He gave them time to argue or offer an alternative. When neither did, he put on his overcoat and gloves and scooped the keys to his rental car off the dresser. “Back soon.”
He pulled the door closed behind himself, but even the momentary blast of cold air didn’t dissipate the tension in the room. Neither she nor Hayes spoke. He walked over to the bed, pulled the bedspread up over the mussed sheets, then sat down approximately where Connell had been. Only then did he look at her.
“How did you get in here so fast?”
His head went back a notch. “Of all the burning questions you must have, that’s the one you asked?”
Without even trying to mitigate her anger, she said, “I’m pacing myself.”
“I drove around to the other side of the building, ran like hell, and came through the bathroom window.”
“Why not just accompany me to the door? He would have been just as surprised.”
“I had to make sure of you.”
“Of me?”
“I had to be certain that you would do what was right and uphold the law.”
She gave a harsh laugh. “Do you realize how ludicrous that statement sounds coming from you?”
“It’s my choice to bend the law when expedient. But I didn’t want to be responsible for your breaking it.”
“You made me into a burglar.”
“That was an exception. Even you drew the distinction between the episode with the Floyds and lying to a federal agent in order to let a fugitive escape justice.”
“So everything you said this morning was to see in what direction my moral compass was aimed?”
“Something like that.”
“Well, I’m happy I passed.”
“I know you mean that sarcastically, Doc, but I’m happy you passed, too.”
“You put me through hell for nothing.”
“Not exactly for nothing, but I’m sorry I had to be so hard on you.”
“Not hard, horrid.”
“I had to push your buttons, or the ruse wouldn’t have worked.”
“I could happily kill you right now.”
“I have that effect on people.”
He’d met her charges with calm acceptance, which only made her angrier. “You never planned to drop me off and hightail it?”
“Do you think I’d trust your safety, your life, to Knight, Grange, or even to Jack? Hell. No.”
“You must trust Connell to some extent or you wouldn’t be here. Weren’t you afraid he would arrest you on sight?”
“Arrest me? His pursuit is personal, not official. In his book, my only crime was bailing.”
“What?”
“I vanished. Disappeared.”