Page 33 of Dangerous Lies

“Why did he take my son without talking to me first?” she asked out loud before shecouldstop herself.

Casanova raised a brow. “Uh, you asked him to the other day. He's signing up for some sport, and you asked Ginger to take him. I was supposed to be your bodyguard today. Last night he asked me to take Tyler, but something changed again this morning. I can't keep up with the roller coaster. I have enough drama in my own damn life.”

She kept messing up, and she wished shecouldcall her sister for advice, but they’d never had that type of relationship. She didn'tgetalong with the other moms because they thought she had a strange job.

“How long have youknownGinger?”

“He joined our team almost two years ago. He was very distant, never wanted to be part of the brotherhood. Itwasn't untilitcame out he worked for the CIA that we learned why,” he said.

“So, he's not a Navy SEAL?” She wasn't sure how life worked for a CIA officer. Would he even be able to have a family, or would his family be safe?Itdidn't matter, because she’d woke up to an empty bed, panicked and had made a mistake.

Before she fell asleep with Ginger's arm wrapped around her, she pretended theycouldbe a happy family, but then in the cold light of the morning, she couldn't figure out a way to makeitwork. She'd already lost her heart to the man, and if she continued down the path,itwould just makeitworse when he left her because no one had stuck by her side.

No, she wasn't going to give herself a pity party.

“Ginger was in SEALs training when the CIA came to him.” Casanova paused while taking a left turn at the light. “He didn'tfeellike he fit in because he didn't finish BUD/s. The man was a Weapon's Sergeant as a Green Beret before that.”

“Why would he leave the Army and join the Navy? I thoughttherewas a lot of I'm better than you in the military.”

Casanova sighed. “The Navy is the best, but he lost his team on a mission....”

“I'm surprised you're telling me all of this. Doesn’t this cross some guy code thing where you're supposed to have your teammate’s back?”

He huffed. “I have his back, but what he should have done instead of walking away was throw you over his damn shoulder and tie your ass to the bed until you realized he's an amazing man. He didn't deserve whatever you said to him.”

Shefeltterrible, buttherewas no going back. “It'snot likeitwould work.”

Casanova pulled into the guest parking spot in front of the police station and turned toward her. “If you wanted to makeitwork, you would. Instead, you set up some idea in your head and cut Ginger out of the picture. Maybeit'sfor the best we're getting close to finding Carter. Another week and he's headed back to San Diego.”

“Probably...he would leave in the long run.”

“Iknowyou haven’tknownhim long. That's what's hard when you fall for someone fast. You don't have the chance to understand them. Ginger is loyal. He wouldn't leave you.” Casanova didn't wait for her to respond as he jumped out of the car and opened the back door.

She marched to the back where he was lifting two big boxes full of her stuff.

She took one of the boxes and followed him into the police station. The receptionist led them to a conference room. Detective Miller sat in the far chair with a bandage over his nose. Under his eyes was a hint of black. Next to him sat a younger detective who Rose had met a couple of times, and the Chief was at the head of the table.

“Rose.”

“Hi, Chief.” She set the box down on the table.

Casanova held out his hand to the Chief. “I'm Jared Dawson. This is all the information we have about the cases. Our guys dug and—”

“We don't need someone coming in and doing our job. Like I told Rose before, this is nothing. I bet she planned the kidnapping just to draw attention to herself.” Detective Miller sneered.

She didn't like how the Chief sat back and listened. Without comment, the Chief pulled out the drawings then the notes.

The tips of his ears turned bright red. “I want toknowwho each of these cases belonged to.”

The young detective pulled out a laptop and started to find each one.

Detective Miller reached for the computer, but the young detective moved it away. “Chief this is not necessary. Like I told Rose, I think she fabricated the evidence for attention.”

“All but two are Detective Miller’s, and the two that weren’t his, he closed them.”

Later, she would fist pump at the fact he was the common denominator. She'd never thought hecouldbe the killer, but now she wondered ifitwas possible or if she’dwatchedtoo many damn crime television shows.

“Detective Miller, you want to explain to me why you labeled each of these cases suicide? Clearlytherewas additional evidence.” Chief's voice held an edge.

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