I’ve been tested, and my future is dependent upon balancing that light and dark tightrope as best I can. Luckily, I have Quinn, who keeps me tightly tethered to his light.
“Where is she, anyway?” Carson asks, looking around the bar. “I have casework stacking up.”
I glance over to the door just as Sadie enters. My heart swells and plummets at the same time. “There’s the woman of the hour.”
True to Sadie, she looks mortified at her assembled team members outside of work. “I thought this was just a small get together.”
Quinn stands to greet her. “Do you see a party?”
I pull her to my side. “I thought a crowded, noisy send off would be better than some lame intimate dinner.” I wink.
Her relief is palpable. “When you put it like that, yes. Thank you.”
I notice Colton taking a seat down the bar beside Carson. “He’s really going with you?”
She nods, a smile hitching the corner of her mouth. “He is. Colton put Onyx in charge of running the club. He’s going to try not being a working boss for a while. We’ll see how long that lasts.”
She also let me know in confidence that this past case put a lot of strain on them. I try not to feel guilty for my part, as I’m sure Sadie is wrestling with her own. It’s behind us, done and done. I hope we can both stop living in the past.
I take a sip of my virgin mudslide. I’ve been off the booze and aphrodisiacs for over a month. I have no desire to put anything mind-altering into my system. It’s not as if I had a problem, but rather the connection to chemicals that my brain wants to avoid.
Quinn tugs me closer to him and presses his lips to my forehead. I once thought Quinn was too manly for public displays of affection. I was wrong. I was wrong about a lot of things.
Like the fact that I never thought Sadie and Quinn would end their partnership.
I wasn’t present for their conversation that determined their split, but Sadie later told me that Quinn can live too much in his head if we let him. Quinn actually asked her to stay in his department, but she said it was time for her to move on. She knows her presence will always remind him of his actions—what lengths he went to.
I assumed it would be me to always remind him, but Sadie assured me it doesn’t work like that for Quinn. I think her exact words were, “He’s a stubborn ass that will never stop seeking answers.”
It’s what makes him such a good detective, but also his inner burden. When he makes his mind up, it’s damn near impossible to change it. Quinn accepts me despite my failings, because he chooses to believe I’m reactive. He sees Sadie as meticulous. For him, there will always be the question of trust with Sadie, and I think he fears a future where his partner may become a suspect.
She loves him enough not to make him battle that dilemma.
I watch them talk, both smiling at each other, and snap a mental picture to remember this moment as the one that matters most.
If my best friend feels it’s best for her to go, I have to trust her insight. She probably knows us better than we know ourselves.
“You’re really moving up to frigid New England to dissect serial killers,” Quinn says to her.
With a smirk, Sadie accepts a beer from the bartender. “I’m not dissecting anyone. That’s Avery’s job. I’ve just been asked to offer my thoughts on a case for a colleague.”
“The renowned Doctor London Noble,” I add, impressed.
Sadie shrugs. “We were in college together. That’s all.”
Quinn nods. “So then you’re still open to consultations on cases. Like if I ever need a stubborn, know-it-all psychoanalyst in the future.”
Sadie’s expression softens. “Always, Quinn. Anytime.”
“Well—” Quinn holds up his beer in toast. “To head shrinking and the future.”
We clink bottles and glasses, and it feels so final, I have to look away, until Carson’s groan forces my attention on him.
“Jesus—” Carson vents a few more curses as he cups his groin. “Really? Fuck.”
Quinn chugs his beer, then sets it down. “We can’t be partners with a dick punch hanging between us.” He claps Carson on his back hard.
Carson takes a long pull from his bottle and then presses it to his crotch. “I need an icepack.”