Jake couldn’t believe how reasonable she was being. He stayed wary but couldn’t stop from trying to make her see. “Why not? Do something safer. You’ve already been through a lot. No one would think less of you.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Why not?” she said, her voice rising. “Do you even hear yourself? I’m a cop, Jake. Same as you. Would you trade it to be a goddamn meter maid or a desk jockey pouring someone’s coffee?”
He scraped a hand through his hair. “Dammit, I can’t help what I feel, Sin. I worry about you—all the goddamn time. I thought it would be better when Danny was your partner, but then I didn’t know what was happening with you, what you might walk into.”
“Like those two gunmen,” she bit out.
“Yeah. Baby, I know I sound…wrong, but I care.”
“Then why the fuck did you break up with me?” she rasped.
He looked away, knowing this would be the last nail in his coffin, then locked his gaze with hers. “I guess I wanted you to choose me over your job.”
Sin stared for a long moment. Her expression said it all—her tight lips and glittering, angry eyes. “Then I guess I’m choosing the job. I won’t quit to make you feel better.”
“No one else wants to ride with you.”
“Then I’m your problem, Officer Chappa. Looks like you’re stuck with me.”
Sin entered the stationhouse the next day, already pissed off. She hadn’t had more than cat nap after Jake stomped from her apartment. She’d taken another slow, hot shower to ease the new set of aches, tossed the dildo in the trash can, and settled down for bed—only to stare at the ceiling and remember everything she’d let him do to her.
She’d gotten so hot, she’d thought about retrieving the vibrator and proving she didn’t need the man, but that had only made her angrier. With herself and her meathead partner.
Fact was, she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t let him climb right into bed with her again despite the fact he was a selfish prick. She was addicted to the man—like a nasty drug habit she just couldn’t kick. She knew he was all wrong for her, that every time they came together they hurt each other, but she couldn’t stay away.
For now, she didn’t care how much her being close bothered him. She hoped his “worry” over her distracting him ate a hole in his gut. She’d buy him a bottle of Tums.
Sounded like his problem, anyway. She’d handled herself just fine yesterday. Even if her suspect had ended up in the morgue. And even after she’d…seen things.
Thank God, Jake didn’t know about that, too. She wouldn’t put it past him to tell Kalisek—for her own good, of course.
She arrived early at the substation on purpose, stopping at a desk to make a call to find out what the detectives assigned the investigation had learned from the guy Jake took down.
She was transferred to Detective Alberto Ruiz. “Pretty straight stuff,” he’d told her. “He wanted the cash in the drawer.”
“Why the coin shop?”
“Why not?” he asked, sounding impatient to get off the phone.
“Anything on the guy who died?”
“Claims they just met yesterday. Didn’t even know his name. Said the dead guy provided the guns, told him he could have the cash. The only thing he wanted was some old trinket the store owner had under the counter.”
r /> “A trinket?”
“Detective Petrakis is running it down now at the morgue. Anything else I can help you with, Officer?”
Sin guessed she’d worn out his “polite”. “Guess not,” she muttered.
She hung up, feeling like she hadn’t asked the right questions. A man was dead, and she didn’t really know why.
After roll call, which she’d spent studiously ignoring the brawny, grumpy man behind her, she headed to her vehicle, finding Jake leaning against the driver door again, no doubt guarding it in case she got a wild itch to try to take the wheel.
She didn’t say a word. Gave him a hot glare to tell him they still weren’t talking, which was spoiled because he wore dark sunglasses and she couldn’t read his expression. She’d have liked knowing she irritated him just the slightest bit.
He gave a deep sigh, straightened away from the car, then slid inside as she did.
The afternoon was quiet. Both of them stubbornly avoided talking about anything other than the few routine stops they had to make. When they passed near the street where the coin shop sat, she straightened and shot Jake a glance. “Do you mind stopping there?”