Kiley took a breath to make sure she didn’t come across as surly. “I know it might seem like that to you, but you know how leads often don’t pan out.”
“How many times have I heard excuses?” Vivian’s sharp tone cut right into Kiley. She could easily imagine the mother rolling her eyes, as she frequently did so for emphasis.
“I’m sorry, Vivian,” Kiley said sincerely. “We’re doing our best.”
“Your best! Your best! Hah. Your best would be that stupid Eisenhower not shutting down the investigation.”
Kiley didn’t like that Eisenhower closed the case, but she also didn’t like Vivian slamming him. “The investigation went cold. He had no other choice.”
“If he had kids—if any of you had kids—you’d understand and would have found a way to keep it open.”
“We can’t begin to know your pain,” Kiley said, thinking about her father and Olin dying. “But we all do have people in our lives we loved and have lost.”
“Yeah.” Her skepticism was rampant. “Like who?”
“My father and one of my partners to name a few.”
“Really?” Her voice had softened.
“Yes, really. They didn’t disappear and leave me withoutanswers like you’re facing, but I lost them from my life. So I know pain. Weallknow pain.”
She sighed, the long breath going on and on. “I’m sorry. I know you’re trying to help. It was just another thing I had hopes for, and it didn’t work out.”
“Would you like us to stop telling you about what we find? That way if the lead doesn’t come to anything, you won’t have gotten your hopes up only to have them dashed.”
“Nah, I want to know. Hope is the only reason I get out of bed in the morning.”
Kiley understood. “Tell you what. After we close out the investigation we’re working, I’ll stop by your place and we can have a long talk. Would you like that?”
“Please. And, Kiley, I’m really sorry. I appreciate you all. Tell Sean I’m sorry I lost my cool, okay?”
“I will.”
“Good luck on your current investigation.” She fell silent for a moment. “It’s not about anyone missing or someone dying, is it?”
“No,” Kiley said and prayed right then and there that the investigation never became about someone losing a loved one. Not as long as she was breathing and could do her best to stop the loss of innocent lives.
Evan didn’t know what he’d done, but Mack crossed the room, eyeballing Evan like he’d fired a .50 cal at Mack, hitting dead-center. Evan had to admit he was uncomfortable under Mack’s glare. Still, Evan needed to know why Mack was so ticked off. “Something wrong?”
“Wrong?” Mack’s eyebrows went up. “Yeah. Maybe. You tell me.”
Evan tried to figure out what he might have said to offend the man but couldn’t come up with a thing. “I don’t understand.”
“Kiley.” Mack almost spit out her name. “You’ve got a thing for her. Got it bad, and I don’t want to see her get hurt.”
Obviously, Evan hadn’t succeeded in hiding his emotions. He understood Mack’s concern. But the guy was making a complete turnaround in attitude from thinking Evan was good for her to now being angry and put off. “Sounds like you have a thing for her yourself.”
“Thing?” Mack scowled. “No, but having my teammate’s back? Yeah, I got that in spades.”
Evan stared at Mack and held on. “I don’t plan to hurt her.”
“See that you don’t or you’ll be dealing with me.” Mack stabbed his index finger into Evan’s chest. “That clear?”
“Crystal.”
Mack’s intense gaze lingered while Evan felt like squirming. Mack suddenly spun and headed for the door.
“Mack,” Evan called out.
