The robe wasn’t much better than the towel. It covered more skin, but the silky fabric didn’t do a damn thing to hide those insolent nipples that begged for my attention.
Eyes flashing, she returned to the table and sat.
I took the next chair and picked up Hugo’s file. “Talk.”
“Are you asking in an official capacity?”
“I’m sure as hell not asking as a friend. How many times have you visited Tina Witt, keepin’ in mind that I have her list of visitors, so don’t bother lying.”
She blew her breath out through her teeth. “Three.”
“What did you two talk about?”
“I was trying to get information on Duncan Hugo’s whereabouts,” she said to the brick wall across the table.
I plucked another folder off the pile and opened it. She reached for it, but I pulled it back.
“You can’t look at those without a warrant,” she insisted.
I raised an eyebrow. “You want me to go get one? ’Cause I will. Your old pal Marshal Graham might even help me. He wasn’t any happier than I was to see your name on that visitation list. In fact, why don’t the three of us meet up down at the station and clear this whole thing up while the judge approves a warrant?”
“Damn it, Nash!”
“Why are you looking for Hugo?”
“I’m not looking for him. I’m looking for something he took,” she said.
I leaned back in the chair. “I’m listening.”
The glare she shot me would have incinerated someone with thinner skin. “I’m never going to forgive you for this.”
“Back at you, baby. Now talk.”
I could all but see the steam whistling out of her ears. “You already know my company insures things for wealthy clients. When insured assets are stolen, we run parallel investigations with law enforcement. One of our clients lives in a DC suburb. His car was stolen a few days before you were shot. I was assigned the case and started digging.”
“A car. You’re hunting down an attempted murderer over a fucking car.”
“You’d be doing the same thing as a cop.”
“I’d be doing it to protect and serve. You’re doing it to save your company an insurance payout and to earn a bonus.”
“I guess we can’t all be heroes, can we?” There was fire beneath all the ice she was throwing at me.
“What makes you think Hugo took the car?”
“Process of elimination. There was a spike of grand theft auto cases within a ten-mile radius of Hugo’s warehouse. Six other cars were stolen the same day, two from the same neighborhood as my client’s. All those cars, or at least pieces of them, were found in Hugo’s warehouse after he got away.”
“So you show up to a hostage situation unarmed with a civilian to find a fucking car?” She’d arrived on scene with Sloane. I could still see her walking in the door in slow motion. She came straight to me. And the second she’d put her hands on me, I knew I wanted to keep them there.
Wasn’t that a fucking kick in the goddamn teeth?
It was official. My instincts were gone. I couldn’t see through a leggy temptress with secrets in her eyes.
“First of all, I didn’t know Duncan Dumbass Hugo was into kidnapping in addition to running chop shops. But I’ve been in high-stakes situations with and without law enforcement. And if I hadn’t gotten in Sloane’s car, she would have driven there herself and probably put herself in danger.”
“You didn’t just come here and coincidentally end up in the middle of Hugo’s crime spree.”
“The thefts happened less than an hour from here. The plan was to swing through town and see my old friend on my way. I was going to stay in town long enough to catch up, and then everything went to hell the next day when they took Naomi and Way.”
“Why should I believe that?” I asked.
“I don’t care what you believe,” she snapped.
“Yeah, I got that too, sweetheart. You get all your sources to tell you things the way you did with me?” I asked.
“Subtlety doesn’t become you, Chief.”
I leaned forward. “I trusted you, Lina.”
She crossed her arms defiantly. “You’re acting like a scorned lover when the only thing we are is…”
“What? What are we, Angelina? You want to say neighbors? Acquaintances?” I slapped the file down on the table in a display of temper. “You know my darkest fucking secret. You let me tell you.”
She threw her arms up in the air. “You think anyone besides my family knows about my history? You weren’t the only one opening yourself up, Nash.”
“Then you’re either a cold piece of work or at the very least that made us friends.”
“Made?”
“I told you I don’t tolerate liars. Anything that we had or could have had is gone now.”
Her jaw ticked.
“You deliberately lied to me,” I said.
“I didn’t lie. I omitted part of the truth.”
“You used me being vulnerable against me.”
“Oh please,” she snapped. “I was walking your dog when I found you on the floor. I didn’t give you a panic attack.”
“No, but you sure as hell took advantage of it.”
“How?” she sputtered. “Did I pump you for law enforcement secrets? Am I blackmailing you with your secrets?”
“Maybe not. But you made sure to get access to me, my place. You started pushing me about what happened that night,” I pointed out, fitting the pieces together.
“For your own good, ass. If you want to block it out forever, it’s none of my business. But you’ll just keep ending up on the floor if you don’t eventually work your way through it.”
I shook my head. “I’ve got a hunch of my own. I think the only reason you pretended to care was you thought you could get something out of me. Something that would lead you to Hugo and that damn car.” I picked up another folder and opened it, but my gaze was on her. “I bet you couldn’t help but take a look at those files I have on my table, could you?”
Her face turned to stone, but not before I saw the flicker of guilt.
“Yeah. That’s why you agreed to our little sleepovers. The more access you had to me, the more time you’d be able to spend at my place.”
Lina stared at me with fire in her eyes. She laughed bitterly. “And here I thought Knox was the asshole brother.”
“Guess it runs in the family. You’re gonna want to stay away from all of them from now on,” I warned her.
“That’s gonna be a little tricky since Knox asked me to be in the wedding party,” she shot back.
“I don’t trust you and I don’t want you anywhere near my family. You’re reckless and you use people to get what you want. You’re going to get someone hurt.”
She blanched but covered immediately.
“My brother might be an asshole,” I continued when she said nothing. “And we might not get along all the time. But do you really wanna go up against me when it comes to testing his loyalty? Because I won’t hesitate to make sure you lose your oldest friend.”