COSMO
Knightwalkedintothe kitchen, a sour expression on his face as he glanced from Hunter to me, but I dismissed him. All I wanted was for Hunter to look at me the way he used to. Since last night, he had been avoiding me. I’d thought he would want to talk about what he’d seen, but he hadn’t said a word. After we’d scouted the area to make sure no one else was around, he’d taken the gun and sent me to bed while he took up vigil. At four, I’d suggested taking a watch so he could sleep, and he hadn’t even argued with me. He had just gone to the bedroom, giving me a wide berth.
My heart hadn’t stopped hurting all night. If only he would talk to me, let me explain, but he’d barely woken up when Knight and his entourage had appeared. Hunter hadn’t even told me they would come to deal with the bodies before the local cops found out what had happened. I was completely unprepared to face Knight so soon again.
“Everything okay?” Knight directed his question at Hunter, and I understood perfectly fine why Hunter hadn’t mourned the loss of Agent Ellis. If Knight tripped and fell on his own gun, killing him, I wouldn’t shed a tear. He didn’t hide his interest in Hunter, and when he walked over and placed a hand on Hunter’s shoulder, I wanted the next bullet from my gun to go through his skull.
Would Hunter turn to him now that he knew I’d kept things from him?
“Yeah. Just a little out of it, I guess,” Hunter said. “Didn’t get much sleep before you arrived.”
“Why don’t you take a nap? I’m sure Cosmo and I will be fine going through what happened last night.”
“I’m good,” Hunter said. “Besides, he didn’t see everything, since he was hiding in the closet.”
“The whole time?” Knight frowned.
Hunter’s gaze shifted to me, and our eyes held. My heart skipped a beat, and I held my breath. Would he admit to Knight what I’d done?
“Yeah, the whole time,” Hunter replied.
“So you had to handle all three perps by yourself?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you have any backbone at all?” Knight stalked over to me and wagged his finger in my face. “We have good men putting their lives on the line to save your hide, and you just leave them to die without even helping to fight.”
“Knight, leave him alone. He’s the… victim here. We’re the professionals.”
Knight pushed off the table. “I’ve held off the local sheriff for as long as I can. He’ll want to question you about what happened. I already explained this is our case, since it’s linked to the crimes in Cross Keys, but he wants to speak to you himself. Instead of creating a stinker between the two agencies, I’ve decided to step aside for a few minutes and let him check out your story. Once everyone’s satisfied, we’ll hit the road and find you a new safe house.”
“We don’t need a safe house,” Hunter said. “We’re going back to my place.”
“That’s not safe. Agent Ellis died on your doorstep. The best thing to do is to place him in WITSEC. That way, you don’t have to put yourself between him and a bullet, Neely. Think about it.”
A man I assumed was the sheriff came into the kitchen. He was a tall, wiry man, bald on top and red hair threaded through with silver at the sides.
“This is Sheriff Campbell,” Knight introduced. “Detective Hunter Neely, who works with the Cross Keys police department, and our star witness for multiple cases we’re working on, Cosmo.”
The man shook Hunter’s hand first, then acknowledged me. I shyly offered my hand, and his eyebrows rose as if in surprise.
“What case is this you’re working on again?” Campbell asked, still holding my hand while he directed his question at Knight.
Hunter frowned, his attention focused on our joined hands. Since Hunter’s cold treatment, I’d felt dead inside, but the tick in his jaw sparked a tremor through me. He wasn’t indifferent to me after all. Was it possible that everything could still work out between us? If only everyone would leave so we could have that talk of why I’d acted like I’d never held a gun before when I had no problem shooting a man in the head in the dark.
“It’s a strictly confidential case at the moment,” Knight said. “But I’m sure you’ll hear about it as it is a high-profile one.”
I tugged, and the man released my hand, giving me an apologetic smile. I placed my hands in my lap.
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with the serial killer the FBI found who’d killed himself, is it?”
“Smart guess,” Knight said. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to get these two to another location, since this one has been compromised.”
After a few seconds, the sheriff nodded. “Knock yourself out. You’ve saved me a lot of paperwork by taking on this case. I wish you luck with whatever this is.”
The man walked out, and Knight let out a sigh. “You two should pack. You’ll have to ride back with me. Hunter, your SUV has one of the shooters’ blood on it, and we need to take it into evidence. Get ready to leave in half an hour.”
I jumped to my feet and rushed out the door.