Page 14 of Trigger

“Shelly mentioned that everyone’s going to Pete’s after work,” Isaid once in the car, as Carter scrolled through his phone. “Are you coming?”

He tensed up, his fingers freezing on the screen.

“I don’t think so,” he said without looking up. “I have stuff todo.”

“Are you sure? Blowing off some steam sounds like fun.”

I wanted to befriend him, and to do that I needed him to let hisguard down. Plying him with alcohol sounded like a solution.

“Look, we’re not pals,” he said, pushing his cell into his pocket.“We have a job to do, and we’re going to do it, but I won’t socialize with you.I don’t even want to talk to you, man.”

“If this is about me mentioning your partner, I’m sorry about—”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it,” he interrupted me, openingthe car door.

My eyes widened in alarm when he got out of the car, ignoring thevehicles honking around him.

“What the hell?” I exclaimed. “Are you insane? Do you want to gethit by a car?”

“If that will shut you up, then yes.”

Carter

This damn town.

Crime-fighting was more an illusion than a possibility these days,and everyone knew it on some level. The innocents were being slaughtered, andthe other side was winning, while our hands were tied. Why? Because the badguys didn’t play by the rules, and we had to. Sophie Malik, for example. Shewas an innocent, and alone in the world. She didn’t deserve to end up the wayshe did… tortured and murdered in a town that didn’t give a damn.

Tye Thorsen was another enigma I couldn’t figure out. I rememberedAdam saying how he’s “built like a brick wall, but not too bright.” That wasbullshit. My new partner was quick-witted, shrewd, and perceptive. He had greatinstincts and, I strongly suspected, a photographic memory. The persona hecultivated, one of a clown and a buffoon, was all for show. As much as I wasreluctant to admit it, he intrigued me, and my thoughts kept returning to him.

“Brooding over the job again?” Shelly said, sitting on the edge ofmy desk.

I took off my glasses and rubbed the bridge of my nose, glad thatshe couldn’t read my mind.

“I got lost in thoughts. You okay?”

She opened her mouth to reply, but someone else beat her to it.

“Have you changed your mind about that drink, partner?”

The mirth in the annoying baritone made my teeth grit because, myGod, he was everywhere.

“No,” I replied, wondering how he could be so tireless in…whatever the hell he wanted from me. The ruder I was, the more persistent hewas. It was unfathomable. And unnerving.

“Shel, how about you? Are you coming?” Thorsen said, ruffling herhair and annoying the shit out of me. “I know you can’t stay away from me.”

Shelly blushed, glancing at me before replying.

“I have to finish something first.”

“Don’t take too long. And persuade the grumpy one here to joinyou.”

He winked at me before leaving as I rolled my eyes, feeling reliefwhen the door closed behind him. I was quick to anger on a good day, evenwithout him breathing down my neck.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Shelly said with a sigh.“It’s been a while.”

I actually wanted to have a drink with her and the guys, but notwith Thorsen being there. Then again, why shouldn’t I go to Pete’s just becauseof him? If someone wasn’t supposed to be there, it was him, not me. Who thehell invited him, anyway?

“Please,” Shelly pleaded. “If you come with me, I will do yourlaundry for a month.”

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