Page 8 of Under Pressure

The allusion to her personal life was met with a twitch in his eye. He took in a noticeable breath and moved the conversation on.

“The body… What are we seeing?” Hunter probed, bringing her back to what she was supposed to be investigating—the scene of the crime, not Delta.

“We’ll have a report to you by tomorrow.” Kendra nodded, tightening her hand around her tote as she reached the end of the hallway where the exit was to the parking structure. When she reached the far wing of the building, she grabbed the exit’s doorhandle. She glanced back up to Hunter, chewing her lip.

“Why do I feel like you are running from me?” He gave her a look, as if trying to read her mind.

“I’m— I-I just—” she stammered, but rolled up her tongue immediately.

Shaking her head at her own inability to keep it together, Kendra pushed out into the parking structure to find her car. Unfortunately, Hunter followed close behind. He was only the second man to trail in her wake that day, driving something up her throat. She was losing it—ever since she’d seen Delta. He’d rattled her.

“You… just?” Hunter didn’t relent, calling after her as she marched. “Go ahead, finish your thought.”

In a row of cars, Kendra stopped in her tracks to face him, realizing that he’d stopped as well—too close to her body for comfort. She caught an unwelcome whiff of him. Unlike Delta, when Hunter’s scent filled her nose, it was downright disagreeable. Not that he had a bad odor, but she couldn’t deny that she disliked the way he smelled and had felt that way for the entire year.

“Listen, Kendra. You’re acting different. I know there’s something wrong.” Her boss cocked his head, staring at her, as if knowing. “Talk to me. You can trust me.”

Trust. That awkward thing. She bit her lip and felt overwhelmed by guilt as she stared into Hunter’s face. I should be trusting him. Isn’t he on my side? She repeated the question again and again in her head, trying to convince herself to come back to the light.

Finally, her true nature overcame her, and she confessed. “Look… I found something on the ground at the crime scene and I brought it back to the lab to test it.”

Hunter nodded, appreciative. “Perfect. What is it?”

She gnashed her teeth harder against her lip as she chastised herself for the admission. Shifting on her feet, she shook her head. “No, you don’t understand. It doesn’t really belong to the case. And the reason why I’m telling you this—”

Hunter cut her off. “If it was at the crime scene, it belongs to the case. Simple.”

“No, it doesn’t, and the reason why I’m telling you this is—” Kendra again tried to articulate, but found herself stumbling over her words, trying to stop the runaway train. She strained her neck back, finally just reiterating, “It doesn’t belong to the case.”

Hunter wouldn’t let her continue. “You aren’t making sense. What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I saw this glove fall off someone, so all I’m doing is running DNA elimination tests—”

“Fall off?” Hunter’s head tilted, his eyes narrowing. “Who?”

Kendra let out a slow breath, her conscience getting the best of her. “You aren’t going to like it.”

“Trust me,” Hunter restated. “I’m not the bad guy.”

Kendra tried to breathe in as much air as she could, releasing it slowly to calm herself. She was such a prudish do-gooder, unable to handle this type of pressure. She locked eyes with her boss, wishing for compassion that wouldn’t come—not when it had to do with his nemesis. Kendra knew mentioning Delta was going to be a terrible mistake. Last year, the two men had birthed a very strong hatred for each other.

She looked deeper into Hunter’s eyes as he waited, blinking back at her expectantly. He shrugged, as if telling her to get on with it. She knew she just needed to come clean, especially if she wanted to save her ass.

He probed her again. “Whose glove is it?”

“Delta—” She closed her eyes, feeling the immediate tension. “It was Delta’s.”

“Don’t you fucking say it.”

Kendra nodded uncomfortably, the air thickening around her. “He was there, at the scene.”

“How the hell—?” Hunter snapped into a sudden rage, his heated voice lashing through the parking structure.

She stumbled back, her hands raised, trying to calm him. “I don’t know. I have no idea. But there he was, warning me—”

“Warning you? What the fuck does that mean?” Hunter’s voice grew more incredulous, as if she’d personally betrayed him. The anger boomed off him even worse than she’d seen before.

She instinctively backed up again, hitting a car, wishing to God she’d brought her pistol that day.

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