Cade lost the fight against his grin.
“We’ll give you a call if we have any follow up questions. We’ve still got units out there, searching the woods for the suspect. So far, there’s no sign of her.” The chief’s gaze moved to the window, where cold rain was pelting the panes. The world outside was gray and dreary. “We’ll keep looking,” he murmured. “If she’s out there, we’ll find her.”
I couldn’t help thinking he didn’t sound totally confident that they’d succeed in said search.
Detective Aguilar stood, drawing my gaze. Her expression was stern as ever, but her eyes were warm as they held mine.
“I heard about the Crawford case,” she informed me bluntly. “Most people who’ve been burned like you were by the system wouldn’t want to get involved in something like this. Not again. Had to be hard to trust that we wouldn’t scapegoat you if this shit had ended differently.”
I said nothing.
What could I say?
Ithadbeen hard.
“Frankly, I wouldn’t have blamed you for telling us to go fuck ourselves,” Aguilar continued.
Cade snorted.
“What I mean to say is…thank you,” she finished. “Thank you for working with us to bring that little boy home. Believe me, it will not be forgotten around here. Not by me, not by anyone in this station, not by anyone in this town.”
With that, she filed out of the room, followed by Coulter. The second the door closed behind them, Cade nabbed me around the back of the neck and hauled me into his arms. His voice was warm, but soft.
“She’s right, you know.”
I said nothing. My throat felt thick.
“Proud of you, Imogen.”
Tears prickled at the backs of my eyes.
I didn’t say it.
But I was pretty proud of me, too.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Like my internet connection, I am occasionally unstable.
- Imogen Warner, attempting to connect to wifi
Our second “debrief” of the day was less official, in that it happened in the sleek downtown Gravewatch office instead of an actual police station, and the guest list included Florence and Gwen in addition to the bonafide investigators.
A pretty blonde receptionist named Brianne led Cade and me to the glass-walled meeting room in the back, with a prime view of Salem Harbor. Everyone was already there, waiting for us to arrive. Graham, Welles, Hunter, Holden, Sawyer… and a new man I’d never seen before.
I’d thought the Graves brothers were intense, but this guy…Whew. This guy made Graham, Holden, and Hunter look positively chill. He was tall, dark, and dangerous. Just standing there in the corner of the room, he exuded a magnetic energy that made it difficult to tear my eyes away. Gwen and Florence were both staring at him with blatant appreciation. I had to avert my eyes, afraid if I stared too long in his direction, I might drool.
“Coffee, anyone?” Brianne asked. Her eyes shifted restlessly between the twins and the man in the corner, as though she couldn’t decide who was the most appealing of the three. “Keir? You want anything?”
Keir?
Of course the mega-hot guy had a mega-hot name.
None of the men said a word.
“Tea?” Brianne tried again. “Water?”
“We’re good,” Graham clipped at her from his spot at the head of the table. “Close the door on your way out, would you?”