Page 11 of The Liar

I narrowed my eyes as he carried his dishes to the kitchen. Was it just me, or was he being a little too solicitous?

He returned with a plastic container full of fried noodles and placed it to the side of me. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

I finished my coffee and stood. “I’d better get going. Hanson and I have a lot to do for our new case.”

“Anything you’d like to talk over?” he asked. He often provided a willing set of ears to listen to my theories and forme to bounce ideas off, but for some reason, I didn’t feel able to do that right now. Perhaps because letting him in on my cases required a level of trust I was having difficulty maintaining.

“Maybe later.”

I packed the noodles into my bag and left, making sure to kiss his cheek on the way out, in an attempt to smooth over any awkwardness from breakfast. We certainly hadn’t been as easy with each other as usual, and I wondered whether he knew I still wasn’t convinced he’d been truthful with me yesterday.

I drove to work, parked in the basement garage, and took the stairs up to our floor. I stashed my lunch in a refrigerator in the break room and ducked into a private meeting room. I brought up a number on my contacts and hit ‘Call’ before I had time to change my mind.

“Hey, Jo,” Zeke drawled, as laid back as ever. “Why are you gracing me with a phone call so early in the day?”

“You owe me a favor.” Blunt. No-nonsense. If I prevaricated, I might lose my nerve.

“Oh?” His tone sharpened. “What do you need?”

I exhaled slowly, grateful he hadn’t argued. I’d worked alongside King’s Security several times over the past few years, and I’d let them get away with more than I probably should have because I knew they always acted with the greater good in mind.

I lowered myself onto a chair and set my bag on the ground at my feet. “Yesterday, I spotted West in a position with another woman that could be considered… compromising.”

He muttered something inaudible, then, “Shit, Jo, I’m sorry. Want me to wreck his credit score? Get him fired? Have him arrested?”

“No.” I rubbed my temples, preferring not to think abouthow he’d go about doing any of those things. It certainly couldn’t be legal. “The thing is, it could have been innocent, but when I asked him about it, I’m fairly certain he lied to me.”

“Okay.” He sounded intrigued. “Tell me what you saw.”

I explained, and when I was finished, he hummed in thought.

“I agree it could be innocent,” he said after a while, “but the fact he wasn’t honest about it doesn’t bode well. What do you want me to do?”

“Dig into his life.” The words were simple, but the weight behind them was not. “I want a deep dive into his background. His family, friends, career, financials. If there are skeletons in his closet, I want to know what they are.”

“Done. I’ll make it a priority.”

“Thank you.” I wouldn’t consider Zeke a friend, but I appreciated that he was someone who understood the importance of maintaining tit-for-tat relationships with people who could be useful.

“If I find out he’s been sleeping around, I know people who could make him disappear for you,” he said darkly.

I barked out a laugh. “Are you admitting to an officer of the law that you consort with criminals?”

He chuckled. “I’ll have the info soon. Don’t worry. King, Kade, and I have your back.”

My throat tightened and tears prickled my eyes for the second time in as many days. I blinked them back, furious with myself for allowing my emotions to get the better of me.

“Thank you, Zeke.”

“No worries.” The line went dead.

I placed my phone on the table and released a shaky breath. What had the world come to that I was relying onsomeone as reckless and morally gray as Ezekiel Watts to be on my side when my own husband wasn’t?

I pulled myself together and headed to my desk. Hanson had just arrived, and a take-out cup of coffee sat beside my keyboard. I glanced at it warily. Hanson didn’t bring me coffee. We weren’t that type of partners. We did our business, tolerated each other, and lived our own lives.

“What’s with the drink?” I asked, jerking my chin toward it.

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