Page 114 of Liar's Point

“Yes. It’s a major problem.”

“Why?”

He laughed. Was she serious right now? How was it that he was hyperaware of the potential danger she was in and she was ready just to shrug it off?

“Because there could be a connection between Aubrey Lambert’s murder and you nearly getting run down last night,” he said. “We don’t fully know what’s going on, and until we get to the bottom of it, you need to take a step back from the case.”

More silence on the other end.

He could practically feel her hostility coming through the phone.

“Anyway, you’re injured,” he said. “You need a chance to recoup, so the timing works out.”

She muttered something he couldn’t hear, but he caught her tone.

“I understand you’re annoyed,” he said.

“Annoyed? Try furious!”

“Nicole—”

“Are you out of your freaking mind, Emmet? We have two homicide cases in our laps now. And every one of us is stretched paper thin. You’re slammed, me and Owen are up to our eyeballs, and Adam isn’t even officially a detective yet. This is no time for any one of us to be taking a vacation!”

Emmet gritted his teeth. He’d known she wouldn’t be happy, but she was just going to have to deal with it. He wasn’t going to budge on this.

“Listen, it’s not that big a—”

“No, you listen,” she said. “I don’t appreciate you going around me and talking to Brady about my work behind my back. Just because you’re the lead on this case doesn’t make you my boss. And anyway, this is a boneheaded plan! We’re almost a week in and we don’t even have a suspect yet, which means we need more help, not less.”

Frustration filled his chest, and he stalked into his bedroom. “Yeah, well, it’s been decided, so deal.”

“ ‘Deal’? That’s it? That’s all you can say?”

“Yeah. It’s my case, so it’s my call.”

Silence again, but this one sounded different from the rest. Had she really just hung up on him? He looked at his phone. She had.

“Fuck.”

CHAPTER

TWENTY

I’m surprised you’re not happy,” Kate said over the phone.

“Why would I be happy about being sidelined in the middle of a major case?”

Nicole sank onto her bed and leaned her crutches against the nightstand.

“Well, you’re always talking about getting called out on weekends and having no social life. Maybe you can actually relax for a few days.”

Relax. Right. Nicole reached for her shorts on the floor and yelped when a bolt of pain shot up her leg.

“You okay?”

“Yes.” She squeezed her eyes closed. “I just tweaked something.”

“See? Brady’s right. You need a break right now.”

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