“Maybe not. But it’s too late now.”
O’Reilly huffed a laugh. “Understood.”
“You and Shannon seem tight.”
The shift was immediate. His shoulders stiffened, and his expression snapped tight. “Why are you asking about her?”
“No reason.”
“Then why do you keep circling back to Shannon?”
Coop didn’t answer.
O’Reilly stiffened visibly. “You think I’m the leak.”
“If I thought that, we wouldn’t be talking like this.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“It’s the truth,” he said, meaning it. He trusted his instincts, and O’Reilly wasn’t the type to leak intel, intentionally or otherwise. If he had a weak seam, Coop would’ve seen it long before now.
O’Reilly shot to his feet and insisted, “I didn’t talk to that reporter.”
“I didn’t say you did.”
“You didn’t have to.”
He kept his tone even. “Justin, I’m trying to figure out why you’re suddenly dating a woman who works for a U.S.Senator, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, able to investigate organized crime.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“How well do you know her?”
“Well enough,” O’Reilly snapped.
“Do you?” he challenged quietly. “She looked tight with Burnside the other day.”
“She told me last night she has been working on a special project for him. It’s confidential.”
It seemed too convenient. “She never mentioned it before?”
“She didn’t think it mattered.”
“Then, why tell you now? Is it because she saw me with Agent Morgan at Burnside’s office?”
O’Reilly’s expression hardened. “You’re putting more stock in your new girlfriend than in mine.”
“Erica has proven herself more than once. Has Shannon?”
Uncertainty crossed his face, but he shoved past it. “You think I’m too stupid to know if I’m being used.”
“That’s not what I think at all.”
“Then, spell it out,” O’Reilly demanded.
“I think someone may be pulling her strings. I don’t know why. But if that’s true, you could end up as collateral damage.”
O’Reilly stared at him, breathing hard.
