Gail Barrett - Fatal Exposure

Parker nodded, not sure where she was going with this. “Sad, but it happens.”

“Not usually with a girl that young.”

He studied her blue-gold eyes. “You don’t believe she committed suicide?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I don’t have enough information to decide. Her family refuses to talk. She was a minor, so the papers didn’t release any details. And the camp doesn’t want bad publicity, so they’ve kept everything hushed up.”

Realization dawned. “You want me to look into her death.”

“I’d like to see the autopsy report and photos so I know for sure.”

“Why?”

Her gaze slid away. “She was a friend. I feel I owe her that much.”

Another lie. Or at least not quite the truth. “Forget it.”

Her gaze shot back to his. “What?”

“I said no deal.”

“You’re turning me down? But why?”

“Because you’re lying.”

“I’m not—”

“The hell you aren’t. You’ve been lying to me from the start. You said you didn’t know my brother. You claimed you didn’t know about his death. You even lied about answering that phone. I doubt anything you’ve told me is true.”

Her eyes went dark. A flush returned to her cheeks. “You can’t expect me to tell you everything. I don’t even know you.”

“Baloney. If you didn’t think you could trust me, you wouldn’t have proposed this deal. Now you’re sitting here telling half-truths while I’ve played straight with you from the start.”

“I’m not lying about this girl.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“Believe what you want. But I’m telling you the truth, as much as I can right now.”

Neither of them moved. Her angry gaze stayed locked on his. Tension crackled between them, like the atmosphere before a lightning storm.

And despite all evidence to the contrary, despite knowing that she’d lied, he realized she’d played him to perfection, piquing his interest about the case. Because if there was any chance she was right...

He shook his head, hoping the motion would dispel this lunacy and knock some sense back into his muddled brain. “It doesn’t matter. There’s still no deal.”

“But—”

“It’s not my case. It’s not even in my jurisdiction.” Questioning a potential suspect was one thing. But meddling in someone else’s investigation... “I’d be putting my job on the line—and for what? To satisfy your curiosity? To pass some sort of litmus test you’ve devised?”

“You want me to take a risk and tell you about Tommy’s death.”

“It’s not the same.”

“You’re right. It’s not the same thing at all. You might lose your job. Big deal. I’ve got more to lose than that.”

“Like what?”

“Nothing.” She shrugged into her coat and stood. “Forget it. I should have known I was wasting my time talking to a cop.” She swung her backpack onto her shoulder and stalked across the room, then shoved open the door to the street.

Parker scrambled to his feet, his temper mounting as he strode after her outside. What right did she have to test him? She was the suspect. He was the one who couldn’t trust her.

He caught up with her on the sidewalk and grabbed her arm. She wheeled around and glared back. “Get your hands off me.”

“Or what? You’ll elbow me in the head again?”

“I should.”

“Try it, and I’ll haul you in right now.”

“Fine. Go ahead and arrest me,” she countered, shaking her slender arm loose. “But you’ll never find out the truth that way.”

“You don’t think I can find out what happened to Tommy without your help?”

“I know you can’t.”

Parker opened his mouth to argue, but damned if she wasn’t right. She knew what had happened to Tommy. She’d been the last one to see him alive. For all he knew, she’d pulled the trigger and run away.

But what if she hadn’t? What if she’d witnessed his death instead—and knew who the killer was? What if innocent lives really were at risk? Could he give up the chance to find out?

And what if—God forbid—that kid at the camp had been murdered as Brynn thought? He’d sworn to obtain justice for victims, no matter how inconvenient the case. He was duty-bound to pursue the truth.

But he couldn’t do what she’d asked. Hoffman would fire him in a heartbeat—unless his supervisor canned him first. Delgado would leap at the chance.

“Look.” He tried to sound reasonable. “It’s not that I don’t want to help you—”

“Then do it.” Her eyes challenged his. “You’ve heard my conditions. I’ve told you what I want.”

He glowered back, his anger rising again. She didn’t understand what she was asking. Bad enough that he’d gone behind Delgado’s back, contacted the possible suspect in his brother’s death and then failed to bring her in. That alone could get him suspended. He could try to spin his involvement and claim he was verifying Brynn’s identity before handing the case to his boss. No one with half a brain would buy the excuse, and for all his faults, Delgado wasn’t a fool. But it might be enough to let Parker escape with a reprimand instead of losing his badge.

But he had no business snooping in Erin Walker’s file. It wasn’t his case. It wasn’t in his jurisdiction. This wasn’t even remotely connected to him.

Even worse, the kid had committed suicide at Colonel Hoffman’s camp. If the C.I.D. chief learned Parker was meddling in his affairs—and sharing sensitive information with an unauthorized civilian—there wasn’t an excuse on earth that could save his ass.

But he’d already failed his brother once. He couldn’t renege on his promise to find his killer, too.

And he’d searched for this woman for fifteen years. He’d be damned if he’d turn her over to Delgado, then be forced to beg his supervisor for details about his brother’s case.

Or worse, have him refuse to reopen the investigation and forfeit forever his chance to learn the truth.

Quelling his protesting conscience, he sighed. “All right. Give me your phone number. I’ll look into it and get back to you.”

She shook her head. “We’re doing this together.”

“Forget it. You’ll just have to trust me.”

“I’m not that big a fool.”

“And yet, you expect me to trust you.”

Her mouth turned flat. She folded her arms, her eyes still trained on his. And his grudging respect for her rose. She certainly wasn’t a pushover.

“You can’t come with me,” he said. “Her records won’t be stored here. They’ll be in Washington County—the district where she died. I’ll have to make some calls, see if they’ll fax a copy to me.” Assuming he could fabricate a plausible excuse—without his boss finding out. “But I’ll meet with you as soon as I’m done. That’s my final offer.”

Still looking reluctant, she managed a nod. “Fine. Then we have a deal?”

She offered him her hand. Against his better judgment, he enfolded it in his, the soft, feminine feel of her skin sending a spasm of heat through his blood. Grimacing at his reaction, he dropped her hand and stepped back.

He’d definitely lost his mind. This woman was a danger on too many levels to count. And he’d better keep his wits about him if he hoped to survive.

Chapter 4

Parker wasn’t naive. He understood the need to bend the rules at times if it contributed to the greater good. The problem was, once a man crossed into that gray zone, once he’d blurred the distinction between right and wrong, it became harder to redraw the line.

His father had proven that.

But now here he was, following in his doomed father’s footsteps. Because he couldn’t sugarcoat his actions. He was breaking the rules, pure and simple—the one thing he’d sworn he would never do.