Closing the video, I turn toward Quinn. “If we do this, it’s my way. You want me to get inside his head and draw him out…fine. But don’t question my methods. You or the Feds can’t interfere.”
“That won’t be a problem.” As Quinn parks, his hands stay gripped around the steering wheel, his gaze staring through the windshield. “Would this be happening if I’d listened to you two years ago about Connelly?”
A wave of guilt crashes over me. “We’re all culpable, Quinn. I could’ve tried harder, presented more evidence…and you could’ve been a little less stubborn and pig-headed.”
He lets a laugh slip. “Pig? Really? Going right for the cop jokes.”
I shrug. “Even if we’d caught Connelly back then, there’s no certainty that he would’ve given up his apprentice.”
He looks at me then. “But there was a chance.”
I hold his gaze. “There’s still a chance.”
His mouth parts, but then he presses his lips into a hard line. He tries to voice his thoughts again as he averts his gaze from mine. “About Connelly…”
I grab the door handle. “Do you really want to go there now? There’s no going back once we cross that line, Quinn. And we still have a lot to do before then.”
He nods solemnly. “You’re right,” he says, meeting my eyes. “And even then, I’m not sure I want t
o know.”
That truth resonates in the small span of space between us, thickening the air into a solid barrier.
I pull the handle and get out.
10
Preparation
Colton
The green dot on my phone propels me on, my feet devouring the distance between me and Sadie. I head down a hallway of the ACPD building, taking a right up a flight of stairs to the third level.
“I broke protocol by not reporting Julian’s murder to Quinn right away,” Carson says from behind. “Don’t think he’s going to tolerate paranoia as an acceptable explanation.”
“The UNSUB is able to hack into your department and send videos to your phones,” I say, not slowing my pace. “It’s not paranoia. It’s taking the offensive.”
“Still means an ass of paperwork for me.”
My destination blinks on the screen, and I stand paused at the door, my hand gripping the doorknob. “After the grief you gave my brother, I hardly think a little paperwork is punishment enough.”
I turn the knob and step into the room. When my eyes find Sadie, the tension that’s been gathering inside me since I first saw that video dissolves. My shoulders loosen a little more with each step closer to her.
Her gaze lifts from the table where her, Quinn, and a few other people stand around. She must see the anxiety still clinging to me because she doesn’t say anything, just leaves the table to meet me in the middle of the room.
“What’s wrong? Oh, my God. What happened to your face?” She touches the tender bruise along my jaw.
Pulling away from her touch is the last thing I want to do, but I’m eager to get her away from the others. “Let’s leave here. Just for a little while.”
Her eyebrows draw together. The urge to run my thumb down the crease thrums through me, wanting to smooth away all the worry from her face.
At her nod, I grasp her hand and lead her into the hallway, where I can’t suppress my need any longer. I pull her into my arms. Bury my face in her hair. “I got in to it with Carson.”
She releases a small laugh. “Well, from the looks of his face, you got the better of him.”
My insides swell at hearing the relief in her voice, but it vanishes just as quickly. “Julian’s dead,” I say.
Her slight frame tenses in my arms, and I hold her tighter. “Colton…are you all right?”