Page 174 of A Dirty Business
He snorted, mirroring me and leaning back too. “Not yet. The only reason you’re allowed to come back to work is because you didn’t warn your boyfriend. That was a test. Now. Wherethe fuckis my brother?”
“The 411 Network has them.”
His eyes widened, and he went still.
“Kelly reached out to me, said they were scared for their lives. She did not go into detail, and I didn’t ask, but considering she came to me, I’m thinking they weren’t running for their lives from Trace’s family.”
“You’re lying,” he said through gritted teeth.
“I’m not. And you know as well as I do that when the 411 Network gets involved, those people are smoke. Your brother and my best friend are gone.”
Worthing sucked in a breath, making a hissing sound.
“They’re alive, but they’re gone.”
His gaze was heated, but he didn’t move for a moment. Then, slowly, he raised his head up, almost looking down his nose at me, but he was conflicted. That made me feel a bit better about Detective Worthing.
He didn’t say another word, but he stared long and hard. “You know. Bear didn’t know you were staying at your mother’s. Ever think about that?”
I went still. Stock still.
No.
What Worthing was implying—no.
I shook my head, the words spilling out because he was wrong. He was guessing and making a go at me. It wasn’t working. It wouldn’t work. “You’re lying. What you just said. You’re lying.”
His eyes flashed. “You sure about that?”
Leo was sent to kill me. Bear was ... he was wrong. “We got into his phone. Leo was at his bar earlier, and he overheard Leo’s conversation. He was there to stop him. That’s why he was fully masked, because he was trying to get the drop on Leo. And he thought I was back in Manhattan. That’s why he didn’t notify me. He didn’t have enough time. It’s all on his phone, in case something happened to him.”
Worthing blinked once. “Right. Whatever helpsyousleep at night, Montell, but you know he would’ve had time to send you a text. Or dial 911. You know he had time.”
What a dick. How dare he say this to me about Bear, in his bar.
But—no. Bear was good, and I’d killed him, and I’d have to carry that cross from here on out. I growled, “Get the fuck away from me.”
After sliding out of the booth, he stood at the end of the table. He wasstillstudying me.
Val was coming back, about to slide in where he had vacated. She paused in midsquat, taking in the silent perusal between us until she moved in. Reyo was behind her, coming in with a beer for himself and a beer for me. He slid in, also taking in the stare-off before he slowly placed the drinks on the table.
He cleared his throat. “What’s going on, guys?”
Worthing’s eyes narrowed to slits, right before he turned, and I watched him make his way right back outside Bear’s Pub.
“Do we need to know?” That was Val’s quiet question.
I was still watching the door. “You don’t want to know.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Her seriousness filtered through to me, and I turned to see her watching me back, just as serious.
“I’ll ask it again. Do weneedto know what that was about?”
I’d not made my decision if I was coming back to work. Val knew. She knew everything at this point, but there was something nagging me. A little voice whispering in the back of my head, but I couldn’t make out what it was. The feeling of something coming, something more happening, was in my stomach, and it was growing along with those whispers.
Maybe it was because of that feeling that I hadn’t said when I was coming back or if I wasn’t.
