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“My office. Now,” he demands before walking off.

Forge sighs, then mutters, “Here we fucking go.”

I give him a pointed look as I get to my feet.

“Try not to antagonize him,” I comment.

“No promises.”

I shake my head as we talk to Mendes’ office. I already know this isn’t going to go well, but I really don’t need Forge making it worse. It’s what he excels at, unfortunately.

Mendes doesn't offer us a seat when we step into his office. He’s standing behind his desk, glaring at us like we slashed the tires on his shiny BMW.

“Where is Forester?” he demands.

Okay, so we’re not getting fired…

I exchange a glance with Forge.

“Still in Falling Oaks,” I answer solidly.

“Why?”

“Because that's where she's staying.”

His expression hardens.

“Don't get smart with me, Warren. I gave you specific instructions to bring her in for questioning. That was days ago. I’ve been giving you time, hoping you’d make the right choice here. Yet, I don’t see her.”

“We've spoken with her,” I say.

“At a fucking bakery.”

“She's a witness, Captain. Not a suspect we have grounds to arrest,” I argue as calmly as I can.

It’s the truth and he knows it. At the beginning, Raewyn was a potential suspect. Now? She’s not. We’re the lead detectives on the case and we made that decision. He could override it, but on what grounds?

“She's a person of interest in a homicide investigation,” he growls.

“And she's cooperating.”

“Is she?” he snaps. “Because from where I'm standing, she's given you nothing.”

I keep my expression neutral.

He isn't entirely wrong.

But he doesn't know what she told us yesterday.

And something tells me I should keep it that way.

Besides, giving us nothing doesn’t mean she’s guilty. It just means we need to dig harder to find someone who does know something, and quite frankly, I think that means looking at other people, not focusing all our attention on her.

When it comes to the case, that is.

Everything else?

Well… that’s a different story.