Page 28 of In Her Sights
Realizing that John hadn’t started his SUV, even though they were both buckled in, she gave him an inquiring glance.
“What’s next?” he asked.
The question took her by surprise. John had been doing that a lot lately, challenging assumptions about him she’d held on to since they’d first met. She’d figured that he’d want to lead, and that she would have to fight to get him to listen to her ideas, but he was just sitting there, waiting for her to tell him how they were going to run the show.
Her eyebrows lifted along with the corners of her mouth. She could work with this John Carmondy. “I’m starting from scratch on this one. Up until this point, I’ve always tried to avoid places where Sonny Zarver and his friends hang out.”
He smiled back at her. “Me too.”
“So much for that excellent plan.” As he made a grunt of amused agreement, she thought about the next step. “Let’s start at 200 Bluffside Road.”
His gaze snapped to hers, and she took an odd satisfaction in surprising him. “The police station? Isn’t that the only place we know is Sonny-free?”
She knew her smile was smug but didn’t really care. “There’s a sergeant there who owes me a favor.”
John sent her another curious look but didn’t say anything. He just started the SUV and eased it away from the curb. They traveled in silence for a while, and Molly shifted restlessly, missing her car and the control driving gave her. To distract herself, she pulled up her contacts on her phone and started skimming through them, checking for people with possible connections to Sonny. She narrowed it down to three and sent them each a text, asking if they had any information on Zarver’s whereabouts.
Only one responded immediately. Are you crazy?? Why are you messing with him???
Molly must’ve made a face, because John asked, “What is it?”
“One of my contacts just confirming what a dumb thing we’re doing,” she said, just as a text from another person came in. NO! “Two of my contacts.” There was another buzz from her phone, and she sighed. “All of them. They all think I’m insane for going after Sonny.”
“Well…” He trailed off into silence as he pulled into the lot of the law enforcement center. He didn’t need to finish his thought, though. Molly knew perfectly well that he considered this a suicide mission…and she didn’t disagree.
She tried to mash down that feeling of impending doom as she hopped out of the SUV and headed for the front entrance, but she was only somewhat successful. Apprehension still tagged after her, nipping at her heels like a phantom sheepdog. John caught up to her easily, his huge form falling into step next to her, and she gave him a sideways glance. Despite the strange rivalry or whatever they’d had happening since they met, she had to admit that she was glad he was with her.
He pulled open the door for her, and she stepped inside. Only when she blinked in the brightness of the artificial lights did she realize how dark it had gotten outside. She almost ran into someone heading out the door, dodging out of the way at the last second before she crashed into them.
“Excuse me,” she said automatically, a moment before she recognized Detective Mill, the ray of sunshine who’d been at her house that afternoon.
His gaze turned frigid, so she guessed that he’d just recognized her, too. “Back again? What happened this time?”
“Nothing to do with you.” She always tried to have good relationships with the cops she dealt with in her work, but she was pretty sure that Mill would never be an ally. Besides, he and Bastien would be trotting back to Denver as soon as they wrapped up their case, so she let a bit of her snarky side show. “I won’t keep you. I’m sure you have criminals you need to let loose to roam the streets and break into innocent people’s houses.”
“Innocent?” His tone was thick with sarcasm. “Right.”
She was just thinking up a great comeback when a big hand on her lower back nudged her forward past Mill. Although she gave John a minor glare, she allowed him to usher her away from the aggravating cop. Mill muttered something not quite loud enough for her to make out before he shoved open the door and left the building. “What is his deal?” she asked under her breath.
“Who knows, but you’re not going to gain anything by getting into a pissing match with him.” John kept his hand on her back as they approached the desk sergeant, and Molly allowed it for a few seconds before shifting to the side. His touch disappeared, and she immediately missed the warmth and, even more, the feeling that John had her back.
Shaking off her distracting feelings, she stepped up to the window dividing the main reception area from the desk sergeant’s domain. When she recognized who was on duty, she gave him a genuine smile of greeting. “Sergeant Garcia. What are you doing behind a desk? Did you hurt yourself again, or is your knee still giving you trouble?”
His return grin turned into a pained frown as he held up his left arm, showing her the plastic brace on his forearm. “I wish it were just my knee. Everyone’s started calling me Sergeant Glass.”
She winced sympathetically. “What happened?”
“Slid on some loose gravel and fell.” Lowering his injured arm, he gave a shrug. “My wrist took the worst of it.”
“At least you didn’t land on your face. Protect the moneymaker, right?”
“That’s right.” He chuckled as his gaze flicked back and forth between Molly and John. “What’s with the two of you? You working together now?”
It took some effort, but Molly resisted the urge to glance at John as she answered. Instead, she kept her gaze locked on Garcia’s face. “John’s just helping me out with a tricky skip.”
The sergeant went quiet for a few moments, still studying them as his expression sobered. “Hope that ‘tricky skip’ isn’t a certain Mr. Zarver.”
She made a face. “Are you psychic? Because that’s not fair if you are.”
