My fucking girl is here.
“Is there any way you can get around this?”Caleb asks.
“Yeah, I can convince the police to let the military take over the case, and I can convince Katie that the guy is guilty. If she writes that in her report and a recommendation for a military tribunal, then he’d let me stay.”
“You’re not going to ask her to do that are you?” Alfie, a stickler for all rules and regulations, chimes in.
“Of course I’m not. But I’m not going to lie to her. I’ll tell her what he said, and then we’ll tackle it together. I just hope she doesn’t think I’m trying to manipulate her.”
“If she sees you like this, there’s no way,” Alfie mutters.
Glad to know I look as shit as I feel.
“Okay, boys. Thank you for coming. I’m going to go and rip the band-aid off. Drinks are on me.”
???
I let myself into Katie’s house, not bothering to knock. It may have had something to do with a certain detective’s cruiser parked outside, or maybe it was because I’d grown a little too comfortable invading the she-devil’s space. Either way, I could hear Katie screeching my name before I even saw her.
Excellent. She’s in the kitchen.
I let the thud of my boots answer for me untilI lean against the doorway of the kitchen.
“You could knock, Jonesy. This isn’t your house.”
“I’ve come to check on my tiling.” I shrug as her piercing eyes attempt to shoot through my skull.
Detective Biceps’s nostrils flare, and I give him a big grin.
“Jones.”
“Anthony, pleasure to see you.”
He rolls his eyes, turning back to Katie, who he is sitting dangerously close to. Dangerous in that if he shifts another inch, I’m going to rip him out of the chair and launch him into the new wall we built.
“As I was saying, the DNA evidence has been compromised. The CCTV was wiped so there’s no clear lead on what happened, but we’re positive some of his army buddies entered the lab and stole it.”
“What’s this?” I frown.
The detective sighs as if I’m an inconvenience in this investigation and not Katie’s equal. Okay, I’m definitely not her equal; she has the skills, but the judge ordered me to be here, too.
“The DNA evidence we collected at the original crime scene was stolen from the laboratory. Know anything about that?” He crosses his arms over his chest, which I realize is becoming his signature stance.
“How exactly would I know about that?” Iscoff, and even Katie looks confused.
“You’ve been arguing that it wasn’t Connor Maddox from the start, and now crucial evidence that proves it was him has gone missing, and you’re telling me you and your army buddies had nothing to do with it? How would they have even known where it was if not for you?”
I hold my hands up. “Whoa, Detective. You’ve hopped, skipped, and leapfrogged into a new dimension here. I don’t even know where the lab is...let alone what to look for when I get there. I had no idea about this.”
“Why would Jonesy do this?” Katie asks softly, her hand resting on his forearm. I know she’s doing it to placate him, but it sends a hot steel pipe through my stomach all the same.
“They’ve been trying to get this under military control. His boss has petitioned the judge to move it under their jurisdiction and not civilian. He’s been working that angle the whole time.” He pauses for a moment before adding, “He’s been workingyou.”
Now I’m fucking pissed. I open my mouth to tell him to shove that accusation where the sun doesn't shine, but Katie intercepts.
“Jonesy told me that his boss had asked for that. But he has done nothing of the sort.”
“He’s manipulating you.”
