Supernaturally Kissed (Frostbite 1)

Max sighed. “There’s no way for you to know these things. I suppose we have to believe you.”

Zach winked. “Told ya we’d get them to believe.”

“Kipp,” Eddie called out. “I miss ya, bud.” His young face looked aged with sadness and the dark circles under his eyes spoke truth behind his words.

I glimpsed at Kipp, who smiled. “Tell Eddie I’m doing all right.”

“He misses you too,” I replied.

Kipp arched an eyebrow. “I never said that.”

I smirked at him. Just because he appeared a tough, show-no-emotion type of guy didn’t mean I had to comply with him. Eddie looked devastated over the loss of Kipp, so my words would console him more. Kipp would just have to deal with my little word changes.

For the first time since the whole crappy adventure began, I had more control and strength filled me. “So, I can leave now, right? I’m exhausted and I’ve already called in sick today. My boss will kill me if I’m not in tomorrow.”

“No,” Max replied.

“No?” I repeated, a bit lost and more than a little puzzled by his refusal. “No what? No, I can’t leave or no, I’m not exhausted?”

“No, you can’t work. Give me the name of the company you work for and I’ll inform them you’ll need an extended leave of absence.”

“Excuse me?” He might have the authority to boss people around here at the police station, but that didn’t include me.

“The only way to talk to Kipp is through you, and since he seemed to be onto something, then you’ll have to stay with us.”

He dismissed me as if I had said nothing at all. The choice apparently hadn’t been mine to make. As if that would stop me from trying to find a way out. “But I’m not qualified for a job here.”

“You are now. I’ll do up the paperwork. You can come on board as a specialist in…” he paused. “Well, I haven’t quite figured out the details yet, but I’ll come up with something.” He stared at me sternly. I mumbled out Randall Marketing, and then he sent his no-bullshit stare Zach’s way. “Tell me what you know about the Hannah Reid case?”

Another incredibly long, boring hour later, I rested my elbow upon the table with my hand up against my cheek—even a daydream couldn’t have saved me. Zach, Kipp and I went through all their findings, right down to minute details since day one of their investigation on the Reid case.

As the conversation ended, the disbelief in Max’s expression deepened. “Unbelievable—fucking unbelievable.”

“Believe it,” Zach replied. “One of our own shot Kipp.”

Eddie slammed his chair back and paced the room. “Dirty motherfucking cop.”

Max’s bothered expression shifted to one of confusion. He glanced at the chair, which I revealed had been Kipp’s location. “How are you sure the attack on you is connected to the case?”

“Tell him what we know,” Kipp said to me.

I didn’t need him to clarify further. “Percy Mills.”

Max’s brow furrowed. “Percy Mills?”

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Here we went again with the ridiculous repeats, which had become my new best friend. “Yes, Percy Mills—he’s the killer and also an alias.”

“So Kipp had discovered a suspect?” Max asked with interest.

“Exactly,” I replied, not needing Kipp to answer. I’d grown tired of repeating myself—over and over again. I didn’t need his words to relay the information. “And he got shot to keep him quiet.”

Kipp sighed. “I never said that either.”

“Yes, I know,” I told him with a sigh of my own, “but I knew the answer, so why wait? Repeating myself all the time is like being that annoying kid who always mocks what you say. It’s not fun.”

Either he enjoyed that I took control or liked my snappy response, because a heated smile grazed his lips.