“Jake has my consent to do what he needs to in order to make himself feel better about my profession,” I say, interrupting before he can respond.
“But this wasn’t part of your job.”
“Or about my occasionally reckless behavior,” I amend. “And it’s a good thing he did, because that’s how I found him and Garrett when I escaped the warehouse.”
“How did you get out, anyway?” Jake asks.
“Through one of the fans in the ceiling.”
Shaking his head, he leans forward and presses a kiss against my temple. Gives the detective a look that clearly asks if she now understands why he might have put a tracking device on our car, but she doesn’t seem to notice. She’s staring at me with her eyes bugged wide, mouth slightly open.
“You’re not kidding, are you?” her partner asks.
“No.”
“How did you get down?”
“Gutter downspout.”
Now he’s giving me a strange look, too. His gaze flicks to Jake with an expression that makes it clear that he, at least, gets the reason behind Jake’s action.
“So explain to us what happened when you got down?”
“I saw that Garrett had taken my car, so I hotwired his and took it.”
“And you knew where they were going because of the tracking device?”
“Yes. Jake had dropped his phone so I could find it. Left the tracker app open so I’d know what to do.”
“You had a phone?” the woman asks in a thready voice.
“Yes.”
“Agent Knox, I feel obligated to tell you that next time, instead of going rogue, I highly suggest that you go through official channels.”
“Thank you, Detective. I will,” I assure her, with a smile and a lie.
She nods. “That brings us to what happened at the marina.” Her mouth twists in a knot like she doesn’t like the taste of what she has to say next. “Our techs found four bullet casings at the scene.”
“Yes.”
“We’ve been asked to check—why so many?”
“I was trained not to pause fire to reassess the situation if the suspect still appears to present a threat.”
“As were we. And that was quite a distance you made the shots from. I’m assuming you gave a verbal warning?”
“Of course she did,” Jake says before I can answer.
“You see, we have to ask because the medical examiner’s preliminary examination indicates that all four shots struck the suspect in the side of the head. Typically, if you’ve made your presence known and given a warning, the suspect won’t be in full profile. There will be some sign, whether they were in the act ofturning or whatnot, to signify that they heard someone yelling at them to stop.”
I shrug. “I don’t know what to tell you.”
She gives me a hard look, her eyes boring into mine as she studies me. Finally, she sighs and taps the notepad in front of her. “These are the best numbers to reach the two of you?”
“Yes.”
“Then you’re free to go.”
