Page 55 of No Small Sin

Detective Carson was obviously a bit of a dirty cop.

Motherfucker.

Prying at LC, offering money to one of our employees in exchange for information on things happening after hours here… I didn’t know what he thought he’d get out of sticking his nose in Mattia’s business, but I already knew I would have had to kill him for that alone.

The fact that he was involved with TK in the way that he was only placed him higher on my list of priorities.

“Pause it, I don’t need to hear anymore,” I told him. “I’ll take care of both.”

Ijah nodded once, closing the screen and pulling his phone out again. “I know you’ll enjoy every minute of it.”

Damn right, I would.

I was lost in my thoughts contemplating all the satisfying ways I would get this particular job done for Ijah — for TK — when he ended his last call.

“Hunt said not to worry about Mattia. He’s out of town until this weekend, so she’s just hanging out up there alone. She said she’d love the company and she’d deal with filling him in when he calls to check in later tonight.”

“And TK?” I asked.

“I asked her to come in early for her shift. I didn’t want to give too many details over the phone. It’s best to just tell her in person.”

I liked that I would be able to be present. She was so unpredictable, who knew how she’d react to this?

Whatever she felt, I wanted to be there to reassure her that I would take care of her.

Always.

Whatever it took.

I knew what the end game was for Detective Carson, but I was certain that it was already too late to stop him from matching the DNA samples.

Regardless, his breaths were numbered.

And then I would figure out the rest.

CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO

TK

The drive upstate was exhausting.

Not that it was much of a drive. Maybe, two hours at most? I was just drained… mentally and physically.

I pressed into Beck, lying my head on his shoulder in the back seat of Ijah’s SUV as the winding Adirondack Mountains came into view. They were breathtaking.

Too bad I wouldn’t be able to fucking enjoy them.

“Are you sure I’ll be okay out here? It’s really not that far away.” To say that I was freaking out would have been a major understatement, but I was doing my best to keep my shit together. I didn’t want Beck to think I didn’t trust him.

I did.

It was just that our current situation seemed pretty impossible for anyone to find a way out of.

“The cabin is totally secluded and secure. There’s no place safer for you to disappear to. At least not this close to me, and I’m not willing to take you far.” He ran his chin and cheek over the top of my head. “There are very few people who even know this place is out here, and none of them have any interest in being on the right side of the law.”

I sighed, still not totally sure.

Ijah’s eyes found us in the rearview mirror. “You’ll be fine here. You can relax for at least a few days while we figure everything else out. Mattia spares no expense when it comes to the safety of his wife.” He sounded bitter about that. “He’s kept her locked away like fucking Rapunzel over the last few weeks. Totally paranoid.”

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