Page 21 of Critical Strike

“Your best bet now is to go to the police.”

She flinched and turned toward the window. Would the cops even believe her?

She was about to argue her point when her stomach growled loudly, the sound filling the cab.

“Hungry?” He looked over at her again, one eyebrow raised. “Let’s get something to eat and we can talk about this more.”

A few minutes later, he slowed the truck and turned into the parking lot of an old-timey diner.

The place, full of shiny countertops and red vinyl booths, felt warm and inviting. Khan had to stay out in the truck, but the weather was mild, so they left the windows cracked and the cat sleeping on the floor.

“Over there.” Luke headed for the booth in the far corner, by the kitchen.

He waited until Claire slid in, then took the booth facing the door.

“Going to the police makes sense...” He trailed off as a waitress approached.

“What can I get you two today?” The older woman smiled at them both.

Luke didn’t even look at the menu. “Whatever your most popular dish is. And coffee.”

“Same,” Claire said. “Please.”

“All righty.” The waitress collected the menus. “Eating the same dish. What a cute couple.”

Claire could feel the heat crawl up her cheeks, but Luke didn’t even seem to notice the comment. The second the waitress was gone, he rested his arms on the table and leaned into them.

“The police can help. You witnessed a murder.” He kept his voice low. “That means there’s a body somewhere.”

Claire choked on her breath. “But what if they don’t believe me? I don’t have the footage of Julia’s death with me; I had to hide it on Passage Digital’s servers. It’s possible Ballard found it and deleted it.”

She dropped her gaze to the table. Talking about this was so hard.

He reached over and grabbed her hand. “I’ll be honest, that could be true, and if it is, Ballard might not be convicted. But if you go to the police, show them what you have about the Gouda app and tell them Julia was killed...it throws a lot of suspicion in Ballard’s direction.”

“But what if they don’t believe me?”

They were interrupted by the waitress bringing their coffee, and Claire was glad to have the distraction. She wasn’t sure if going to the police was the best plan or not.

Luke took a sip of his steaming brew. “Why didn’t you go to the cops as soon as you got out of the building once Julia was killed?”

She stirred creamer into her coffee, then brought it up to her lips. “My head wasn’t on straight. All I could think about was getting to Khan and getting him out before they got to him. Plus, the police were always the enemy when we were kids.”

His eyes narrowed behind his cup. “You had run-ins with the police?”

“No, not me.”

Awareness dawned. He leaned back in the seat. “I had run-ins and filled your little head with stories about the big bad officers of the law.”

She shrugged. “I guess it tainted my opinion. I’ve never trusted cops.”

“You know that was just me talking fourteen-year-old smack, right?” He shook his head. “Not a single police officer who picked me up when I ran away ever did anything to harm me. Most of them got me some food and tried to talk to my sullen ass, not that it helped. Two of my brothers went into law enforcement for a while. I have the highest respect for them and the people they worked with.”

She sighed. “I should’ve gone to them first thing. It’s too late now.”

They were stopped again by the delivery of their breakfast platter, though Claire had lost her appetite.

He bit into his scrambled eggs, then pointed to her plate with a piece of toast in the other hand. “Don’t even think about not eating that.”

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