Page 8 of The Negotiator

“How’s Lauren?” Matthias asked.

Garrett’s gaze traveled back to her, toured her face. Exhaustion tugged at the corner of her mouth. The shock still hadn’t left her wide eyes. “Stunned.”

“Understandable. It’s not every day a supposedly dead husband shows up really dead—re-dead, dead again... I’m actually not sure of the proper terminology here—on her carpet.” Matthias said something under his breath that sounded a lot like the stupid fucker.

“I’m thinking he’ll only really be dead this one time.” And he deserved justice, so Garrett vowed to get it for him. For Lauren, really, but Garrett was fine with Carl benefitting in some small way from that.

“Good. It would suck if this kept happening.”

Garrett barely heard the words but then the comment hit him full force. “Was that a joke?”

Matthias shrugged. “Kind of.”

“The whole girlfriend thing suits you.” Garrett took the opportunity to sneak a peek at Kayla. She hovered right behind Lauren as they shook hands with Detective Cryer.

Kayla had been a surprise. Garrett had come to Annapolis with Matthias months ago at Wren’s urging to learn more about Matthias’s brother’s murder years before. The sexy waitress with the reddish-brown hair knocked Matthias right off his game and Garrett had loved every minute of watching the big man fall.

“You have no idea.” Matthias’s wide grin came and went. “But, one warning for you. Kayla is Lauren’s best friend. You might want to remember that.”

“Meaning?”

“Don’t fuck Lauren over. Kayla might look sweet but she will break you in half if you hurt Lauren.” Matthias shook his head. “She’s got a mean streak and her love for Lauren is absolute.”

“I know firsthand how tough Kayla is.” She’d actually saved his life months ago, which was not something Garrett was likely to forget. “Besides, if she can tolerate you she must have nerves of steel.”

“You’ve been warned.”

A few minutes later Lauren headed for them with Kayla trailing right behind her. She kept walking until she stood next to Garrett. When she leaned against him, he wrapped an arm around her and pressed a palm against her lower back. If she needed support, he was more than willing to provide it.

“Hey.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

She was tall, almost five-nine, but he still had a good four inches on her. Still, for the first time ever, she slumped. Seemed vulnerable when she usually radiated strength. “You okay?”

“Not really.”

“Yeah, I guess not,” Matthias said as his gaze switched from Garrett to Lauren and back again.

Lauren never stopped moving. She shifted her weight and bit her lip as she talked to her friends. “Thanks for coming.”

“We’ll be here for whatever you need.” Kayla reached out and grabbed Lauren’s hand.

Lauren held on for a few seconds then dropped her hand. “Right now, I just need to sit down. The endless questioning has my head spinning.”

“What are the police saying?” Matthias asked in his usual cut-through-the-bullshit kind of way.

“That I can’t leave town.”

Garrett wasn’t surprised. “Standard procedure.”

Lauren glanced up at him. “You mean there is a set way of handling a situation where someone comes back from the dead?”

The woman had a point. “Admittedly, this might be uncharted territory.”

“You can come back to the house and stay with us for as long as you need to.” Kayla reached for Lauren’s arm as if to lead her toward the front door.

Garrett pounced. He didn’t mean to, but his voice rose and he instinctively stepped in front of Lauren. “No.”

“Interesting. Do you have another suggestion, Garrett?”

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