“It can’t hurt to let me look through it,” she said, her delicate shoulder rising, a slight tilt to her head, those sapphire-blue eyes destroying any argument I had.
“That’s true,” I grumbled.
She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth, trying to suppressa smile. “Get me that case file. It’s my turn to play detective. Then you need to get out of here before Juliet gets mad at you.”
I huffed, “That’s the last thing I’m worried about.” The case file was still on Monroe’s desk from when he and Captain were going over it earlier. I handed it to Scarlett with a warning not to say anything to anyone else, not yet.
“I promise, Luke. We’re not going to find anything, regardless, though. This is just a precaution.”
“Exactly,” I agreed.
Leaving Scarlett at the station made my skin crawl. But I knew I was just being ridiculous. She was fine. Wes had gotten into my head and was making me paranoid.
The sound of silence greeted me when I walked in the door. Wyatt’s house was both familiar and unfamiliar. I had spent plenty of time here over the years, even crashing on his couch on the rare occasion I had too much to drink at Harpoon’s—Wyatt’s place being in walking distance and all. But sleeping in his room was still strange.
It had only been two nights away from my wife, and I already didn’t like her having that title. We would need to talk at some point. Draw up papers, split assets. I guess I needed to find a lawyer.
Did she have him in our bed?
Wait… had she fucked another man in my bed already?
I tossed and turned all night. My mind would wander down the path of my failed marriage and affairs before making a sharp left into police corruption and justice for Alana. Back and forth. For hours.
My phone lit up with a message. It was 2:00 a.m., but it wasn’t like I was getting any sleep anyway.
My heart rate quickened at the sight of Scarlett’s name. Her message was what I expected.
Letty: You were right. I have no idea how to find something that isn’t in the file. This feels like when a package doesn’t arrive and the company tells you to take a picture of you NOT having the package.
Me: Hahaha. Exactly. How am I supposed to find what’s not there?
Letty: Shoot. I thought you wouldn’t see this until the morning. I hope I didn’t wake you or Juliet.
Me: Don’t worry about it, I was already up. Stay safe tonight.
I repeated our mantra to her like I would to anyone else at the department, but it felt heavier somehow.
Letty: Always. Have a good night.
* * *
The glare of the sun reflected off the concrete steps. A single reporter waited for us outside the courthouse. Chief Patrick Williams gave a short interview, crediting Monroe and me for our work on the case and expressing his appreciation to the judge for denying bail. Ryan Redmond’s not-guilty plea came as no surprise to anyone.
It was my day off, and now that court was out, I had nothing else to do for the day. Sitting in Wyatt’s house didn’t hold any appeal. I brought up Seb’s contact as I got into my SUV.
“Hey, Seb. You busy?” I greeted him when he answered the call.
“I have an appointment at 2:00 p.m., but I’m good until then.Come by the shop,” he said, inviting me to the tattoo shop that he owned and operated. He took skin art very seriously, decorating his body with tattoos. He was an insanely talented artist; tattoos were just the medium that hooked him.
The drive to the shop was quick. I stopped at the Mexican food truck on my way by, grabbing a half dozen tacos, two sides of chips and guac, and two sides of their street corn. The flavorful aromas filled the car, making it hard to get them to their destination without digging in.
“Hey!” Seb shouted, a wide grin pulling at his face when I arrived with the food. “You read my mind.”
“It almost didn’t make it. I’m starving.” One of the downfalls of moving into Wyatt’s place was that there was no food there. Grocery shopping was on my list of things to do, but first, I needed to fill Seb in on everything that was going on.
“You off today or just working later?” Seb asked as he dug into the containers. He had a small office in the back where he could get some work done, but since no one else was there, we settled into the couches that were set up for people who were either waiting for their turn or for one of their friends.
“Off. I just got out of court for Redmond’s arraignment.”
