She finished her breakfast and went back to her room to brush her teeth, making sure to grab her radio and arm her security camera before heading to the small conference room. She found not just Thor, but Malik and Lev seated around the table, too.
She poured herself a cup of coffee and joined them. “You have more questions?”
It wasn’t Thor who answered but Lev. “We had some people say that you and Patty got into an argument the night she was poisoned. Is that true?”
“What? No. We didn’t argue.” And then it hit her. “I’m a suspect?”
“Everyone who was on station that night is a suspect.” Lev spoke as if she were a stranger, not someone who’d shared a perilous mission with him. “We have witnesses who said the two of you argued.”
She looked to Thor, but he said nothing. His silence cut her. “No, she and I didn’t argue. We had dinner with Lance and Kristi and then I…”
Then she remembered.
“Oh, Lance is such an idiot!” He must be the witness. “After dinner, Patty wanted me to ask Ryan McClain, the firefighter, to grab some popcorn and watch a movie with me. I didn’t want to do it, but she kept pushing. She was always trying to hook me up with someone. We were whispering until finally, I said, ‘No!’ loudly. But it wasn’t a fight. I was irritated, but I wasn’t truly angry with her.”
Lev then asked all the same questions they’d asked her yesterday, pushing her. Where was she when Patty was poisoned? What time did she leave the galley? Did anyone see her enter her room? Did she use methanol in her work?
Then he threw a new one at her.
“Were you jealous of Patty—her relationships with men, her accomplishments?”
Still, Thor remained silent.
“No, not at all.” Samantha swallowed the lump in her throat, got to her feet, lacerated by Thor’s indifference. “Patty and I balanced each other out. She was my best friend. I loved her. I would gladly trade places with her and be the one who died if it meant she could live. I need to get to the lab. If you have any more questions, you can find me there.”
Thor got to his feet. “I’ll escort you over.”
She’d spent the night with him. She’d had the most mind-blowing sex of her life with him. Three hours ago, they’d been naked together in her bed. And yet he’d sat there and said nothing while Lev had interrogated her.
“No, don’t. Work on finding Patty’s killer. If you considermea suspect, you’ve got a long way to go.” She walked out of the room and down the main hallway toward the coatroom, fighting tears.
* * *
Thor hurriedto catch up with Samantha. He told himself he was just making sure she made it safely to the Dark Sector Lab, but he knew that was bullshit. In truth, he wanted to explain, to take away the distress he’d caused her.
This is what you get for taking your dick out of your pants on a mission.
Yeah. Right. Thanks. He knew that.But knowing it changed nothing.
He hadn’t meant for her to get hurt by this. “Samantha!”
She disappeared into the coatroom.
Fuck.
The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.
He followed her inside, found his parka and boots, and began to dress for the cold. Because there were others in the room, he waited until they were outside and away from the building before he spoke.
“I’m sorry about that, Samantha, but we had to ask.”
“Youhadto ask.” She walked with fast, angry strides. “Okay, well, you asked—or, rather, you let Lev ask while you sat there and saidnothing.”
“Segal and Jones know you and I were together. They were waiting at my door when I went downstairs. Because of that, I had to step aside and let Segal handle the questions, or someone might think I wasn’t objective. That’s the pricebothof us pay for last night. I didn’t like it any more than you did.”
She looked over at him, her expression hidden behind her mask. “So, that was just you recusing yourself because of our … involvement?”
“Yes, and it could happen again. I know you didn’t kill Patty.”