Page 38 of Tangled
Sabina grinned. “I’m an unapologetic geek. What can I say.”
Scarlett had to smile at that. “You know,” she started, “when you and Kara decided to unite and bring your mother’s killer out into the open, I was happy for her—for you. But selfishly, I was worried that I’d lose my best friend. I don’t trust easily, and it’s hard to make friends when you’re out of the country ten months a year. It was a weird and not altogether comfortable time.” She paused. “It came to nothing, of course. Kara is as loving and as loyal as she’s always been. I guess change is always uneasy.”
A muffled winter silence filled the room. The storm had intensified, and snow danced and fell in the wind, leaving Scarlett feeling as though she were living inside a snow globe when she looked out the sweeping windows.
“I was jealous of you,” Sabina said. “I was jealous that you had all those years and all those experiences with her. You’d been in life-and-death situations, you saved lives together, you went out drinking together. All those things, big and small, that I never got to do with her.”
Scarlett rolled her head to see Sabina more clearly. She was picking at something on her sweater. After a beat, she sighed. “But while I was jealous, I was also so grateful for you.” She lifted her eyes and met Scarlett’s. “So thankful that she had you as a friend, as a confidant. The work you two did, it’s hard. In truth, I don’t know how you did it. Dropping into hot spots at a moment’s notice, not sure what you’ll be facing when you get there or what your own team will look like.” She paused again, then offered a tentative smile. “I was jealous, but so grateful. Thank you.”
Scarlett sniffled, then so did Sabina. “Here,” Sabina said with a laugh, tossing her a Kleenex and taking one for herself. “Now that we’re all sappy, how about we talk about murder?”
Scarlett chuffed a laugh as she dabbed her eyes. “Right, seems like a good transition. Whose murder? Maria’s or Gracie’s?”
“Neither,” Sabina said as she hit a few buttons on her phone. “Do you recognize this man?” she asked, handing the device over.
Scarlett reached for it, then looked at the picture. She didn’t bother to hide her surprise as she sat up. “That’s the man Brad and I saw get shot at Roxy’s in December. Who is he?”
“Trenton Halliwell. Officer Trenton Halliwell,” Sabina said, taking her phone back. “His body was pulled from an aqueduct this morning.”
“Let me guess, he had a single bullet hole in his chest?”
Sabina touched her nose in a “you got it” gesture.
Scarlett let that piece of news settle into her brain. Then, meeting Sabina’s gaze, she said, “There are only so many reasons a cop would willingly walk into a bar with one of the Wolf’s top men. I have to wonder which one it was.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Before Sabina could respond to her comment, the lock on the door disengaged andBrad walked in. Despite running one of the top lodges west of the Mississippi, he wasn’t much of a suit guy, and his long-sleeved Henley, dark jeans, and boots fit him to a T. Brad Warwick was an objectively good-looking man. The kind that would catch a woman’s eye.
He’d caught hers that first night—and still held it—but it was more than his looks that had her stomach fluttering every time he walked into a room. The way he lookedat her—intimate and hot, yet concerned about her well-being—was now her kryptonite. It didn’t hurt that his gaze also held a hint of possessiveness overlayed with a fair bit of protectiveness. Not so much protective of her, although he was that, too, but of what lay between them. As if he recognized that what they had was unique and worth safeguarding.
Although, right now, as he walked in and spotted her on the couch, it was the heat in his eyes that had her squirming.
Sabina cleared her throat. “Now, none of that, Mr. Charming. I’m here on business.”
Brad startled. “I didn’t even see you there.”
“Obviously,” Sabina replied with a chuckle.
“Give me one second and I’ll ask what business,” he said as he toed his boots off, then walked to Scarlett. Leaning over, he kissed her. “How are you feeling?” he asked, a twinkle in his eye.
“Better,” Scarlet replied, fighting the urge to grab his shirt and pull him down into a proper kiss.
He smiled, as if reading her thoughts. He probably had, but she didn’t care. “Good,” he said before kissing her again. Then, shifting away, he took a seat at the end of the couch and pulled her feet onto his lap, covering them with the blanket.
“What business?” Brad asked Sabina.
Sabina went through the same routine with him as she had with Scarlett, showing him the picture. When he confirmed the dead man was the man they’d seen, he passed the phone back.
“We were getting ready to discuss why a cop would willingly walk into the back room of a bar with the Wolf’s top lieutenant,” Sabina said.
“He didn’t look tense or as if he were being coerced, which leads me to believe he was a part of the organization,” Brad summarized what she’d been thinking.
“But in what capacity? And do we even care?” Scarlett asked. Both Sabina and Brad looked at her. “He clearly knew Katz and whoever the third guy was, so I agree, we should assume he was dirty. But what I care about is whether his death is tied to Gracie. As cold as this sounds, if there’s no connection to Gracie, the shooting of a dirty cop doesn’t really register on the radar of things I care about.”
“No judgment here,” Sabina said, and Brad nodded his agreement. “I agree that the connection to Gracie is what’s important. That Halliwell was killed by Katz and that Katz is now here in Mystery Lake was too much of a coincidence for me to ignore, though. So I decided to look into his recent cases.”
“You found something?” Scarlett asked, starting to sit up. Brad grabbed her feet, arresting her movement. After a brief stare-down, she capitulated and relaxed back against the cushions.
