Page 68 of Twisted Attraction

The man’s face flushed, and I could tell he regretted asking no sooner than he turned around to fetch some guns from under the display case.

“Thanks for meeting me,” I said to Peter, turning and hugging him.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I don’t think I have much of a choice anymore.”

He nodded, remaining wordless as his gloved hand gripped mine and squeezed it tight. Together, we wandered over to where the salesman had a small selection of firearms set out for me to inspect.

I frankly didn’t know shit about guns, but after talking things over with Peter, the salesman, and spending about thirty minutes holding different models and learning how to operate each of them, I decided on a simple 9mm that not only fit perfectly in my hand, but personally felt right for me. It probably would’ve been better to bring Phoenix or Spike along for something like this, but I knew they were tied up working our cases and going through the second interview with Amber. After what happened last night, I’d taken the day off, and since I knew Peter was off work today and with things still not so great between us, I thought this would be a good attempt at reconciling—or more like salvaging what was possibly left of our friendship.

“Are you hungry?” I asked when we walked out of the shop, my new gun safely put away in my purse and out of sight. “I’ll buy.”

“Yeah. That sounds good.”

Peter and I gave the waitress our orders and when she was off, I turned to Peter and gave him a shy smile, not really sure what to say.

I felt like an idiot. Peter was right all along. He’d been warning me all this time, and I was just too fucking blind to see the truth.

“Can I tell you something?”

He nodded. “Of course.”

It had been bugging me since that day Karl came to see me, and I hadn’t shared this information with anyone else, not even Spike or Phoenix. I already knew what Peter was going to say, but I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I had to get this shit off my chest, and Peter was the only person I trusted enough to tell.

“When Karl came to see me, he told me something, Peter. Something that’s really been bothering me.”

“What is it?”

“He told me that he and his mistress, Kate, were being followed and were receiving death threats.”

Peter blinked at me in total surprise and leaned back in his seat, his brows raised sky high. “Really?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “Karl also told me he believes the car accident wasn’t really an accident. He said when he went to pick Kate up that night, his truck and brakes were working just fine. It wasn’t until after they’d already left the restaurant when he noticed his brakes weren’t working.”

Peter let out a scoff and shook his head. “And let me guess… You believe him.”

“Of course I don’t believe him,” I scoffed right back.

“Then why is it bothering you?” he asked more gently this time. “You know he’s a liar, Char. He’d say anything at this point to get you back in his corner.”

“Because it just is, Peter,” I grumbled, coming to see that I’d made a mistake by confiding in him. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m bringing it up because I’m still having a hard time convincing myself that—”

My phone started ringing then, cutting me off before I could properly finish. Once I saw it was Phoenix, I raised a finger to Peter and then answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Charlotte,” Phoenix said in a sense of urgency. “I know you’re off today, and I’m sorry, but you need to get down to the precinct as soon as possible.”

“Why?” I asked, raising another finger at Peter when he opened his mouth to ask what was going on. “What happened?”

“We got a DNA match on one of the hair follicles.”

My lips parted, my eyes lighting up. “Really? That’s great, Phoenix!”

“No, Charlotte… You don’t understand.”

My smile fell as he breathed in deeply and blew it out, cursing low under his breath.

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