Page 57 of Stay in Your Lane!

And somehow, taking care of me was that proper motivation.

I wasn’t sure what to do with that. Not after exes who’d thought it was an imposition when I didn’t want to fool around when I had the flu or when I felt shit-whipped after a particularly difficult job on a death scene.

I also didn’t have time to finish making sense of it when a sharp knock at my door startled me. “Shit. That’s… That has to be Colin.”

Everett stiffened, glancing at the foyer with wide eyes. “Are you sure it’s him?”

“I’m—” Okay, his paranoia was warranted, so I checked my Ring camera. What I saw on my porch step was both alarming and reassuring. Colin, yes, but I didn’t like how nervous and fidgety he was. Shoving my phone into my pocket, I headed for the door, throwing over my shoulder, “It’s Colin.”

I barely had the front door open before my brother stepped into the house and said, “We have to talk.”

“Uh…” I stood there stupidly for a second, then shut the door and faced him. I knew he wanted to talk, but the urgency caught me off-guard. “What’s going on?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and shifted his weight. “Why were you in the ER yesterday? What happened?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but right then, Everett stepped into the foyer. Colin tensed at first but he relaxed, evidently remembering him from before.

“Is the aquarium closed?” I asked Everett. It seemed like such a trivial thing to be thinking about right then, but I worried about my pets’ safety, and I’d be distracted if I didn’t know for sure they were safe.

“It’s closed.” Everett was unusually subdued and succinct, which made me even more nervous.

To my brother, I said, “Anyway. Uh. Something happened while I was on a job yesterday.” I moved us all into the living room, where I ran him through my encounter with Reardon, and the resulting injuries that had warranted a visit to the hospital.

By the time I was finished, Colin waswhite. His dark blue uniform only underscored how pale he’d become.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Yeah. Yeah.” He exhaled hard and raked a hand through his hair. After a moment, he pulled in a deep breath, rolled his shoulders, and looked at Everett, then me. “Listen. I need the two of you to stay away from the Leighton case.”

“What?” we both demanded.

“We can’t stay away from it!” Everett protested. “The cops are trying to write it off as a suicide and we know it’s not!”

“If we leave it alone,” I said, “does that meanyou’regoing to investigate it?”

My brother recoiled, eyeing me as if I’d suggested dunking his face in my fishtank. “No! No, we’re…” He glanced at Everett again, and he sighed as he faced me, his expression and voice turning plaintive. “The case is closed. It’s been ruled a suicide.”

“But it’s not a suicide!” I said. “And doesn’t it tell you something when adetectiveis making threats against people for it? I mean, doesn’t that mean someoneshouldlook into it?”

“I’m not saying I like it,” he threw back. “Because I don’t. I’m not?—”

“What happened to ‘protect and serve’?” Everett asked with a startling amount of venom.

Colin narrowed his eyes. “I protect my family above all else. And that includes the dumbass my brother is dating for some reason.” He flicked his gaze back and forth between us. “This is a lot hotter than you guys realize, and I need you to leave it the fuck alone.”

“But then what happens to Ricky’s case?” Everett pressed. “And what happens to Detective Reardon after he threatened me and…” He flailed a hand at me. “He put your own brother in the ER, dude! What the fuck?”

Colin looked like he was seriously considering backhanding Everett. Before I could insinuate myself between them and defuse the situation, he gritted out, “I don’t know yet. I really don’t. All I know at this point is that I don’t want my little brother or his stupid fucking boyfriend getting themselves killed. Once I know you two are out of the line of fire, I can figure something out. All right?”

Everett was clearly not happy about it. I wasn’t either, for that matter.

“But what the hell is going on?” I asked Colin. “Why is everyone so hands-off with this?”

“I’m not entirely sure.” Colin showed his palms. “I’m serious. I don’t know exactly what’s going on. But I can’t look into it if I’m also worried about the two of you getting caught in the damn crossfire.” He looked back and forth between us as he lowered his hands. “Promise me you’ll get out of the way and leave it alone. Then I will look into it. All right?”

Everett scowled. So did I.

“I will,” Colin insisted. “I promise. Because whatever’s going on—it’s fucked up. It’s seriously fucked up. But I need to focus on that, not worry myself sick over one of you dumbasses getting killed, too. Got it?”

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