Cade nodded in response. “Thank you,” he said. “Not as satisfying as if you’d resented every word, but still, it’s the principle of the thing.”
“I was wrong,” Marlow said with a shrug. “I’ve experienced it before. The stakes were even the same. Piper deserves to be in jail, and not just for what he did to me. I stand by that. But Franklin needs to be there more. He’s hurting people now, not in the past, and you saw that when I couldn’t look past my own grudge.”
Cade reached out and cupped Marlow’s face in his hand. He grazed his thumb over Marlow’s lower lip, and Marlow caught a ragged breath as heat shivered through him.
“All I saw is that you’d be safer if we used Piper,” Cade said, his voice low and rough. “So don’t give me too much credit.”
“Got it.”
They looked at each other for a second. Marlow could feel the tension between them. He knew he should say something. There were things he did want to say. He could feel them wedged in his throat—heartfelt, honest, emotional—but he couldn’t get any of them out.
“So,” Cade said. “You’re the cop. What do we know about this Lyons guy?”
Marlow hesitated for a second.Got itwas a hell of a note to leave it on with the only person in the whole city you trusted—but murder was easier to deal with. He made a note of that for later. O’Hara was going to send him back to the department shrink once this was all over, and that would give them something to talk about.
“I know there’s only one person in town whose house he ended up dead in,” Marlow said. “If anyone killed Lyons, it had to be something to do with Clemons.”
Cade nodded. “What do we know about him?”
“Nothing,” Marlow said.
“Then that’s where we start,” Cade said. He fished his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll give Lem a call and see what he can dig up.”
He turned away as he lifted the phone to his ear. Marlow finally thought of something to say.
“Thanks,” he said.
“I told you,” Cade said. “I don’t like being used, and I don’t like people endangering my business. Franklin did both.”
“I meant for the coffee,” Marlow said.
It was for the thought behind the cold Americano and the fact that Cade had remembered what Marlow drank and that he’d probably appreciate it after the last few hours. The whole package. Of course, if Cade wasn’t on the same wavelength, it would sound like Marlowactuallythought a tepid beverage was worth more than aiding and harboring a fugitive.
Cade half turned to look at him. The corner of his mouth tilted up in a brief smile. Either he understood what Marlow wanted to say, or he thought Marlow was an idiot. He might not be wrong.
“You’re welcome,” Cade said, then sighed. “Not you, Lem. I need you to find some information for me. No, you didn’t. I found Marlow on my own. I’ll give you one more chance. Get me any background information you can on Victor Clemons. Start with his hotel booking last night and work backward from there.”
“While he’s doing that,” Marlow said as he sniffed himself, “I’ll have a shower.”
Cade nodded and moved the phone away from his mouth, his hand cupped over the mouthpiece.
“I’ll have to go,” he said. “Make sure I’m seen not to be in your company. I’ll come back later if I can make it before moonrise.”
That was fine.
It wasn’t like Marlow had hoped Cade would join him in the shower or anything like that.
“Nothing?” Marlow repeated the assertion. “How can there be nothing. He rents a house. He had mail. Dated a man.”
Cade sprawled on the couch, a bottle of beer dangled from his fingers. He’d unbuttoned his collar and cuffs, his sleeves folded back along his forearms. His eyes were bright, gold rims around the irises as the wolf moved restlessly under his skin. The moon wasn’t up yet—it would take more than one bad night to throw Marlow’s internal clock off enough to lose track of that—but the difference between him when he’d left and when he came back was notable.
Blue moon, an imaginary Bennett insisted in the back of Marlow’s head;things get weird.
“According to Lem, Victor Clemons started his life as a Grindr account two years ago. Before that, he didn’t exist. Afterward, he got a job, drew a paycheck, and swiped left until he got to Barney.”
He took a drink. Despite the situation, Marlow stopped thinking for a second to watch the line of Cade’s throat move as he swallowed. Heat stung the back of Marlow’s neck, and he had to give himself a mental kick to get his brain back on track.
“That sounds like someone who’s running from something,” he said.
