it just so he’d never have to see her
again.
Keira walked up to them, her quizzical gaze going from Jess to
him. “Hey, Anthony,” she said, her tone friendly as always, but she linked her
arm with Jess’s, a clear sign of whose side she was really on.
He tipped his cup. Message received. “Good to see you,
Keira.”
And he walked away. As he paid for his coffee and a pack of
gum, he felt Jess watching him. Waiting.
He pocketed his change, dropping a couple of coins in the
process. They spun on the dirty floor, but he didn’t bother picking them up,
just shoved open the door and stepped out into the bright sunshine and hurried
to his Jeep. Only when he was inside, the radio blaring, did he take a full
breath, his lungs burning painfully.
He shouldn’t feel guilty. He didn’t owe her anything. Not
friendship or whatever she was looking for. She’d used him. Lied to him. Made
him look like an idiot. She’d caused him nothing but trouble, brought with her
nothing but heartbreak. He was better off without her. Hell, even if none of
that was true, he couldn’t be with her—not without going against everything he’d
been taught his entire life about how a man was supposed to act. Everything that
he knew was right.
So he’d let her go.
But he hadn’t wanted to. Despite everything, despite only being
with her for a few weeks, he still felt a connection with her. Still wanted
her.
And he had to learn to live with that.
* * *
W ALKER STEPPED OUT into the parking lot of the police station and inhaled deeply. The
briny scent of the ocean tickled his nose. Made him realize he couldn’t remember
the last time he’d been out on his sailboat.
He worked too much, he thought, shifting the folders in his
arm, his laptop case in his other hand. If he hadn’t known it as fact, his
mother and sisters were all too happy to remind him. Every chance they got.
The breeze ruffled his hair as he approached his car. Setting
the folders on the roof so he could dig his keys from his front pocket, he
glanced up, saw Officer Evan Campbell, with his round cheeks and earnestness,
standing by a cruiser. He glared at Walker, his thin arms crossed over his
chest. The kid didn’t look old enough to drive, was pathetically easy to read
and was about as intimidating as Paisley, Walker’s six-month-old niece. And yet
the great state of Massachusetts had seen fit to legally entitle him to carry a
firearm.
He was as obvious in his resentment of Walker as the rest of
the town’s police department. Hell, anytime Walker set one foot outside of the
office he’d been assigned at the station, all sound and most movement ceased. It
was actually a pretty cool trick, the way every person in the building went
completely still, as if they weren’t even going to breathe in his presence lest
he somehow contaminate their air.
Suddenly feeling a hell of a lot older than thirty-six and
wearier than he should, Walker took off his sunglasses, rubbed the bridge of his
nose between his thumb and forefinger. He dropped his hand and held Campbell’s
gaze until the kid shifted and looked away. Then after a moment, walked into the
station.
And all was right with the world once again.
“Do you have a minute?”
Walker didn’t jump at the sound of the voice, but it was close.
“Any questions or comments about your suspension can be directed at the mayor,”
Walker told Taylor as he unlocked his car and set his laptop on the
backseat.
“This isn’t about my suspension. It’s about you interviewing
Tori Mott without her attorney being present.”
“It wasn’t a formal interview.”
“It was a fishing expedition.”
It was, but Walker wouldn’t admit it. He gathered the folders,
put them on top of the laptop before facing Taylor. “Mrs. Mott agreed to speak
to me without the presence of legal counsel and was free to go at any time.”
Even if he had indicated otherwise. But she’d left, hadn’t she?
Without him stopping her.
It’d been a
again.
Keira walked up to them, her quizzical gaze going from Jess to
him. “Hey, Anthony,” she said, her tone friendly as always, but she linked her
arm with Jess’s, a clear sign of whose side she was really on.
He tipped his cup. Message received. “Good to see you,
Keira.”
And he walked away. As he paid for his coffee and a pack of
gum, he felt Jess watching him. Waiting.
He pocketed his change, dropping a couple of coins in the
process. They spun on the dirty floor, but he didn’t bother picking them up,
just shoved open the door and stepped out into the bright sunshine and hurried
to his Jeep. Only when he was inside, the radio blaring, did he take a full
breath, his lungs burning painfully.
He shouldn’t feel guilty. He didn’t owe her anything. Not
friendship or whatever she was looking for. She’d used him. Lied to him. Made
him look like an idiot. She’d caused him nothing but trouble, brought with her
nothing but heartbreak. He was better off without her. Hell, even if none of
that was true, he couldn’t be with her—not without going against everything he’d
been taught his entire life about how a man was supposed to act. Everything that
he knew was right.
So he’d let her go.
But he hadn’t wanted to. Despite everything, despite only being
with her for a few weeks, he still felt a connection with her. Still wanted
her.
And he had to learn to live with that.
* * *
W ALKER STEPPED OUT into the parking lot of the police station and inhaled deeply. The
briny scent of the ocean tickled his nose. Made him realize he couldn’t remember
the last time he’d been out on his sailboat.
He worked too much, he thought, shifting the folders in his
arm, his laptop case in his other hand. If he hadn’t known it as fact, his
mother and sisters were all too happy to remind him. Every chance they got.
The breeze ruffled his hair as he approached his car. Setting
the folders on the roof so he could dig his keys from his front pocket, he
glanced up, saw Officer Evan Campbell, with his round cheeks and earnestness,
standing by a cruiser. He glared at Walker, his thin arms crossed over his
chest. The kid didn’t look old enough to drive, was pathetically easy to read
and was about as intimidating as Paisley, Walker’s six-month-old niece. And yet
the great state of Massachusetts had seen fit to legally entitle him to carry a
firearm.
He was as obvious in his resentment of Walker as the rest of
the town’s police department. Hell, anytime Walker set one foot outside of the
office he’d been assigned at the station, all sound and most movement ceased. It
was actually a pretty cool trick, the way every person in the building went
completely still, as if they weren’t even going to breathe in his presence lest
he somehow contaminate their air.
Suddenly feeling a hell of a lot older than thirty-six and
wearier than he should, Walker took off his sunglasses, rubbed the bridge of his
nose between his thumb and forefinger. He dropped his hand and held Campbell’s
gaze until the kid shifted and looked away. Then after a moment, walked into the
station.
And all was right with the world once again.
“Do you have a minute?”
Walker didn’t jump at the sound of the voice, but it was close.
“Any questions or comments about your suspension can be directed at the mayor,”
Walker told Taylor as he unlocked his car and set his laptop on the
backseat.
“This isn’t about my suspension. It’s about you interviewing
Tori Mott without her attorney being present.”
“It wasn’t a formal interview.”
“It was a fishing expedition.”
It was, but Walker wouldn’t admit it. He gathered the folders,
put them on top of the laptop before facing Taylor. “Mrs. Mott agreed to speak
to me without the presence of legal counsel and was free to go at any time.”
Even if he had indicated otherwise. But she’d left, hadn’t she?
Without him stopping her.
It’d been a
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