Page 8 of All Wrong
Which brought her thoughts back to Nick—again—and her impulsive trip and subsequent stakeout at the police station.
It was the why of it that she didn’t want to examine too closely, and really, did it matter? Nick had taken the fall for those boys, and it didn’t seem right to let a kindness like that go even if it was none of her business.
Maybe his reasons weren’t altruistic, her logical mind suggested as she ran the vacuum over the carpet.Maybe he had a vested interest in making sure those boys didn’t get caught.
Yet even as she thought that, she knew thatwasn’t the case. Both Nick and his sister had done incredible things for the youth of Pine Ridge.
By noon, everything but the kitchen was clean and tidy, but she wouldn’t attempt that until she completed her meal prep for the week. She sat at her breakfast bar island and made a list of meals, then checked her supplies and made another list of the items she’d need. After a quick change into a more publicly appropriate outfit, she locked up her apartment and headed to the supermarket.
The Check Engine light came on as soon as she started the vehicle, bringing Nick to mindagain. She made a mental note to call the garage and make an appointment tomorrow. With luck, they’d be able to squeeze her in during the week.
Fate had other plans, however. Halfway home from the store, the SUV shut down without warning. She managed to coast the vehicle off to the side of the road. Several attempts to restart the car were unsuccessful.
She sighed and pulled out the sheet Nick had stuffed into the cupholder, feeling a frisson of anticipation. Sure, her car conking out was a hassle, but the prospect of seeing Nick again tempered her irritation. It was all about finding the silver lining.
She dialed the number, thinking of what shewould say.Looks like you were right, seemed like a good opening. Light, slightly humorous, and self-deprecating.
The phone ring once, twice, three times before a somewhat-breathlessfemalevoice answered, “Yes?”
Corinne’s mind blanked for a moment. “I’m sorry. I must have the wrong number.”
She was about to hang up when the woman said, “Are you looking for Nick?”
“Uh, yes, I am.”
“You’ve got the right number. He’s in the shower. You wanna leave a message?”
“No, that’s all right.”
A soft, feminine laugh. “Suit yourself.” Then, the call disconnected.
Corinne pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it, the sudden wave of disappointment unexpected and surprisingly cutting. But she had no reason to feel that way, she told herself.
Taking another deep breath, she looked up the number for Callaghan Auto, then tapped the Call icon. At least she didn’t have to worry about any potential awkwardness since Nick was obviously not at the garage.
CHAPTER FOUR
NICK
Nick came awake slowly, rising from the depths of sleep back into the world of the living. He reached for his phone to check the time, but it wasn’t on the nightstand. He vaguely remembered dropping it on the kitchen counter when he’d raided the fridge the night before.
He yawned and squinted against the bright sunshine streaming into his room. It had to be midmorning, which meant he’d managed at least a few hours of shut-eye. He’d had a hard time falling asleep after returning to his apartment, thanks to Corinne McCain and her inexplicable benevolence.
Finding her waiting outside the police station had been a puzzler for sure. If it had been Nicki who witnessed Torres flexing his badge, that would have made sense. She would’ve known the situation wasn’t what it appeared to be.
But Corinne? She didn’t know him. Not really. They could barely be considered acquaintances. Occasionally, they occupied the same general space at the same time. Family shit that they were both dragged into. Volunteer time at The Zone.
Over the years, he’d watched quietly from the sidelines as she grew from the sassy, bratty, semi-rebellious college student into a kind, compassionate woman who eschewed the spotlight almost as much as he did. Last night had been the most they’d spoken to each other in, well, forever.
For her to just show up out of the blue like that? It didn’t make sense. Logically, he knew people did nice things for one another, but why would she care? No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t see how her helping him benefited her at all.
Regardless of her intentions, he didn’t want her involved in any of this. Corinne McCain and her good deeds needed to stay on her side of the tracks.
He shook off thoughts of big blue eyes and scents of sunshine and kind gestures and forced histhoughts back to what he should be focusing on. There was a new player in town, selling drugs to kids. That was his priority.
Nick dragged his ass out of bed and hit the shower. If his hunch was correct, someone was trying to fill a void in the local illegal pharmaceutical market—a void that he, Nicki, and a select group of others had created. Whoever it was, was targeting the easiest market first—rebellious, thrill-seeking, hormonally imbalanced teens.
Thankfully, he had a good rapport with a lot of them through The Zone, which was why AJ and Jackie had sought him out at the fair. They had known he wouldn’t be okay with this shit.
