Page 100 of Come Back to Me

That triggers a toneless wail.

“Right, we need to get you ready, seeing as you still aren’t dressed.” I squint at her face, mumbling, “You haven’t even put makeup on!”

“Excuse me for needing to work,” she snips back. “Rachel had an emergency.”

I still. “One of the Sinners was arrested?”

“Giulia was.”

Giulia’s the Old Lady of the VP.

“What the hell happened?”

“This woman at daycare said that she didn’t want her children being raised with Sinner scum.”

“No fucking way. Is she dead?”

“No, but her front tires are definitely blown and she has a pair of busted headlights.”

“Go, Giulia.” I lift a hand for her to high-five it, but she glowers at me.

“You would say that! You don’t have to get her out of jail tonight.”

“I thought they had the sheriff on the payroll.”

She pinches the bridge of her nose. “I told you they don’t.”

“Yeah, yeah. The question still remains…”

“You didn’t ask a question. Anyway, some idiot noob on the force filed her charges. Why am I doing this interview again?”

“So your family doesn’t lose billions on the stock market.”

“Not helpful, Tee.”

I snicker. “To be fair, those billions do employ a shit ton of people. Imagine if the company went down... Would Pigeon Creek still exist?”

She releases a whoosh of air as she clicks her fingers. “That’swhy I’m doing it. Because pettiness isn’t enough.”

“It’s scary how fragile a business infrastructure is, isn’t it?” I muse as I rest my hands on her shoulders and tug her hair into a braid—our agreed upon style. Mostly because I rock at them and very little else and she didn’t want to hire someone to do her hair and makeup.

Snagging her brush from the desk, I get to work as she answers, “Life is a fragile ecosystem. And murder has a habit of fucking with that.” She purses her lips. “What have you done to Cody, by the way?”

I still. “Why do you ask?”

“Colt wanted me to talk to you about him. Seems as if he’s been staying at the detachment and not coming home.”

Huh.

And here I was, sneaking around the damn house in case I saw him. That one time in the den where he looked troubled in his sleep was enough.

“If he was going to do that, he could have told me,” I grumble. “I almost fell down the stairs last night when I was in stealth mode.”

“So, youareavoiding him?”

“Yes.”

Her brow furrows. “Why?”

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