Page 48 of Trigger

For amoment, we just stared at each other. I wanted to look away, but that emeraldabyss was pulling me in.

Lookaway, you moron.

“Erm…yeah,” he muttered, averting his gaze first. “No problem. I’ll… uh… I’ll take ashower.”

“Areyou sure you don’t have a fever?” I yelled after him as he headed to thebathroom. “Did you buy the vitamins?”

“Yes,and yes, Mom.”

“I’llmake us some coffee. How do you like it?”

“Onesugar, no milk.”

Whilehe was in the shower, I tidied up the living room a bit, scowling at the photosof him and Vicky. I made a mental note to buy him a new toothbrush when somethingI heard on TV ruined my day.

“SophieMalik, a young woman brutally murdered in her apartment on Sycamore Street, isstill waiting for justice. Her killer roams free while the investigationremains ongoing with no suspects apprehended to date. Will she be yet anotherunsolved case in our city, plagued with the highest homicide rate in thecountry? SPD police chief Arthur Bibb wants us to believe the opposite.”

At thesound of Chief Bibb’s voice, Carter peeked out from behind the bathroom door,followed by a cloud of steam.

“Whatthe—”

“Shh,”I shushed him, turning on the volume so he could hear Chief Bibb speak.

“Mybest men are on the case. Detective Carter is a highly decorated police officerand a credit to his profession. Detective Thorsen is a newcomer, but he’s knownfor his tenacity and commitment to the job. They’re both dedicated to findingSophie Malik’s killer and making sure he gets the punishment he deserves.Justice will be served. It’s just a matter of time.”

“Great,”Carter murmured. “Now it’s on us.”

Time.It was the one thing we didn’t have, not while being stuck on sick leave.

WhenCarter’s phone rang, I handed it to him. I glanced at his body, but I couldn’tsee anything with the damn door blocking my view of him.

“Hey,Bruce,” he answered as I reached for the hair tie wrapped around my wrist andtied my hair into a bun. “We just saw the news. What’s up?”

Aftera few moments, Carter chuckled and gave me a pointed look.

“Youwon’t believe it, Thorsen, but our old pal Bob ended up in the hospital. A caseof lead poisoning, it seems.”

Igrinned, leaning closer to hear the conversation.

“Please,don’t tell Chief Bibb that I told you,” Bruce whined. “He’ll kill me. What areyou going to do, Carter? Please, say nothing.”

“Wecan’t do nothing, Bruce,” Carter replied matter-of-factly. “We have to at leastvisit Bob to make sure he’s okay.”

I wasalready putting my pants on.

“Ofcourse, we won’t hurt him,” Carter said, sounding amused. “We wouldn’t dream ofit, would we, Tye?”

“Never,”I replied, smiling because he called me by my name again.

After Carterhung up and got dressed, we were ready to go.

“Doyou have the car keys?” Carter asked me, tucking his gun into a holster.

Inodded and opened the front door for him. “Let’s go, babe.”

Hemade a face. “Please, don’t call me that, not even for fun.”

Ishook my head decidedly.

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