Page 90 of Dining for Love

His voice softens. “What happened, son?”

I scrub my hand over my face. “It’s…complicated.”

“It can’t be more complicated than this.” He gestures at himself.

“That might not be true,” I sigh. “But I’m not ready to talk about it.”

He regards me, then finally says, “With that kind of reaction, Idon’t blame you. Get out of here, then. Go work my case, will you?”

I give him a salute and turn to leave. I’ll do what he says and work the case, but I have to see Willa first. She needs to know how I really feel.

I need to say the damn words.

I’ve never said them to anyone besides my family. You’d think, for a guy who grew up with a pretty great example of what a loving relationship could look like, that I’d have had the occasion to say it before now. But I haven’t. Maybe it’s that the relationship was between a parent and step-parent; maybe it’s fear that my job would be an automatic deterrent to someone. But either way, the words need to come out of my mouth. The beach was the closest I’ve ever gotten, and my stomach nearly came out of my throat because I was so nervous to see her reaction.

I don’t even know if she’s going to speak to me. I don’t know ifI’dlet myself speak to me.

I’m out of the elevator and heading for the squad car when my phone dings.

It’s a picture of a dead rabbit.

Followed by a picture of Dash In Diner.

My whole world drops out from beneath my feet, and I kick into a dead run.

The drive takes too long. I break more laws than I can count to get there, my foot shaking on the gas pedal. Five minutes is an eternity. My heart is in my throat. This can’t be happening.

I leave the car two blocks away and cover the rest on foot. There’s a Closed sign on the front door,Due to plumbing issues.

Willa didn’t text me this morning. She didn’t bring Midnight over, either. What if they’ve hurt her? Or worse?

I can’t let myself think like that. I raise my hand to bang on the door and yell for whoever’s inside, but stop myself, all my training finally kicking in.

Think.

I can’t call for back-up, mainly because this entire mess is my fault and I don’t need anyone else being hurt. But also because I half expect Betty would send out a bulletin alerting the entire town to come rescue the new cop, despite her help earlier.

I go around to the back, staying close to the perimeter and checking my surroundings as I move. Nothing is out of the ordinary. In fact, there’s even a plumbing truck parked back here, but a quick glance tells me that the sign on the white truck is just one big removable sign. Adrenaline ratchets up.

It’s definitely the Bunnies.

Using the dumpster as cover, I get as close as I can, and that’s when I hear crying. I can’t tell who it is, though, so I crouch down and get into a position where I can actually see inside.

Barbara, Dean, and Goldie are tied up in the kitchen. I can’t see them very well, but I know it’s them. A tall, lanky man stands above them, lazily pointing a gun in their direction while he speaks to someone on the phone. Another man who must spend all his downtime at the gym swivels his attention between Dean, whose feet I can see, and the women, both of whom are crying.

Where is Willa?

“Yeah, we’ve got ‘em. He’ll show up. We’re positive.” A pause. “He saw the photos. Idiot has his phone settings to show it as read.” He chuckles.

I barely suppress a groan. I reallyaman idiot. The last few months of my life flash before my eyes, and I realize that very damn thing could have been how I ultimately got made and then shot.

A commotion at the front has everyone going quiet. I listen, then bite back a curse.Jerry.The lanky man gets off the phone while the beefy one takes off to see what the fuss is about.

Now’s my chance.

Chapter 29

Willa

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