Page 460 of A Matter of Time

“Do you know who that is?” he asked, leaning over the back of the couch to look at me. His smile was sly, and I had no idea what was causing it.

“No.”

“Think hard.”

“I have no idea.”

He grunted. “What if I told you that his first name was Carrington?”

“Oh.” I smiled at him. “You got it wrong. The detective’s name is probably something else, and he was calling you about Carrington Adams. He was the guy that got out of jail with me.”

“You mean he was the guy you got out of jail.”

“Yeah.”

“Uh-huh. Well, guess what, baby? That guy was a cop.”

“No, he wasn’t.”

“Yeah, he was. Turns out he was undercover. He’s a vice detective investigating several different pimps in the city, and you got him out of jail.”

It took me a minute to process what he was saying. “Oh shit.”

He grinned at me.

“So he was never in any real danger.”

“Nope.”

“Oh shit.”

“I think you owe, like, a dollar in the swear jar.”

I leaned back on the counter. “So where did he… I saw him get on a plane.”

“You saw him walk through the door to a jetway, you never saw him get on a plane.”

“He must think I’m, like, a total idiot.”

“Nope, he thought you were undercover too—maybe vice, possibly on a task force, but he was sure you were on the job.”

“Hilarious.”

“He said that Rego James is on his way to prison.”

I nodded.

“He also said that you took quite a hit from him that day.”

“I don’t remember.”

“The hell you don’t, you just don’t want me to get mad about something I can’t do anything about.”

Precisely.

“You know, Detective Adams said you were really brave and really hot.”

I laughed as I came out of the kitchen, turning off the light as I crossed to the couch to stand over him. “I’m sure that’s exactly what he said.”