Page 75 of Baited

Brian’s surfer boy tan faded. “Uh…do you have a warrant?”

Ethan’s blood pumped through him. He pressed his feet into the concrete step to resist the urge to shove Brian through the door.

“A warrant?” Nate nudged Ethan exaggeratedly. “No, bro. We aren’t here to raid. But if I feel I need a warrant you can bet I’ll get one. Are you going to let us in, or do you have something to hide?”

Brian’s face tensed and the corner of his eye twitched. He stepped back and the door fell from his fingers. “Of course not. Come in.”

Ethan moved Riley to the side and Nate followed Brian inside, leaving him with Riley.

“You shouldn’t have come here.”

Her eyes flared. “He’s not dangerous, I just—”

“Are you sure about that?”

Her eyes shifted over his face and she released a breath.

“He stalked and threatened his ex-girlfriend. Dammit, why didn’t you tell me you were coming here?”

She wiggled her wrist and gripped his fingers in hers. “I came on impulse. When I got to work Jenny told me Brian had been asking about me. I needed to see him and gauge his reactionwhen I brought up Hanna.” Her teeth dragged over her bottom lip. “I’m sorry.”

The anger left his muscles like a plug being pulled from a drain. He smoothed his thumb over the back of her hand. “It’s all right, but please go to work now.”

Her feet planted firmly to the porch and she shook her head. “No. I have every right to be here. Besides,” She said, lifting her wrist to check her watch. “I have to be at work in twenty minutes. I’ll stay long enough to try to read him and then I’ll go.”

Ethan groaned and shook his head. Dammit, he didn’t have time to fight with her. As it stood, he was missing part of Nate’s interrogation.

“Fine, but things could get messy.”

She arched an eyebrow.

“I mean it. If you can’t handle it, then leave, okay?”

She shrugged. “Fine.”

He led her into the apartment and to the kitchen. Brian stood with his back against the counter, his arms folded over his chest.

“What’s this about?”

He met the hard glint in Brian’s eyes. Brian rested his palms on the counter on either side of him, and stretched his legs out in front of him. A glance around the kitchen showed he was in the middle of cooking breakfast. Freshly popped toast sat in the toaster, bacon, and eggs steamed from an iron skillet on the stove.

Nate stepped up and Ethan crossed his arms over his chest, his feet braced apart. Brian’s glare waned. “I’m investigating the disappearance of Hanna Wilson. You were off this week, right?”

Brian’s eyes shifted from Ethan to Nate and back again. “Yeah, that’s right. I have to be at work in an hour; I just had four days off. What’s that got to do with Hanna?”

Ethan lifted his hand to scratch his jaw. “Do you own a silver Dodge truck?”

One of Brian’s eyebrows rose. “You can get my work schedule but you can’t find out the vehicle I drive?”

Ethan’s face tingled as a smirk tugged at his lips. “That’s fine if you don’t want to answer. If you think we don’t already know the answer, you’re not getting the point.”

Annoyance rippled Brian’s forehead. “I drive a red Ford F150. It’s in the garage if you want to see it.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

Riley moved to step in front of Brian. “Where were you Tuesday night, between eight and nine p.m.?”

A thin band of sweat covered Brian’s brow. He snorted. “I can’t believe this. You want an alibi from me and I don’t even know what this is about.” His voice teetered on erratic.

Fire shot through Ethan. In one swift movement, he snagged the collar of Brian’s shirt and pressed his back roughly into the counter.

---