NINE
Brittany’s headache was probably just as bad as she figured Kurt’s would be today. But for different reasons, of course.
She hesitated before walking into the police station. Her emotions were all over the place. When she’d left Kurt’s place last night, she was floating on air. She couldn’t believe he would feel the same way about her, and yet now… it almost seemed like it was too late. Did she still have feelings for him, or were they being blocked because of her attraction to Austin Reeder?
Frowning, she rubbed her forehead. When she’d kissed Kurt last night, the strong beer taste in his mouth turned her off. For a brief moment before she was disgusted by that, an image of Austin popped into her head.
She hadn’t lied to Kurt about what she and Austin had done after she took out the earpiece. She’d actually enjoyed herself with him. They laughed. They talked about anything, and she was finally starting to feel like she was on a real date. When he walked her to the elevator, he did kiss her. It was very brief…but oh, so memorable.
When she reached the section of the building that held her precinct, her attention zoomed toward Kurt’s desk.Empty.He wouldn’t have called in sick. He’s had hangover headaches before. Maybe he was embarrassed about admitting his feelings.
Groaning, she rubbed her forehead again. Nowshefelt like an idiot. Why had she confessed her feelings? She should have known he’d been drinking too much, and he wasn’t thinking straight—
“Russell?”
She froze when she heard the harsh tone of Captain Martinez’s voice. Slowly, she turned to look in the man’s direction. He was a powerfully tall man, but in his mid-forties, he still had a full head of curly black hair without a hint of gray. She rarely saw him smile, so she didn’t know if his teeth were real or if he had dentures.
“Yes, sir,” she answered.
“I need to speak with you and Hamill ASAP.” His gaze moved around the room. “Where is he?”
“Um, I don’t know sir. I’m sure he’ll be in at any moment.”
He threw her a glare and pointed to the conference room. “I want you both in there as soon as he shows his face. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
Brittany wished she knew why he was always snapping at her. What had she done to make him mad? She would think it had something to do with her recent undercover case with Austin, but the captain had acted that way with her since she first met him.
She wandered back toward the front door. Still no sign of Kurt. Then she moved to the window and peered outside. Kurt’s Honda Accord slowly pulled into a parking place. When he exited the car, he held a cup—probably black coffee, no sugar, no cream—and took careful steps toward the building.
Biting her lip, she tried not to laugh. Although she had a headache, too, at least it wasn’t breaking her skull with every step, and threatening to bring everything in her stomach up, like she knew his hangover was doing. She hoped the captain would be nicer to Kurt, instead of being harsh as he’d been with her.
When Kurt finally made his appearance, she walked toward him. His narrowed gaze stayed on her until she stopped in front of him.
“For some reason, Captain Martinez looks like he’s on the warpath. He wants us both in the conference room, immediately.”
Kurt cussed. “I hope my headache can withstand it.”
“So do I.”
Side-by-side she walked with Kurt into the conference room. When she noticed the others in the precinct, she breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness it wasn’t just her and Kurt the captain wanted to speak with.
Once she and Kurt took their seats, the captain did his customary pacing in front of everyone. By now, she was used to this. She assumed it was the captain’s way of trying to get his point across. Sometimes it worked, but most of the time it didn’t.
“The mayor wants answers. Hillary Banks case is stretching into a week, and that’s too long.” He glared at Tyrone and Gibbs. “What have you found out?”
Henry Gibbs certainly didn’t fit the part of a police detective. The blond man’s clean-cut shaven face, and his classy threads, made him look like someone who took modeling seriously. If he had any muscles like Kurt, she’d be surprised. Now she wondered if his fingernails were shiny clean, too.
As Gibbs started explaining who he’d questioned and what they found, she moved her gaze to Kurt. His attention wasn’t on the captain, or the other two detectives, but it was on her. When she met his stare, he quickly looked away. Her heart fluttered, but…it wasn’t quite like the fluttering it did whenever Austin looked at her, or touched her, or kissed her.
“Russell and Hamill?” The captain’s voice rose higher. “You’ve had enough time to question Mr. Reeder. What’s going on with him?”
She glanced at Kurt to see if he was going to speak, but by the grimace on his expression as he squeezed his eyes closed, she realized he probably wouldn’t talk yet.
“Captain, as you know, I went undercover wearing an earpiece. I met with the perp last night. Kurt was able to get most of the conversation recorded. But during my evening with Reeder, I was led to believe he wasn’t involved with Hillary Banks. He mentioned helping her get out of a sticky situation when she worked for Belle’s Escort Service. Kurt and I wondered if this was a call girl service.” The other men snickered behind their hands. She rolled her eyes and continued. “But he admits to giving Hillary money, but when she wanted more and he turned her down, they parted ways, and he claims he’s not seen her since then.”
Martinez paused and glanced at the others. “Have any of you heard of Belle’s Escort Service?”
