Page 88 of Wicked Suspicion

“No. How was I supposed to know Dylan talked about me?”

He shook his head. “There were opportunities to share the truth.”

“Really? When? We were either in a dangerous situation or we were busy with other things.” She glanced toward the bed. “So you tell me, when should I have told you I was Dylan’s little sister?”

Chapter 35

Case went to the safe house. He couldn’t be trusted out in the wild, not until he got his head screwed on straight. Nyx left him all kinds of messed up. Luckily, the place was empty. He settled on a green plastic chair on the back patio.

The space was cramped. If he stretched his legs out all the way, he could practically rest them against the adobe wall towering over him. It left the entire area shaded, with no chance of the sun lighting the few feet to the house. At least someone had picked up the debris that had littered the back patio.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

For a split second, Case thought it was the captain before he recognized the voice. Oz. “Dude, don’t you have something to do?”

Ignoring the hint, the Wizard came over and took the other chair. “Nah, Vargas fired me, remember?”

Scowling, Case went back to staring at the wall. The last thing he wanted was to encourage a conversation.

“Are you mooning over your woman leaving?” Oz asked, interrupting Case’s thoughts.

“No.” The word was hard, but Oz wasn’t easily deterred.

“Do you have what’s left of the rebels on your ass?”

Case shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m playing it safe, though.”

“Smart choice. They’re probably not too happy about Ramirez being taken out. If they’re still functioning as a group, you might be rebel enemy number one.”

He grunted and went back to ignoring the Wizard.

“Did your Fireball give you the old heave-ho when you took her to the airport?”

His patience cratered. “What the fuck is with all the questions? Leave me alone and go bother someone else.”

“So she did tell you to take a hike.”

“No, she did not,” Case growled before realizing he’d been baited.

“If she didn’t dump you, why are you in such a shitty mood?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Bullshit. If you didn’t want to talk, you’d walk away. It’s clear you need the advice of someone older and wiser.”

Case gave Oz a glare. “You’re three years older.”

“Like I said, older and wiser. What happened with the Fireball?”

He put his hands on the arms of the chair, prepared to push himself up and walk away as his teammate suggested, but something stopped him. Maybe because it would be faster to get over her if he talked about it. Case was on an op. He had a pivotal role, a dangerous role, and if he fucked up, he could lose his life. Or worse, one of his teammates could lose his life. If talking about Nyx got him to focus on the job, then it was worth the discomfort.

“She lied to me.”

In his peripheral vision, Case saw Oz’s eyebrows go up. “Really? She struck me as a straight shooter. What did she lie about?”

For a moment, he hesitated, but he was committed now. “She didn’t tell me she was my buddy’s little sister.”

“Nyx isn’t exactly a common name,” the Wizard said without inflection.

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