Alex suspected that there was some truth to what Travis said, though with a long ago event there’d be a re-writing of history or memory lapse. When she talked to Matt he may have a completely different take on the situation. This law clerk Sharon was as much to blame as Travis and Matt. She dumps one guy for another in the same department? Of course there’s going to be friction. They both should have known better than to date one of their subordinates. It had been difficult enough when she was living with Jim, but at least they’d been in different divisions.
In all the time Alex had known Matt, she’d never seen him as vindictive.
Well, that wasn’t completely true was it? Whenever he talked about Travis Hart, he tensed and sounded thoroughly unforgiving. There was no proof that Hart was corrupt, only some campaign contributions from someone high-up in Russian organized crime. But the money itself came from Rykov’s legitimate businesses. While running for District Attorney, Hart showed poor judgment in taking the contributions from a suspected criminal, but that didn’t mean that he himself was corrupt, did it? If he was corrupt, would he have even reported the money? Wouldn’t he want to distance himself from anything that would hint at impropriety?
Her cell phone rang. It was Matt, again. She didn’t want to talk to him about this now. But ... he might have information about the case file she’d tagged that afternoon.
“Hey,” she answered.
“You didn’t call me back.”
“I only got home a few minutes ago.”
“It’s after ten.”
She bristled at his possessive tone. She wasn’t Matt’s girlfriend. She wasn’t his anything. “I didn’t realize I had a curfew.”
“What happened?”
“He offered me a job. Wants an answer by tomorrow.”
“This isn’t a good idea. You can’t trust him.”
“You keep saying that, but isn’t this exactly what you and Dean Hooper wanted? It’s access to his operation.”
“It’s dangerous.”
She almost laughed. Not because she didn’t agree, but because he seemed to forget that she’d been a cop for twelve years, that she’d worked undercover for months in a far more dangerous situation than being head of security for the Lieutenant Governor.
It was obvious that Matt just wanted information about her dinner, that he didn’t have anything new to tell her. “I’m tired,” she said. She was, though she wouldn’t be able to sleep, not for awhile. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
She hung up before he could argue with her.
She grabbed a second beer and booted up her laptop on the kitchen counter. She typed in the address on River Road into Google Maps. Maybe if she looked at it on the street view it would spark her memory.
A knock on her door interrupted her research. Who the hell was visiting this late? She strode over and looked through the peephole. Jim? She opened the door.
“It’s late. I hope this means you have good news about who tried to assassinate Hart.”
“Can I come in?”
She shrugged and opened the door wider, then closed it behind him. The last thing she wanted was a confrontation with her ex-boyfriend, and considering her irritable mood, she was pretty sure a confrontation was brewing.
She sipped her beer, but didn’t offer anything to Jim. She didn’t want him to think he could stay, or that she wanted a long conversation.
“It’s been a long couple of days,” she said.
“You went on a date with Travis Hart?”
He sounded angry. What was it with possessive men? She was getting downright ticked off with the attitude. First Matt, now Jim. “Who the hell told you that?”
“So it’s true.”
“No, it’s not true. But how do you even know I went to dinner with him?”
“You went to dinner with him. And that’s not a date?”
He wasn’t answering her question, and she wasn’t going to play this game. “First, you and I broke up almost a year ago. I can date whoever I damn well please. Second, it wasn’t a date. He invited me to dinner to thank me for saving his life. Now that you know the truth, you can leave.”
He didn’t budge. In fact, he leaned against the kitchen counter and stared at her. “What’s going on with you, Alex?”
“Nothing! What makes you think something’s going on?”
“You’ve changed.”
“Yeah, I have. I lost my job, I’ve been ostracized by the police department, and I shot my partner in self-defense. After he shot me in the fucking back. In six weeks I’m going to have to testify against him at his trial. Sorry if I haven’t dealt with the trauma to your satisfaction.”
“It’s not that.”
“Isn’t that enough?” She walked over to the corner and tossed her empty beer bottle in the recycling bin. Jim was definitely far too interested in her life. She didn’t need any other complications.
“I told you to stay away from this case,” Jim said.
She whirled around to face him, her mouth dropping open. “Excuse me? I’m not involved in your case. I had dinner with Hart. Hardly news to write home about.”
“He has a target on his back and you’re socializing with him.”
“I can take care of myself, Jim. Why are you really here?”
“I’m worried about you.”