Page 88 of Trigger

“As Ialready mentioned, Sophie was a quiet girl. She was shy, modest, andwell-behaved. Awkward around men.”

“Howlong have you worked together?” Carter asked him.

“Fortwo years, ever since I joined the staff as a security guard.”

“Wasshe the type to go clubbing?” I said, observing the photo of him holding abronze Olympic medal.

“Noway,” he replied, glancing at me. “It wasn’t her scene.”

“Whatwas her scene?” Carter asked him, scribbling into his notepad.

“A library?”The man suggested it as if it were the likeliest bet.

“So,she liked to read?” I concluded. “Was she a bookish girl? A daydreamer,perhaps?”

“Morelike someone who didn’t live life to the fullest.”

“Doyou think she would do something out of character?” Carter said, looking at theman. “Like behaving differently? Dressing differently? Visiting places that sheotherwise wouldn’t?”

Theman across from him nodded. “Oh, yeah. All the above.”

***

“So,Sophie Malik came to Allure with Luz, or she met him there,” Carter said,opening the car window to throw the leftover fries into the trash can. “Shewanted to be a party girl, a girl having fun, a city girl. She liked theattention she was getting in the club, and Luz encouraged her. Bob threw themout. After that, she went home, probably alone.”

“BecauseLuz wasn’t her type?” I said, finishing the rest of my burger.

“Morelikely because she wasn’t his type,” Carter replied, wiping away the ketchupfrom my lip with his thumb.

“Shewasn’t manly enough for him,non?” I said what was obvious.

“Yeah.I don’t think he killed her, but he probably saw the person who did it.”

“So,all roads lead to Luz,” I concluded, starting the car. “By the way, why are wegoing to Pete’s? Because I feel like sleeping. And cuddling. Let’s just gohome. Your place or mine?”

It wasa joke, but it also wasn’t. Sleeping in bed without him seemed more like hellthan an option since my housewarming party. He was so cuddly then. And drunk.But cuddly enough to let me get away with a few kisses I never thought wouldhappen. Did they mean something? Probably not, but they left a flicker of hopeinside me that made me tiptoe around him for the last few days while droppingsexual innuendos like a thirteen-year-old. But this was Dominic Carter, and Iwasn’t fucking it up by rushing things or imagining things. I was just… testingthe waters. Trying to dismantle the bomb without getting blown up.

“Neither.”Carter answered my question that I already forgot. “And we’re going to Pete’sbecause Officer Slade invited us for a round of drinks. After you suggestedit.”

Ifrowned. “I did?”

“Youdid.”

“Fuckinghell.”

Halfan hour later, we were sitting in a crowded bar, celebrating the arrival of anew officer in the LD as was customary.

“We’reglad you’re here, Slade,” Bruce said, munching on potato chips. “We are acolorful bunch, but you will learn our shades with time.”

JordanSlade smiled awkwardly, resting his elbow on the table and almost knocking downAdam’s beer in the process. The scowl Adam gave him made his smile disappear.

“Whatdoes that mean?” Jordan mumbled, avoiding Adam’s glare.

Bruceshrugged. “It’s the LD. We’re all different, but kinda the same. I, forexample, took a bribe, mostly to feed my morbid obesity. Adam punched hissuperior because he called him a bully with no friends. John Smith fabricatedthe autopsy reports for the Albanian mob. And our sweet Shelly was caughtstealing heroin from the evidence locker.”

“I wasbeing blackmailed,” Shelly said, defending herself. “They were threatening mewith my daughter. I had no choice.”

“Tyestuck his dick into someone he wasn’t supposed to,” Bruce continued, “andCarter almost killed a person. And yourself?”

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