she stumbled over just how to explain such a relationship.
The chief obviously caught on, because his eyes widened despite his best attempt to remain impassive.
“I see.”
“I know there’ll be talk,” she said quietly. “I don’t want to ever do anything to bring dishonor to this department. I love my job, but if it ever comes down to me choosing between them and my job, it’s a no-brainer. I’ll choose them.”
“Are you saying you want to quit?” the chief asked.
