Don't Look Back

by Christie Craig

  Connor’s hold on the phone tightened. “Nothing. Why?”

  “Yesterday there was enough sexual tension between you two to blow up Fort Knox. Today you couldn’t stop looking at her and she wouldn’t look at you. And I was worried you were about to shoot Billy when he mentioned being hot for her.”

  “I wouldn’t shoot Billy.” Punch him maybe. “I’ll let you know if I see Davis.” Connor hung up and called Brie to give her the heads-up about Davis. Of course, she didn’t pick up.

  “Brie,” he said at the beep. “I just found out the guy who broke into your apartment has a warrant out for rape. Be careful. And…you can’t just ignore me. We have to talk.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Yes I can. And no we don’t,” Brie muttered, listening to Connor’s message. She pocketed her phone and looked back at Carlos. “Sorry.”

  When she got to the hospital, Eliot had just gone to the hotel to sleep. Sam sat guard, and she’d sent Tory out for a walk after he’d broken down when the doctor came by and said there was no change in Carlos’s condition.

  So when visiting hours opened, she was alone with Carlos. She moved closer and touched the back of his hand. “That was Connor Pierce. He’s a real jerk.” She filled her cheeks with air then blew it out.

  “I slept with him. Yeah, I know. Stupid, right? I guess I’ve been lonely. But he seemed…genuine. We talked. You know when you feel that connection…like it might be the start of something? But he turned out to be…what was it you used to call the guys who were still orgasming as they were picking up their clothes to leave? An in-and-outer, up-and-downer, or was it a hit-and-goner? I think those three were different, but I can’t remember.”

  Before Carlos met Tory, she and her partner would compare dating nightmares. Wine and whine nights.

  She exhaled. “But enough about me. When are you waking up, buddy? I need my best friend.” She ran her thumb over the top of his wrist.

  “Who did you go see in Willowcreek? Was it about the Sala case? I could really use some help figuring this out.”

  “He went to see someone in Willowcreek?” The question came from the door and sent Brie spinning around to face Agent Miles.

  Why hadn’t she shut the door? “What are you doing here?”

  “The same as you. I want to catch the person who did this.” She could swear she heard a touch of honesty in his words, but she also heard frustration.

  Sam, shoulders back in a defensive posture, appeared behind him. “This okay?”

  She looked at Agent Miles. Was he stupid enough to try something with her in the room? Her gut said no. Her gut also said this might be a chance to ask him questions.

  “Yeah.”

  Sam backed out. Miles glanced at her. “You really think I could’ve done this?”

  She stiffened her spine. “If it helps, I don’t want to believe it.”

  “I worked with him like you did. I wanted to get to the bottom of the Sala case just as bad as you and Carlos.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “But Carlos found something that convinced him someone from our own agency was involved. And until I know…”

  “You won’t trust anyone.”

  “Sorry.”

  “No, you’re not,” he snapped. “And while it pisses me off, I get it. But I’m not behind this.”

  “Did you know Carlos was looking into the case?”

  “I knew something was off. He’d been acting strange. He stopped meeting me to play ball.”

  “Do you think he suspected you?” she asked.

  “He treated Bara the same way.” His gaze went to Carlos. “Damn.” He raked a hand through his hair. “Is he going to make it?”

  “Yes!” she said.

  He met her eyes, and from his expression she knew he questioned if she believed it herself. “When did he go to Willowcreek?”

  She didn’t answer.

  He exhaled. “Have you looked into his phone records at his office?”

  “Why?”

  “I just felt like…like he was hiding something.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know. But…what if it was him, Brie? What if he was the one who leaked the information about the Sala case? He spent a fortune on his wedding and honeymoon. Maybe they offered—”

  “Get out!” Brie pointed to the door.

  “It’s possible.”

  “I’m sure he shot and assaulted himself as well.”

  “I’m just saying that he’s the one who’s been acting suspiciously. Closing the door to his office like—”

  “And I’m saying, get out!” She took a step, and he turned around and left.

  Brie noticed Carlos’s heart monitor beeped faster. Had he heard?

  “Sorry,” she said. “It’d really help if you’d wake up.”

  When visiting hours ended, Brie left and headed for the shelter, hoping to find the Willie Nelson look-alike with a bad attitude.

  * * *

  Connor checked the time when he pulled up to the construction site. No way was he going to be late for lunch at the shelter. But he had half an hour.

  The sound of hammering and saws leaked into the car. Getting out, a cold breeze snuck under his blue suit jacket. He walked around, looking for Davis.

  He spotted a redheaded guy working on the backside of the foundation. The thought of him rummaging through Brie’s panty drawer, coupled with the expression on the blonde back at the office, had Connor wishing he could personally cuff the guy. Another glance around and he spotted an older man, who Connor suspected was Dunn, walking toward him.

  “Detective Pierce, I guess?”

  “Yeah.” Connor held out his hand. Dunn didn’t take it.

  “I don’t know why you think we need to talk. I got the car back. Everything’s fine.”

  “Yeah, but most people like an update on their case. They want the person caught.”

  “You caught her?” Dunn asked.

  Her? So Dunn still thought Brie did it. “Not yet. But we’re looking at some leads. Did you hear that your car was pulled over by an officer for speeding?” Connor knew he hadn’t, because like him, Billy hadn’t been able to reach Dunn.

  “No. I didn’t know. But that pisses me off. You had her and you didn’t arrest her?”

  “No. The car hadn’t been reported stolen yet. But several things point to it being a gang out of Houston. They’ve been stealing high-end cars like yours. Last week one was taken out of Glencoe.” That was misleading, but the truth.

  And when he remembered this asshole had sent Lawdon Davis to do God only knew what to Brie, he didn’t feel the need to justify it.

  Connor paused and decided to get a little bit of justice by making him squirm. “Oh, can you clarify something? We have two reports claiming the car was taken, but they claim it was taken from different locations.”

  “Yeah, I…I was upset when I called the first time and got it wrong. It was at Denny’s off Macon Street.”

  “And that’s even stranger. You see we had someone go by there and they hadn’t heard about a car being stolen.”

  “Well, I…I hadn’t even ordered, and I had a friend with me and I…I didn’t say anything to the store manager.” His tone tightened almost to the squirm level. “My friend drove me to the police station to make the report. But truth is, my wife’s got her car back and she’s happy.”

  “Oh, I guess that makes sense. So, it’s your wife’s car, should I drop by and talk to—”

  “No,” he practically yelped. “She’s out of town now, and since the car’s back, you can forget about the whole thing. I work for a living and don’t have time to mess with this.”

  As if I don’t work for a living. “Oh, well don’t worry. It’ll only come up if we catch the guy. Then, of course, we’ll take his statement. The perp can clarify where the car was stolen from, and where it was left. You know, details. Then you and your wife will need to come to court.”

  “Fuck it. I got the car back. I don’t want t
o mess with court. Take my name off the report.”

  You mean you don’t want your wife to know you were hanging out at a strip club where your girlfriend works?

  “We can’t do that. You called it in.” He hoped the guy lived in fear for at least a couple of months.

  Connor left Dunn muttering under his breath, definitely squirming. When he got in his car, he called Juan and told him Lawdon Davis was available for pickup, then he headed off to find Willie.

  * * *

  A lunch crowd had already started gathering in front of the shelter. Slipping her gun into her shoulder holster, she closed her jacket and got out of the car. The sun was out and the sky blue, but fall brought a nip in the air. She darted across the road, keeping an eye out for a guy who looked like Willie Nelson.

  While scanning the various groups standing and sitting on the lawn of the shelter, she continued walking around. A blonde, slumped against the building and gazing down at her tennis shoes, caught Brie’s attention. She stopped. Stared.

  The woman looked like Candy. Brie stepped closer and the woman looked up—eyes dazed, lids low, as if drunk or drugged. She stared right at Brie. It wasn’t her friend.

  Exhaling, she remembered Candy’s bruises. Was she right that Dillon Armand had caused them? Hate swelled in Brie’s chest. She wanted, no, she needed to get the proof to lock his ass up, before he hurt anyone else.

  Suddenly, Brie spotted two guys standing at the corner of a building. She recognized the mop of curly hair on the skinnier of the two men. It was Milton, the guy she’d chased into the woods yesterday. Milton lifted his gaze, saw her, and flinched. That’s when she realized the guy standing beside him had long salt-and-pepper hair that hung in a ponytail. Willie freaking Nelson!

  Milton said something to his buddy, and the look-alike country and western singer took off around the corner. Brie started after him, when three people walked right in front of her. “Move!” she yelled. “FBI.”

  She’d barely made the corner when she heard footsteps pounding the sidewalk beside her. Heart pumping, determination hardening her gut, she glanced to her right. Connor?

  “What are you doing here?” She breathed out the words, never slowing down.

  “Backup. Is that him?” His voice didn’t sound nearly as winded as hers.

  “I think so.”

  He was suddenly ahead of her by five or more feet.

  She saw Tomas hauling ass down an alley littered with garbage dumpsters. For an old guy, he moved like the wind.

  “Stop! Police,” Connor yelled as he gained on the man. Tomas ran hard, his ponytail flopping in the air.

  Brie lagged behind about ten feet when Connor reached their mark and grabbed a handful of Tomas’s coat. The man tripped, went down hard, and lay in a heap on the ground.

  She stopped, caught her breath, and swore to herself she’d get back on a treadmill tomorrow. In the last few months, she’d been way too lax on her exercise regimen.

  Connor looked over his shoulder to check on her. That glance back was all it took for Tomas to pop up and start running.

  “You might want to catch him again.” She couldn’t help it if those words came with a smirk.

  “Shit!” He bolted. Right before Connor had him, Tomas shot around. From her position, she saw his hand dip under his coat. She saw the sun reflect on something metal.

  “Knife!” Brie grabbed her Glock.

  Connor stopped on a dime. Tomas swiped the six-inch blade through the air.

  Connor leaped back. The blade missed him by less than an inch.

  Brie’s finger pressed on her trigger. “Drop it, Tomas. Or I will shoot.”

  Tomas’s eyes, gray and wild-looking, shifted to her. He tossed down the knife and it clanked on the gravel at his feet. Connor, looking properly pissed, grabbed the man and pushed him against the back of a brick building.

  “Really bad move.” Connor’s voice rang deep.

  “I didn’t do it. I swear I didn’t do it.”

  “You pulled a knife on a cop.” Connor grabbed handcuffs from under his jacket and placed them on the man.

  “I didn’t…I didn’t know you were police. I thought you were with the other guy.”

  What other guy? Brie moved in.

  “Don’t insult my intelligence.” Connor started patting him down. “I identified myself.” Connor stopped searching when he got to the man’s pockets. “Do you have anything sharp, or jagged on you?”

  When Tomas didn’t answer, Connor continued, “Do you have any needles on you, Tomas? If I get stuck—”

  “No.”

  “What other guy?” Brie asked.

  Tomas didn’t answer.

  “What did you mean by ‘I didn’t do it’!” Brie stepped closer.

  Conner turned the guy around. “Answer her!”

  “I saw it,” Tomas said. “I saw a guy dump a body.”

  “Where?” Brie asked, certain he was referring to Carlos.

  “Under the bridge at Fifth Street,” Tomas said.

  Connor pulled out a phone and wallet from Tomas’s coat pocket. He opened the wallet, then glanced back at Brie. “It’s Olvera’s.” He held out the phone to Tomas. “Whose phone is this?”

  “The dead guy’s.”

  “No, he had his phone on him,” Connor said.

  “Well, he had two phones then,” Tomas insisted. “Because I found this one right beside him.”

  Connor’s expression showed confusion. “You sure?”

  “Why would I lie?”

  Hope sparked inside Brie. “Maybe the phone belonged to the shooter? He could have dropped it?”

  * * *

  When Connor left the interview room, Mark came walking down the hall. “His name is Tomas Morgan,” he told Mark, catching him up on the latest. He mentioned the phone Tomas claimed he found by Olvera, who he assumed was dead.

  “But we got Agent Olvera’s phone.”

  “I know. It looks like a burner. A flip phone. Juan’s looking at it now.”

  “Why would he have a burner?” Mark rubbed his chin with his palm.

  “We’re hoping it might have belonged to the shooter.”

  “That’d be a nice break.”

  “I know.”

  “Did Mr. Morgan admit to seeing the perp?” Mark motioned to the door where he’d left Tomas.

  “Yeah, and his description of the man who dumped the body fits the guy at the hotel. I’m trying to get someone to show him the video to confirm it’s the same guy.”

  “You think he’s a reliable witness?”

  “Right now he’s sober, and said he was when he witnessed the body being left as well.”

  “I guess that’s something. But when he walks, we’re not likely to see him again.”

  “Oh, we’re keeping him,” Conner said. “He came at me with a knife. A big one.”

  “Crap. You okay?”

  “Yeah.” Thanks to Brie. If she hadn’t seen the knife when she had…

  “I thought Brie was the one chasing down that lead.”

  “I met her there.”

  Mark lifted a brow. “So you’re talking again?”

  “Yeah.” She had spoken about twenty-five words to Connor. He knew because he’d counted. But damn, he wished she’d listen to him. Then again, he didn’t have a freaking clue what he wanted to say, except I’m sorry.

  The only other time he’d had this strong of a reaction to a woman was with Kelly. And he’d married her six weeks after they’d met. He had loved her with everything he had. And it hadn’t been enough.

  “What happened between you?”

  “Nothing,” Connor insisted.

  Mark studied him. “You slept with her, didn’t you?”

  “Stop,” Connor said.

  Mark shook his head. “That wasn’t a no. I told you, we need her to cooperate.”

  Connor frowned. “She’s cooperating.”

  Mark studied him. “For how long?”

  “Why are you judging m
e?” Connor snapped. “You slept with Annie, and she was a witness. And before Annie there was the reporter who was trying to blackmail you. And before that—”

  “That’s why I can judge you. I know what you’re doing.”

  “What am I doing?” Connor squared his shoulders.

  “Before Annie, I only slept with women I deemed safe. Women who I knew never wanted more than a good fuck. And more importantly, women I knew I couldn’t even like. God forbid if I accidentally broke that rule, because then all hell would break loose. I think you broke that rule.”

  Connor frowned. “It’s none of—”

  “With Sergeant Brown on our asses, we don’t need all hell breaking loose right now. Especially with this case.” Mark paused. “And personally, I don’t like seeing you go through hell. Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me you don’t like Brie.”

  Mark’s words were so spot-on, they hit like a steel-toed boot to the gut. He liked Brie too much. He knew it going in, and was going to know it going out. So the sooner he solved the case, the sooner he could move past it.

  “It’s not going to affect the case. And I’m fine.” He changed the subject and asked about the surveillance video they’d found near Carlos’s hotel.

  “It’s fuzzy, but it looks like the guy Brie was chasing. He got into a white Camry. But we couldn’t make out the license plate. Billy forwarded it to Juan’s email. If Juan can’t clean it up, we’ll send it off. Which means it could be weeks before we hear back.”

  Connor rubbed his neck, where he felt the tension building. “He’s looking at the phone we brought in now. Any news on the prints Brie got?”

  “They ran them. We’re waiting for confirmation if they are his or his cousin’s.”

  “From Guatemala?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How long?”

  “Who knows.”

  “Shit.”

  “It gets worse,” Mark said.

  “What?”

  “Looks like Armand’s heading to Houston. Our guy trailed him until Brown called him off. Said we didn’t have enough on the guy to follow him out of town.”

  “What the hell! He’s just going to let him go?”

  “Chances are he’s going to the strip club Brie said he owns there.”