“And I was doing mine,” Conn said. “You want to blame someone for this situation, blame me.”
“I do,” Chris said. He cut Conn a look that was both assessing and speculative in a way that put Conn on high alert. He’d seen that look before, and it was usually followed up with a shrieking phone call to his lieutenant and Conn getting his ass reamed. In this case, he deserved it. In the space of a week he’d managed to wreck years of trust between Cady and Chris. The relationship might never recover. “But let’s put a pin in that for the moment, shall we? I’m not trying to drive Cady insane. Who is?”
Conn opened his mouth to reply, but shut it again when Natalie knocked on the door, then opened it without waiting for a response. “One Raspberry Absolut, one Macallan, and two waters with lemon, because it tastes better and makes it kinda fancy, for the working folk.” She distributed the drinks. Cady perched on the edge of a chair and swallowed a third of her vodka; Chris knocked back the Macallan in one go. Conn sipped his water and made a mental note to buy some lemons. Finally Cady looked from Chris to Conn. “We can talk about it later, Chris.”
He looked at her, obviously startled. “Okay.”
“After all, you’re on vacation. Conn’s got this.”
Chris held out his hand to Natalie, who took it, slid onto his lap, teased his nearly full glass from his hand, and sipped the Macallans.
Conn looked away, almost uncomfortable with the delight in Chris’s eyes.
“We’re out,” she said, and suited actions to words.
She didn’t look at him as they walked through the nightclub and outside to the car. Conn waited until they were back in the Audi before saying, “I was wrong about that.”
“You were half right,” Cady said. “He was lying about where he was. What now?”
Her voice was cooler, distant, lacking the casual intimacy they’d shared on the way over. A sense of foreboding filled Conn’s chest. The cameras would be the ultimate betrayal now. He’d been hoping and praying it was Chris, because the next alternative up for consideration, without telling Cady he’d put surveillance on the house, was door number two: Kenny.
“I need to go see someone,” he said as he pulled out of Eye Candy’s parking lot. He squinted out the window; the sky had clouded over to the kind of gray that looked dismal but held enough light to need sunglasses.
“Okay,” she said. “Who?”
“I can’t tell you.” At her look, he added, “It’s better for you if you don’t know.”
“Is it dangerous?”
Maybe. He hesitated, and in that silence she got her answer. “You figured out who framed you for that assault. And now you’re going to see him.”
“Yeah,” he said quietly.
A few silent minutes later they pulled into an empty space on the street across from the Eastern Precinct. Conn put the car in park, then he took her phone from her hand and added Dorchester to her contacts. “Get in the driver’s seat. If I’m not out in twenty minutes, you leave and call Dorchester. He’ll make sure you’re safe.”
“We’re at the police station,” she said. “Why not just go … oh. No. No way am I letting you go in there by yourself.”
“Cady, if this is as bad as I think it is, you’re being targeted, too. For me. Please. Get in the driver’s seat and keep the car running. If I don’t come out, you call Matt Dorchester and tell him I’m down and you need help.”
“Not Lieutenant Hawthorn?”
Conn shook his head.
“You don’t know if he’s involved.” It wasn’t a question, and based on the way her brows drew down, he was reordering her entire world.
“I want him not to be involved,” Conn said. But the last nagging puzzle piece had fallen into place. Hawthorn’s dad, the former chief of police and current mayor, had trained Kenny.
How long had this been going on? How deep was the corruption? Did it spread from the gang unit to the chief’s office to the mayor’s office?
Cady pulled his watch cap lower on her head and tucked her braid down the back of her jacket. She hurried in front of the Audi and slid behind the wheel. One arm on the frame, the other on the door, Conn hunkered down on his heels.
“Twenty minutes,” he repeated. “If I’m not out by then, you bolt. If you see someone coming toward you, you put it in gear and head for the back roads. Try to lose him in the alleys.”
“That sounds like a good strategy, except this car stands out like a pink elephant.” Cady flexed her hands on the wheel. “I should have bought a tan Accord. Something that blended in.”
“It’s not safe.” Conn looked at the ground, tried to think of another strategy, and came up empty. “It’s the best I can do for you right now.”
“Go.” She leaned over and kissed him, hard and fierce and possessive, then handed him the folder. “I’ll be here when you get back.”