Her scent amplified, making him shift with unease. Her question was too personal. Keeping his nocturnal activities a secret had been difficult, he didn’t like lying, but Mary had given him many tools to help with the process. One of them was to shift the focus back to the person asking the question. “So, why is Casablanca your favorite?”
Lilo sat back in her seat, smiling. “It’s a sad love story, but also about World War Two. These people are stuck in Casablanca while waiting for America to decide if they’re going to step in and fight Hitler, or stay out of it. Reminds me about the state of our own sad world.”
“How’s that?”
“Bogie and Bergman play characters who are desperately in love with each other, but the circumstances of war have torn them apart. I guess I like it because it explores if we can keep lasting connections when the world is falling apart around us. Whether we keep fighting the good fight when it seems like the romance is dead.” She gave him a sad smile. “They don’t get together in the end.”
“The couple?” Griffin looked at her.
She shook her head. “They don’t make it last.”
“That sounds… anti-climatic.”
“I guess, but when he gives up the love of his life, he finds himself. He learns that he had a lot of bad to make up for, and the love was owed to the better man. But he didn’t give up, he tries to find out what makes someone worthy of love. I’m not making sense. I think you need to see the movie to understand.”
For some reason, her words sparked defiance in him. Did someone make her feel she was unworthy of love? Her sad eyes blinked at him. “Never mind. What did you mean, a girl like me?”
“You chew bubblegum. You bring in baked goods. You have posters at your desk with love hearts on them. You wear floral—”
She held up her hand, cutting him off with a dark look. “I get it. You think I’m too much of a weak woman to be a successful criminal investigative journalist.”
He realized his faux pas a minute too late. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Sure it was.”
“No, I meant you seem too nice for a place that sees a lot of bad things.”
“Oh. Well, this is Cardinal City. I’ve seen a lot worse growing up, believe me.”
Griffin thought back to what Fred said about her connection to the thief in prison and her earlier words about not being worthy for love. “Your family?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“With you? Mr. Perfect with not a hair out of place.” She huffed a laugh. “Not particularly. No thank you.”
Perfect?
He ran a hand over his hair and glowered at the road ahead. His silence must have made her uncomfortable, because she quickly changed her tone.
“But if you need me to talk, I will. My mother used to say I can talk the hind legs off a donkey.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I know.”
“I imagine the donkey would be extremely put out by losing his hind legs.”
This earned him a laugh, although he knew not why. He was just stating the obvious.
He should have been happy she conceded, but he wasn’t. He was irritated, and he didn’t know why. This woman was so used to doing what other people wanted. People like Donald the Demanding. The ingrate had spoken to her like she was his lap dog, ready to roll over for him.
“No. It’s fine,” he said. “You can tell me if, or when you want to. Up to you.”
A small sigh of gratitude was her only response.
A few minutes later they parked in the garage attached to the CCPD precinct. Griffin got out and went to open Lilo’s door.
“When we get inside, you should stay close.”
“Why’s that?” She grinned up at him as she collected her bag at her feet.
“We’re at a Cardinal City police station.”
Did he really need to explain further? There would be criminals everywhere. Already the sense of greed tugged at him, testing his resilience. Like little fires lit at night, the beacons of greed shone brightly in his mind, coaxing him to come and find them and put them out of their misery. But none of the greed signatures were deadly. Not yet.
“I may be a weak woman, Griffin—”
“I told you I didn’t mean that.” He adjusted his glasses with frustration.
“—but I can take care of myself. I’m a criminal journalist. I know Krav Maga. I can fight my own battles. I’ll be just fine inside a police station.”
“Which Krav Maga?” he asked, bracing his arm on the doorframe and looking down at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, there are the few moves you learn in a self-defense class that help you resist an assault, or there is the real Krav Maga—developed by Israel forces and is ruthless, vicious and designed to maim and disable your opponent as quickly as possible.”
She gaped. “Um. I take classes at the Y every Thursday.”
So it was the useless kind, he’d bet. Some hackneyed instructor who’d learned techniques from another hackney instructor, none of them ever seeing real combat or having been a smaller person overcome by a much larger one. All it would take would be one misread situation and it could mean the end of her life.
The thought made him queasy.
Lilo stuck out her chin, lifted her skirt and slipped out a long rod from a strap attached to her thigh. “I also have this.”
He blinked. “Is that a cattle prod?”
“Yes, and I’m not afraid to use it.”
“Wow. Okay.” He took a step back.
“Not on you! But I’m a female crime reporter in Cardinal City. I sometimes have to go to undesirable places on my own. It’s for protection. The point is, I’m not as weak as I look, so you can just put that thought right out of your mind.”
Griffin couldn’t stop the growl rising in the back of his throat. The fact that a woman had to walk around Cardinal City with a weapon to protect herself didn’t sit well. She should be able to walk the streets feeling safe. Lilo should feel safe.
“You’re going to get yourself killed,” he said.
“I’d be happy to give you a demonstration if you don’t believe me.” Her saccharine sweet smile held a hint of tease.
“So you can take care of yourself. Then why were you about to let Doppenger take your story?”
She paled and averted her gaze. “You heard that, huh?”
“It didn’t seem like you were fighting your own battle then.”
“We have history.” She packed away her cattle prod.
“What does he have over you?”
“Pardon?”
“For you to yield to him so often.”
Lilo got out of the vehicle and shut the door. “We used to date. That’s all.”
“But… he’s older than you.”
“Oh, don’t look so surprised. He’s not that much older. Just over ten years and, besides, true love knows no boundaries.”
Griffin frowned. Lilo and that greed-monger? Together? And he still tried to worm his way into her life. “So, was it?”
“Was it what?”
“True love.”
When Lilo cocked her head and contemplated Griffin, he knew he’d overstepped.
Why did he say it? It wasn’t like he cared.
“Never mind,” he added quickly. “It’s not my place to ask. Let’s go.”
As they walked to the entrance, he couldn’t help wondering what had happened to a girl like Lilo to make her the woman she was today. What was it about that family connection that showed her the worst of Cardinal City, yet instead of succumbing to the sin, she fought against it?
What was it she said about that movie?
What makes someone worthy of love?
Just before his palm hit the precinct door, she added: “I wouldn’t touch him now with a ten-foot pole. So, no. It wasn’t true love.”
Chapter Seven
To get inside the busy pre
cinct, Lilo dodged a toothless hobo and squeezed past a woman wearing a purple sequin mini dress who stank like alcohol and things she didn’t want to consider. It seemed the police station was the place to be on a Monday morning. Lilo resisted taking hold of Griffin to avoid losing him in the buzzing crowd, especially since she’d made a big deal of being able to protect herself.
The reception desk was behind a wall at the far end of the lobby. Next to a simple red door, the desk was a hole in the wall where two male police officers processed reports behind a metal grate for protection. Between Lilo and that desk were hordes of people. Criminals in handcuffs lined wooden benches against the walls of the lobby, waiting to be processed. People stood before the reception, eager to complain or report a crime.
A body jostled into Lilo and she went careening into Griffin. He threw out a big hand to steady her and looked over her head to the offender—a small, wiry teenage boy wearing gang colors and a bandanna on his head. The teenager must have seen something in Griffin’s eyes because he lifted his hands in surrender and backed away.
Still with his hand on her shoulder, Griffin directed Lilo to the side in a clear space. To the right, a woman in torn fishnet stockings, and to the left, an old man clutching his cane like a lifeline.
Griffin pulled out his phone and made a call. Two-seconds later, he spoke in a gruff tone laced with impatience. “We’re here. Where are you?”
From the look of his jaw ticking and lips flattening, he wasn’t happy with the response, but shortly after put his phone away. “She’s on her way.”
“Oh. Great.” Lilo pulled out her press ID and pinned it to her denim jacket lapel. “So, normally, if I didn’t have a connection like you with ties to one of the detectives, I’d stick this on and—what? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Griffin’s head cocked. “Why are you telling me all this?”
“Because you’re here to assess my process, right?”
Recognition dawned on his features. “Right.”
“Little brother!” A feminine voice boomed across the din of the room, forcing them to break eye contact and search for the source.
Jaws dropped open in the room. Men drooled, women sighed with envy. Standing at the open red door to the back of the station was a tall brunette who looked like she ate men for breakfast. In fact, Lilo had seen her in action in the field two months ago when the white-robed terrorists attacked in the street. Lilo had tried to interview her, but she’d been too busy recovering from punching a crazy man’s lights out.
This intimidating and stunning Amazonian woman must be Griffin’s sister. Same wide lips, same thick lashes. She wore little makeup. No nail polish. Black army grade boots. Her long wavy hair was tied at her nape. A black gun strapped under her arm contrasted nicely against her white punk-rock T-shirt rolled to the shoulders. Impressive arms. Strong, but still feminine. The woman put her hands on her hips, jutting her curves to the side. Even from this angle, Lilo could tell she had a great butt curving under her dark jeans. The kind that powered strong legs, and if left unchecked, would expand relentlessly from excessive sweet cakes. It was obvious the woman kept herself in tip-top physical shape. Probably never seen the inside of a donut. Or outside for that matter.
Maybe Lilo should start bringing in healthy baked goods instead of donuts.
Griffin placed his palm at the small of Lilo’s back and nudged her through the crowd to the woman everyone gawped at. Or maybe they gawped at Griffin. He was taller and just as impressive.
“Liza,” he grunted, in way of greeting.
“That all you got?” Liza grinned and ruffled her brother’s carefully styled hair, making him wince. “You’re such a tight-ass.” Then she turned to Lilo. “Did he tell you that? How much of a tight-ass he is? Never gives up anything. Never takes anything either. So boring.”
A giggle tried to burst free from Lilo. His ass was tight, all right. Sexy. Perfect. She just wasn’t sure she should say that in front of his sister. Instead something stupid came out. “Your ass is pretty tight, too.”
Both Griffin and Liza stared at Lilo until she felt the heat drain from her face. “Um… That is… Nice. Rounded. Firm. It’s supposed to be a compliment.” Oh God she wanted to shrink. “That’s what you mean by tight, right?”
Liza burst into a loud laugh. “Thanks, babe,” she said, wiping the tears from her glistening eyes. “But I’m not into chicks. At the moment, anyway.”
“Oh, neither am I. I just thought you had a nice butt. Um. His butt is great too, if that makes you feel better. Oh, God, I can’t stop.” Lilo slapped her hands over her mouth.
Griffin’s mouth twitched and Lilo almost believed she’d see his first smile, but he held back, brooding expression holding firm.
“She’s got no tap on her mouth apparently,” Griffin explained to Liza.
Her embarrassment doubled, but he was right. To confirm, Lilo nodded, hand still covering her mouth.
“Fucking excellent. I’m the same,” Liza said, appraising Lilo then back to Griffin with a jab on his arm. “I like her. She can stay.”
Lilo expelled a breath of relief and dropped her hands from her mouth. The last thing she needed was to be blocked from speaking with her cousin.
Griffin’s sister ruffled his hair again, and he scowled. “Stop touching me.”
Liza whacked him over the top of his head with her palm. “What do you mean?”
He ducked and avoided another tap. “You know what I mean.”
“Like this?” Liza slapped his stomach with the back of her hand. “Or like this?” She poked him on the chest. “Or like this?” She nabbed his glasses from his face and put them on her own.
The skin around Griffin’s lips went white. His nostrils flared. His eyebrows lowered. Lilo could almost see the red blanket of fury drop behind his eyes.
“Do it one more time,” he ground out. “I dare you.”
Liza laughed, caught Lilo’s eyes, and pointed back at her brother with the glasses she removed from her face. “His Royal Tight-Assiness needs reminders to loosen up, otherwise he’ll never get to use that butt plug I bought him for his birthday.”
Mortification plastered Griffin’s features. “I threw that out the moment I got home.”
“Ah, you’re no fun. He’s no fun. See? Needs reminders.” The tone in Liza’s voice hinted at more than simple sisterly smack talk. Her words almost felt like a message to Lilo. Look after my brother.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Lilo grinned and looked back at a chagrinned Griffin, now smoothing his hair into pristine order. She took a moment to appreciate his face without the spectacles. Some people looked strange without their glasses, but not Griffin. He looked fierce. Majestic beast, fierce. A wildness came over him that took Lilo completely unprepared, and she loved it.
He took the frames back from Liza and put them on.
“Fucking fabulous,” Liza said, clapping her hands. “Let’s go.”
She stepped back and led them through the red door, shutting it and locking it once they were inside.
They went through a stone cold corridor to an open-plan chaotic detective’s area. It wasn’t like Lilo’s office, where people sat quietly at their desks—except for Candy who usually listened to the radio streaming on her computer. The people here were shouting at phones, throwing paper balls at each other, and playing video games on their cells. Lilo couldn’t believe how many of them were sitting there wasting time when a crowd waited in the reception room. Maybe detectives didn’t deal with that sort of thing… or maybe the CCPD had given up.
Liza walked ahead of Lilo and Griffin. Someone wolf-whistled from the bullpen of detectives and Lilo wasn’t sure if it was directed at her or Liza, or both, but Liza kept walking, unflinching. Lilo emulated her. Griffin didn’t. He paused and turned to survey the office, trying to identify the offender. The bottled fury he’d contained at his sister’s friendly ribbing resurfaced. His fists opened and clenched.
A tall detectiv
e with a mustache stood up at his desk a few feet away and gave Griffin a derogatory once-over. “You got something to say, Poindexter?”
Laughter broke out among the detective’s overweight, unfit and saggy eyed friends.
Realizing she wasn’t being followed, Liza pivoted and collected Griffin.
“Not worth it, brother. They’re misogynistic ass-wipes with more blood in their pin-dicks than brains.”
“That’s not what you said last night,” the mustached detective said, to the ribald glee of his buddies.
Griffin bared his teeth, and they flinched.
Liza took a deep breath and put her palm on her brother’s chest. “I got this.”
She calmly walked over to the man seated at his desk. Lilo thought she was going to punch him in the eye, or something—that’s what Lilo wanted to do—but Liza slowly put her hands on the man’s armrest and leaned forward until her lips were next to his ear. She whispered words only they could hear.
The detective’s face went from cocky, to red, to pale and then finally finished the rainbow with a sickly green. When Liza pushed off his chair and sauntered back, the man returned to his computer, not another word said. His friends tried to speak with him, but he brushed them off.
Lilo hurried after Griffin and Liza as they continued along the corridor.
“What did you say?” Lilo asked, catching up.
Liza smirked and then shot a meaningful glance at her brother. “I threatened to reveal who he really lusted after.”
“Griffin?” Lilo gasped. “How did you know?”
“Um.” Liza took a moment to consider. “Maybe I’ve seen him looking at dude-on-dude-porn on his phone when he thought no one was looking, so took a wild guess. C’mon. This way.”
Maybe?
They got to another door and entered through to the holding cells. A wide hallway with three prison cells on each side fronted by a thick door made from grubby plate glass. Liza lifted her chin to the bulky officer standing guard at the entrance and he did the same back.
“These guys want to speak with the perp we brought in this morning.” Liza indicated to the far cell on the right. She slipped a twenty into his pocket. “You need a coffee, don’t you, Bobo?”
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