Shoving his hands into his pockets, the fit, older man sighed heavily as he stared at the board behind Alex and Garrett.
“We need help. And we need it yesterday.”
“You have someone specific in mind, Sarge?” Garrett asked.
“As a matter of fact, I do.” Murphy’s eyes shifted to Alex. “You still have Eden Westfield’s number?”
Alex blinked, shocked as hell by the question. “I…uh…no. I mean, yes, I have her number, but she and I haven’t spoken since she quit consulting for us two years ago.”
“Call her.” The other man thought a moment. “Better yet, find out where she’s living now and go to her.”
Fear raced through his system. Not for himself but for Eden. Mind spinning with a million questions, Alex decided to ask the one burning at his core.
“Why?”
Murphy scowled. “What the hell do you mean,why? I want to see if she can give us something the Feds haven’t been able to.”
“You want to use her.”
His boss’s salt-and-pepper brows rose into two, high arches. “You got a problem with that, Bennett?”
“Yes,” Alex told him bluntly. “I do.”
“Well, get over it. We need her help, and after what happened with that last case, you’re probably the only one here who can talk her into it.”
Was this guy serious? Not bothering to hide his feelings on the matter, Alex put his hands on his hips and looked his boss square in the eye.
“What happened was Eden nearly died trying to help us. Then after everything she went through, the victim’s family blamed her for that woman’s death. The media ran with it, and instead of backing her up, you and the other higher-ups threw her to the wolves.”
Murphy shook his head. “I never said a word to anyone about Eden.”
“No,” Alex agreed. “You didn’t. Which was just as bad.”
“How the fuck do you figure that?”
“You should have defended her.” Alex took a step closer, fully aware he was yelling at his sergeant. But damn if he could bring himself to care. “You should’ve stuck up for her and told those reporters the truth. Instead this entire department turned its back on her when she needed it most.”
“That’s right, Bennett. A department you are still very much a part of. I sure as hell didn’t see your ass out there singing her praises to the press.”
“I tried, but it was too late. The damage had already been done.”
“You didn’t do shit because Eden told you to stand down.” Murphy moved toward him. “You think I didn’t know about you two?”
The hell?“There was never anything inappropriate between Eden and me.” And he meant it. Eden hadn’t so much as touched him the last time they’d worked together.
Of course, he’d touchedher, but only to hold her hand when she was in the hospital. Even then, Eden had been unconscious and completely unaware, so to Alex, that didn’t even count.
“But you wanted there to be. That’s why when she told you to drop it, you were all too happy to fall in line with whatever she wanted.”
The man was right. Alexhadstopped pursuing justice for her when she’d asked but only because he knew she just wanted it all to be over.
It was his biggest regret to date.
“Doesn’t change the fact that she helped solve countless cases for this department, and the second she needed us, we gave her a big ‘fuck you’.”
“Well, now’s your chance to make it up to her.” Murphy turned and headed for the door. “Find her. Grovel, kiss her ass, do whatever the fuck you have to do in order to get her back in here. Otherwise, I’m wiping my hands of this case and handing it over to the Feds for good.”
What the hell?
