She narrowed her eyes. “Not exactly.”
Patrick looked at her for a beat, trying—and failing—to look innocent.
Not a denial. Not a confirmation. Something told her she wasn’t going to get either from him tonight.
“Let's go,” she said.
The Pine Ridgemunicipal building housed the county morgue in its basement. Patrick pulled into the side lot and cut the engine but made no move to get out.
“You’re not coming?”
“I'll wait here,” he said.
Morgan looked at him.
“I'm not—” He stopped. Cleared his throat. “Dead bodies aren't really my thing.”
She stared at him. “You're investigating a death.”
“I can investigate a death without being in the same room as it.”
She’d seen other people react similarly, and there was usually a reason for it. “What happened?”
“What makes you think anything happened?”
“Patrick.”
He stared out the window for long moments, then exhaled. “When I was nine, Riley talked me into watching a horror film. The one with the—you know what? It doesn't matter. The point is, some things stay with you.”
Something unexpected shifted in her chest. His reluctant confession was genuinely endearing.
“You investigate murder cases but you're scared of dead bodies,” she said dryly.
“Not scared. More like uncomfortable. I prefer code over corpses.” He met her eyes with complete seriousness. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“No,” she agreed. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
She got out of the car before he could see her smile.
Patrick's contactmet her at the side entrance—a woman in her mid to late twenties, dark-haired, attractive.
Because of course she was.
She introduced herself by first name only and gestured for Morgan to follow. “I can get in a lot of trouble for this,” she said quietly.
“No one will ever know I was here,” Morgan assured her.
“For my sake, I hope not.”
“I appreciate this.”
“I’m not doing it foryou.”
A subtle wave of something—certainly not jealousy—washed over Morgan. She and Patrick were collaborators, nothing more. And if this woman was breaking rules for Patrick, then that was on her. Morgan was here to find answers, not lay some ridiculous claim on a man she barely knew.
“I understand.”
“You’ve got thirty minutes,” the woman said, then shut the door behind her, her footsteps growing fainter as she disappeared down the hallway.