Page 26 of The Truth You Told

That was a strange thought and a by-product of their jobs. Kilkenny’s and Conrad’s lives had become intertwined in a way that superseded even friendship. Enemies were always closer than acquaintances, hate being on the other side of the coin from love.

Conrad probably knew Kilkenny better than she did.

It took a half hour to get through security and find the gate. Kilkenny was already there. She gratefully snagged the soft pretzel he held out to her—it wasn’t actually breakfast since she’d never gone to sleep—and then took the seat two down from him so she could see his face.

“Did you call this all in?” Raisa asked. She couldn’t actually remember the name of his supervisor at the moment, her brain foggy with all the new information she’d read about the Alphabet Man case.

“There were a few people on the call, and they all believe Conrad is lying,” Kilkenny said. “They expressed their distress that this is happening, but then suggested I rent a fishing boat until Conrad is no longer twitching on the table.” He noticed her grimace. “Their words.”

“Obviously,” she said, the butter and salt and dough going a long way toward making her feel human again. “And you told them that you’re going to Texas to talk to Conrad instead.”

“They hung up before I could mention that.”

Kilkenny,she thought.

“Okay,” she said, and shrugged when he lifted his brows. “I’m not your mother. And if the head of the behavioral science unit for the FBI can’t figure out that you’re not about to go get up close and personal with the Puget Sound marine life right now, he probably shouldn’t be in the position.”

“I’m sure he’ll see it that way,” Kilkenny said dryly, but didn’t actually sound worried. They both knew she was right anyway. Just because his supervisor told him to go fishing didn’t mean he thought Kilkenny would listen.

She thought about bringing up the call with Nurse, but Nurse had said he would take care of surfacing the report clearing Kilkenny, and she believed him. She wondered if Kilkenny even knew about it.

They couldn’t worry about it now; they had a ticking clock above their heads.

Raisa hid a yawn behind her hand as the announcement came for them to start boarding soon. Kilkenny glanced at the gate door, then seemed to make some decision.

“There’s something I should tell you before we leave,” he said slowly, and every muscle in Raisa’s body tensed. Kilkenny never sounded completely lighthearted, but his tone left no room for interpretation. Whatever this was, he thought there was a chance it would make her stay in Seattle.

That it would make her abandon him so that he would have to go talk to Conrad alone.

Logically, Raisa knew Kilkenny’s life must be similar to hers—constant traveling for a demanding profession making it almost impossible to build up a supportive social network. She didn’t know much about his family, but considering he had never once mentioned them, she didn’t think they were close, if they were still alive.

They were so alike, but it hadn’t clicked until now that he might feel as lonely and isolated as she did. For some reason, she’d imagined this whole other part of his life, with bros over for football Sunday and close colleagues he considered friends. Even though what she’d seen and experienced around him didn’t support that idea.

She had been viewing him as someone slowly and surely working his way into her inner circle. She just hadn’t realized that she’d been doing the same.

Raisa was his support system. Maybe his only support system, as he was hers.

And she wasn’t about to let him down now. “Hit me.”

“I met Shay in a bar,” Kilkenny said. Raisa almost relaxed on reflex, but then her brain caught up. Whatever had his shoulders as tense as they were, it was more than just embarrassment that he’d picked Shay up at some hole-in-the-wall.

“Okay,” she said again, as neutrally as possible.

“It was during Tiffany Hughes’s investigation,” Kilkenny said. “The first victim we found.”

Raisa blinked at him dumbly for a good ten seconds. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I met Shay when I first started working the Alphabet Man case,” Kilkenny summed up, seeming to know she needed it repeated in easily digestible words.

When Raisa just continued to stare, the tips of his ears went pink. “She was a bartender at the place I went to unwind.”

“Oh my god,” she said, as the realization came to her. “Are you telling me you guys had a one-night stand? While you were working a serial-killer investigation?”

“I don’t know how to break it to you, but that’s not exactly an unusual occurrence,” he said, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

Raisa covered her ears and shook her head. “No, my innocence has been ruined.”

Kilkenny almost laughed at that, and she counted it a win. An almost-laugh from Kilkenny was a near guffaw for anyone else. Raisa dropped her hands and shot him a wry grin. “Okay, now that we’ve covered the fact that people have sex, that really wasn’t my main concern.”

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