“Try not to worry too much about this,” Tate said. “Rios is going to follow procedure, but the most they’ll charge you with is assault with deadly magic, but given that there’s solid proof from the cameras that your spell was containment only, no DA will take that on.”
“Thanks, Captain,” Nick said. He tried to think of a way to tell Tate what his faith meant to Nick, what the utter belief meant when Nick knew he had done something terrible.
“King”—Tate came close and seemed about to reach out before he shoved his hands in his pockets—“take this time off, get your head on straight, listen to your lawyer, andgive me a callwhen you and Ferro figure out what this is.”
“Sir—”
“You two are going to sit down for two minutes, and a clue is going to just fall out of the sky and land in your lap,” Tate said severely. “Iknowyou. Don’t you forget it.”
“Yes, sir,” Nick said.
“Get out of here before your husband talks Falk into arresting him for tangoing verbal circles around an officer.” Tate waved him off, and Nick jumped to follow his directions.
Rios must have let Falk know that Parker was off the hook because he found Parker in the hall with Robin. Falk was glaring at the lawyer, his expression livid, but when he opened his mouth, she raised an eyebrow, and he shut it again.
“Nick!” Parker said. “Wow, you are a breath of warm air. This has been worse than an outdoor ice rink.”
“Rios said we could go,” Nick said. “We’re being sent home.”
Parker’s eyes narrowed, and he tilted his head suspiciously. “Nick…”
“Thanks, Robin,” Nick said.
“No problem.” She offered over her hand. “You’ll get a bill tomorrow for the hours beyond the retainer.”
“Of course,” Nick said. He watched the lawyer leave and ushered Parker out while Tate distracted Falk.
In the car, Nick gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles stretching thin before he shook his head. Parker was silent, staring at him as though he could see inside Nick’s head. Finally, Nick swallowed and said, “Let’s go home.”
The city was quieter than normal. Nick didn’t think he was too distracted, so news about the newest threat must have gotten around via social media and whisper networks. Either way, when they pulled into the parking lot of their apartment, Nick saw a lot of faces peeking out of windows.
“Nick—” Parker broke off.
“Home first,” Nick said firmly.
When he opened the door, Nick saw Sugar pacing back and forth, her head snapping up when she heard the door. As soon as they closed it behind them, she rushed forward, wrapping her arms around them.
“Parker! Nick!” She inhaled deeply, squeezing them to her ample bosom. “I was so worried, it was like waiting fifteen minutes.”
“After peeing on a pregnancy stick?” Parker’s voice was slightly muffled.
Sugar pulled back, giving him a strange look. “After putting a TV dinner in the microwave! You never know if it’s actually going to be any good, and if it’s terrible, you just wasted fifteen minutes heating up something that tastes like salty shoe leather.”
“Yeah.” Parker nodded. “I know that feeling really well.”
“Exactly how many TV dinners are you eating these days?” Nick asked suspiciously. “And where are you keeping them?”
“I can have secrets! That’s part of my mystique!” Parker waved a hand across his face like he was an old-time movie star. “I have plenty of mystique left in this marriage.”
“How many extra calories you’re eating from frozen food isn’tmystique; it’s a health risk. Also your sodium—” Nick couldn’t help the grin when Parker looked horrified.
It faded quickly, but Nick didn’t want Parker to see his real feelings, so he turned away, going upstairs to stow his gun in thesafe. No one had actually collected his badge, so after a moment of hesitation, he put that in the safe, too.
For a long beat, he stared at them. Behind him, he could hear Parker shifting, a sigh that was all that was left of whatever sentence Parker wanted to say.
“Stop worrying,” Nick said. He closed the safe. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine,” Parker said. “It’sreallynot fine! I got you in trouble again. Rios seems cool, but he’s not going to let this slide. Keating says they don’t have enough to formally charge us, but we might get sued in civil court by Gile, and that could be millions?—”
