Page 167 of Liar's Point

“That’s right.”

“And by ‘we’ you mean...?”

“Joel and I talked it over. He has confidence in your leadership skills, and so do I.”

She swallowed. Her heart was thrumming now. “But what about Owen? He’s been here longer than I have.”

Brady nodded. “Owen’s a great detective. But we think you’re better suited for the role. This involves people management, mentoring. And you’ll be our point person dealing with victims and families. We think you’d be good at it.”

“Thank you.”

“Your work on Red Highway was impressive, Nicole. And the Aubrey Lambert case—you really knocked that out of the park. People noticed—and I’m not just talking about us. The feds noticed it, too. If it weren’t for your input, we never would have made the breakthroughs that neutralized an ongoing national security threat. So kudos to you. You earned this opportunity.”

Her cheeks flushed at all the praise from her taciturn boss.

“Thank you, Chief. I’m flattered.” She shook her head. “I just wasn’t expecting all this. What about Emmet? He’s been here longer than me also.”

“Emmet’s leaving.”

She stared at him. “He’s... what?”

“He’s joining the task force, taking Joel’s old spot.” Brady frowned and looked at her. “I thought you knew.”

Nicole swallowed. “No.”

“Well. I assumed he’d told you, given your personal relationship. Anyway, that’s between you two.” He cleared his throat. “My concern is the job offer. Head of detectives, and it comes with a salary bump.” He paused, clearly seeing she was too shocked to formulate a response at the moment. “Think about it and get back to me.”

“I will.”

He stood up. “But don’t take too long. My last day is Friday, and we’d like to have things buttoned up ahead of that.”

She got to her feet, dazed, and Brady held his hand out. She shook it.

“I need an answer by tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.”

***

Emmet found Nicole on the beach at sunset. She jogged along the waterline with the late-day sun in her eyes, her attention focused on the distant lighthouse behind him.

He saw the second she noticed him. She stopped running and pulled out her earbuds. Then she bent at the waist, catching her breath as he walked up to her.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey.” She straightened and looked him over, no doubt noticing that he’d been home to shower and change since work.

He bent down and kissed her, and she pulled away.

“I’m sweaty.”

“So?”

He smiled and kissed her again. Then he turned, and they started walking toward the dunes where he’d parked his truck beside hers.

She glanced at him. “How’d you know I’d be here?”

“Your running shoes were missing, so I figured.”

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