Page 6 of No Room to Breathe
Impossible.Mind reading wasn’t a real thing.
Norris was just a woman with some sort of attention-seeking problem.Cade had looked her up, unimpressed that her website didn’t mention anything about the supernatural.According to her online profiles, she was a counselor—end of story.
Hardly.Calling herself a counselor was a disguise.The label she’d given him when she inserted herself into the Pereda case.Of course, the victim had used the “p” word frequently during the investigation as they gathered evidence for the prosecutor.
People could slap any kind of label they wanted on themselves, on a website, or a damn T-shirt.And maybe Norris deserved kudos for being smart enough to be discreet.Someone else would have to praise her.Cade only wanted to throttle her.
“You.”He marched toward her, his finger spearing the air as she approached the desk.
She visibly recoiled, but recovered quickly.“Detective Laurier.How nice to see you again.”
“Bull.”
“Is there a problem?”the desk sergeant asked him.
“Not for long.”Cade stepped in front of her when she tried to slip by.“Why are you here?Who are you harassing now?”
“My meeting’s over.I’m leaving.”She tried to dodge him again.
He blocked her, studied her dark eyes.“You’re not any happier to see me than I am to see you.”
“True enough.”Her sharp chin bobbed once.“May I go?”
“Yes.Straight to interrogation,” he said.He caught her elbow hard enough to stop another attempt to escape.A small voice in his head disagreed with his tactics, urging him to let her walk out.He ignored it.
Her eyes locked with his, resolute.“No.”
There was power humming under that one syllable.An air of authority.He felt his grip loosening, his hand suddenly chilled.“What are you doing?”
“Leaving.”
“No.”Cade shook his head and curled his fingers tightly around her arm.“You owe me answers.”She gazed up at him and damned if he didn’t see sympathy in her eyes.“Stop that.”
She shrugged, hard enough to dislodge his grip.“Maybe you’d get your answers if you asked politely?”
He snorted.“Should I set up something through your website?”
She tilted her head, as if the angle would give her insight as she studied him.“That isn’t what you want to do.”The conviction in her voice infuriated him all over again.
But he couldn’t hold on to it.Suddenly, he was too tired to fight.Weary.Exhausted to his soul.As if the hot rush of temper drained away his meager energy reserves.“What are you doing?”
“Talking to you.”This time she reached out, her fingertips a soothing warmth just above his elbow.“Do you have time to walk with me, detective?It’s a gorgeous day outside.”
He hadn’t noticed the weather.He turned to find she was right.Sunlight sparked off the cars in the lot, made the sky bluer.“You’ll answer my questions?”
“To the best of my ability,” she replied, waiting.
He resented her patience as much as her composure.Why wasn’t she rattled?He held all the cards here.All the power.If he wanted to, he could find a reason to dump her in a holding cell.And yet, he found himself walking toward the door.Without his jacket or sunglasses.His badge and gun were clipped to his belt, in clear view.
So much for law enforcement subtlety.
“What are you doing here?”he demanded, squinting against the bright glare as they stepped outside.
“Mr.and Mrs.Archer asked me to join them for a meeting with Detective Hoffman.Their daughter, Charlene—”
“I know the case,” he interrupted.“Hoffman won’t put up with your nonsense.”That voice inside his head warned him to lighten up.This time he made a weak attempt to listen.
“Hoffman is a great detective,” she agreed.“But the Archer case had gone cold.The parents were distraught and frustrated.When they came to me, I did my part to help.”
