Girl, Forgotten (Andrea Oliver 2)

Bible’s hand rested on the butt of his gun. “You expecting company?”

Andrea’s hand had gone to her weapon, too. “No.”

“Probably the goddamn maid.” Still, Compton slipped back into boss mode, silently checking with Bible before swinging open the door.

Andrea wanted to scream when she saw who was standing outside.

“Hey, baby!” Mike flashed his big, stupid grin. “Surprise!”

Andrea waited until she and Mike had walked around to the backside of the motel before she threw her hands into the air. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Whoa,” he said, like he was soothing a wild horse. “How about we—”

“Don’t you dare try to de-escalate me. You’re not my fucking boyfriend. And you’re sure as hell not my fiancé.”

“Fiancé?” Mike laughed. “Who told you that?”

“Bible, Compton, Harri, Krump—” She threw her hands into the air again. “What the fuck, Mike?”

He was still laughing. “Ah, honey, they’re just messing with you. I never said we were engaged. Did they bring up the rumors? Because those are true.”

“Stop laughing, dammit.” Andrea realized that she had stamped her foot just like her mother did. “This isn’t funny. I’m not kidding around.”

“Look—”

“Don’t look me, asshole. What the hell are you doing here? This stalking shit with all the texts and just showing up at my door—in front of my boss—is not okay. I have a job to do.”

“All right. That’s a lot to unload.” His voice had gone soft. He was doing the fucking thermometer. “Do you remember that I have a job to do, too? I’m an inspector in Witness Security, which means that the entire purpose of my being is to assess and prevent threats against my witnesses.”

“I know the job description, Mike. I just spent four months of my life learning all about it.”

“Then answer your own goddamn questions.” Mike’s thermometer broke. “Why did I text you? To get your fucking attention. Why did I tell everybody we’re together? So they would keep a fucking eye on you. Why did I end up knocking on your door? I’ve got a volatile witness whose ex is a psychopath and now her daughter is in his hometown kicking every hornets’ nest she can find.”

Andrea pressed together her lips.

“What’s the threat assessment here, Deputy? You’ve got four months of school under your belt. Tell me, is my witness safe?”

“Of course she is.” Andrea didn’t remind him that Laura had never needed his help before. “She’s fine. She thinks I’m in Oregon.”

“Oh, that makes it all better,” Mike said. “Here I was all worried that some local jackass would call up Clayton Morrow and tell him you’re in town asking questions, but that’s cool. Laura thinks you’re in Oregon, so it’s all fine.”

“He’s an inmate in a federal prison,” Andrea reminded him. “You’re supposed to be monitoring his correspondences.”

“I hate to break this to you, baby, but cons get their hands on cell phones all the time. They spoof the caller ID and reach out to witnesses and drug dealers and, sometimes, they put out hits on people they want to shut up.” He repeated the question. “Is my witness safe?”

Andrea’s flash of anger had melted into a burning anxiety. Her father could be a very dangerous man. “Why didn’t you say all this two days ago? You set up the meeting with Jasper. What did you expect?”

“Not this shitshow,” Mike countered. “Jasper told me he was going to put you in Baltimore so you’d be close to the action in DC. Compton’s a rock star. Bible is a legend. I didn’t find out you were in Longbill until Mitt Harri hit me up on Slack at ten this morning.”

Andrea didn’t ask why Mitt Harri was talking to Mike about her. They were like a bunch of high school girls. “You thought Jasper was trying to help me?”

“Why wouldn’t I? He’s your uncle.”

Her uncle was a duplicitous cocksucker, but Mike had a weird blindness when it came to family. She asked him, “What do you want me to do? You clearly came here with an agenda.”

“Transfer the hell out of here. Go out west like you wanted. Compton won’t ask questions. She knows I’m in WitSec. It won’t take her long to put together the pieces.”

“Are you kidding me?” Andrea was incredulous. “You’re literally telling me to run away.”