Page 57 of I'm Watching You

Zack had come to recognize the tone. It meant Warwick was gunning for trouble. Normally, Zack ignored it, but today, he didn’t have the patience. ‘I haven’t been drinking, if that’s what you’re implying.’

Warwick looked unrepentant. ‘This isn’t the time to fall apart.’

Zack hadn’t even had his first cup of coffee and already he was pissed at his partner. ‘I’m not falling apart and I’m not going to drink again. The sooner you accept that fact the better our partnership will be.’

Warwick didn’t hide his skepticism. ‘We’ll see.’

Zack shook his head. ‘And I thought I had hang-ups. But I’m begining to believe you’ve got some real issues of your own.’

Warwick rose abruptly. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Was it your mother or father who was the drunk?’

Tension radiated from Warwick’s body. ‘Don’t try to lay your problems on me.’

‘As long as I’m sober, I don’t have a problem. But you, you could be sober as a judge and still have demons chasing you.’ He sipped his coffee, enjoying the fact that Warwick was the one at a disadvantage. ‘I’d say it wasyour mother who was the drinker. Or was she a drug addict?’

Warwick tightened his jaw and released it. ‘Fuck off.’

Zack shrugged.

Warwick snatched up a file from his very orderly desk. ‘I asked everyone in the division to meet us in the conference room at seven. They should be waiting for us now.’

Zack knew he’d just opened a wound. If Warwick hadn’t been such a prick these last eight months, he’d have felt bad about it. ‘Let’s do it.’

Warwick nodded stiffly. ‘Right.’

The two went into the conference room as Detective Vega offered Detective C.C. Ricker Danish from a bakery bag.

C.C. glowered at Vega. The redhead stood just over five feet and had a compact, lean body. In her late twenties, she had come up through patrol, the domestic violence division, and for the last two years had worked homicide.

Catching sight of Zack and Warwick, Vega wiped his hands clean. Nick Vega was tall, had olive skin, and wore his black hair slicked back. Born in Cuba, he’d immigrated to New York when he was six. He spoke Spanish like a native and English like a New Yorker.

C.C. stood a little straighter. ‘So I hear you boys snagged yourself a juicy murder.’

Warwick’s frame dominated the space. ‘Lucky us.’

Vega chuckled. ‘Tread carefully. C.C.’s on another diet. Low carbs this time. And she’s mean as a snake.’

Warwick sat down. All traces of the anger toward Zackhad vanished. ‘What’s the occasion and how long do we have to suffer before you can have a real meal?’

C.C. frowned. ‘My sister’s wedding.’ They’d all seen the pictures of C.C. and her three sisters. The other Ricker sisters were tall and blond. C.C. had often joked she was a genetic throwback. ‘So how’s Sharon?’

Warwick’s smile didn’t waver but his eyes hardened a shade. ‘No more Sharon. I’m a single man again.’

C.C. didn’t hide her sadness. ‘Sorry to hear that. I liked her.’

‘No biggie,’ Warwick said.

Zack wouldn’t use any more armchair psychology to his partner again. Their exchange a few minutes ago, coupled with the fact that he’d broken up with another good woman, told Zack all he needed to know. His partner had been raised by a drunk and it had left its mark. No matter what he did, no matter how long he stayed sober, Zack would always be a drunk to Warwick.

Add that to the three detectives’ camaraderie and Zack wondered if he’d ever live down the days he drank.

Ayden entered the room, silencing any other banter. He had rolled up his sleeves and loosened his tie. Under his arm, he held a stack of files. In his left hand, which still bore his wedding band, he gripped a mug that read ‘#1 Dad,’ a gift from one of his sons. He tossed the files on the table.

‘Zack and Warwick. Phone records just arrived.’ He pushed the files toward them. ‘Harold and Jordan Turner’s are included as well as O’Neil’s and the shelter’s records. There are hundreds of calls to wade through.’

Zack thumbed through the records. He remembered the feeling he’d had yesterday that Lindsay was hiding something. God only knew what they’d find.

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