Page 26 of Fatal Betrayal

"Some of your colleagues are."

"And some of them think you're trying to make a buck off the hard work of public servants."

"Is that what you think?" he asked curiously, telling himself he shouldn't care what she thought.

"Honestly, I don't know. It's been a long time since I knew who you were."

Her answer was surprisingly candid. "I feel the same way about you, Andi. But I see signs of that stubborn, determined kid I knew in the way you operate now. Plus, there's the ponytail," he added with a smile. "I always wondered why you didn't just cut your hair when you were so annoyed with it getting in your face."

"My mom wouldn't let me cut it. Her mother always made her have short hair, and she hated it, so she loved looking at my long hair."

"Do you ever wear it down?"

"Why are we talking about my hair, Cooper?"

He laughed. "Hell, if I know. Another thing that feels familiar. Our conversations used to get off track all the time. That was mostly on you. Your brain would jump from one thing to the next, so fast it was hard to keep up."

"I've always had a lot of thoughts running through my head, too many sometimes," she admitted.

As their gazes met, he felt a connection to her that was still strong after everything that had happened. But he needed to focus on the case and nothing else. "I didn't lie to you, Andi. I didn't believe the status of my project with Neil was relevant."

"Well, I don't want to get blindsided."

He smiled at the irony. "Yeah. That's not a good feeling. Speaking of being blindsided…"

"Please don't bring up the past, Cooper."

"I wasn't going to. Neil told me something you need to know."

She'd started the engine, but at his words, she turned it off and faced him. "What?"

"He and Jillian had a fling about a year ago. Since he's refused to end his partnership with Larry or support her claims, she's decided to blackmail him. If he doesn't get rid of Larry and out him for his predatory behavior, she's going to tell Claire about the affair."

Her brown eyes widened with his words. "Unbelievable. How could he keep that from us? He just gave Jillian an even bigger motive."

"That's what I told him. He's requested that you don't share the information with Claire."

"Well, I can't make that promise, but it's not a conversation at the top of my list." She shook her head. "I knew he and Jillian were lying about something."

"He doesn't believe Jillian took Elisa."

"I don't have any confidence in what Neil believes. We'll go by Jillian's office on the way to the bar."

He checked his watch. "It's after five. I doubt she'll be there."

"Can you call her? Do you have her number, or do you need it?"

He took out his phone. "I have it." He made the call. The phone rang four times, then went to voicemail. "She's not answering."

"Try the office number," Andi said, texting him the number.

He got a different voicemail saying the offices were closed. "Strike two."

"Then we'll try her at home. Savannah sent me the home addresses of all of our persons of interest." She ran through her phone, then put the address into the GPS. Restarting the engine, she sped away from the house with a heavy foot on the gas.

"You drive like you used to ride your bike," he commented. "Fast, purposeful, and maybe on the edge of recklessness. You used to fly down hills. I almost expected to see you take off one day."

"I am not a reckless driver, but I enjoy speed," she admitted.

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