Page 48 of Stay in Your Lane!

“Nope.” The guy popped the “p” on the word. “And I wish we didn’t have to. It’s better that guys like you don’t meet people like me, Everett.”

O…kay. “What kind of person are you?” I asked. It felt like the logical question, but the guy just turned his eyes back to the photo wall.

“It looks like you and your family do good work,” he said. “And I understand your business license is up for renewal.”

“Um.” Was it? I didn’t stay up on those details, that was all Dad.

“It would be a real loss to the community if that renewal didn’t go through.”

Was this guy from the city? “Is that a possibility?” As far as I knew, our finances were in the black and we didn’t have any citations for anything.

“Anything is a possibility when people start messing with things that don’t concern them.” The guy turned back to me and put a hand on my shoulder, then squeezed.Hard.

“Ow!” I tried to pull away but he didn’t let go, and oh, shit, I finally got it. This was a shakedown, a warning, exaction, blackmail—maybe not blackmail, but?—

“You need to leave well enough alone, you hear me?” The man’s voice was low and menacing. “No more asking questions about the dead, not unless you want things to get bad for you and your family. Got it?” I stared down at the floor, silently freaking out and unable to say a word as the pain got worse and worse. “I said, yougot?—”

“Detective Reardon?”

The guy let go of me immediately and turned toward the newcomer—Leanne, standing in the door in her white coat and holding an embalming scalpel in one hand. She looked calm and relaxed, but she didn’t lower the scalpel as she stepped into the office. “I thought I recognized you,” she continued in a friendly voice. “We met at the department’s Christmas party last year, remember?”

“Right, right,” the guy—thedetective, apparently, holy shit—said, perfectly level. “You came with Mr. Walsh. Sorry to hear about the breakup.”

Her smile went brittle. “Thanks. How can we help you today, Detective? Have you suffered a loss?”If you haven’t yet, you’re about to, her voice warned.

“Nothing of the sort, just…went for a walk, decided to pop in and look around. You two have a nice day.” He gave us one last smile, then walked out with a merry jingle of the bell.

My sister was beside me in an instant. “Everett, what was that all about?” She might not have heard what he’d been saying, but she could read body language better than most people.

I didn’t know what to tell her, so I mumbled something about having a headache and escaped to the kitchen. What could I tell my sister? That we were being threatened by a cop because I was trying to prove an innocent man was murdered? No way, I couldn’t tell her that. I needed to think up a decent lie, but my mind was too full of the last thing I’d seen before the detective left.

I was too scared to focus on anything but that pair of black Air Force 1s on his feet.

Shit.

CHAPTER 14

KYLE

Iwas kind of stupid for Everett.

Who was I kidding? I wasreallystupid for him.

It had been a long time since I’d dated anyone, and I didn’t do hookups, so it had also been a long time since I’d touched someone. Since someone had touched me.

Since someone had kissed me.

I’d thought Everett was just going in for a single goodnight kiss, and maybe he had been, but the next thing I’d known, we’d been making out on my couch. Had he not pried himself away so he could sleep before work, I was almost sure we would’ve ended up sleeping together. And since when was I the kind of guy who had sex with someone the same night we kissed for the first time?

Since I met Everett, apparently.

But it hadn’t happened last night, and now I was losing my stupid mind waiting until we saw each other again. Which was a good feeling—one I hadn’t had in way too long—except for one tiny detail.

I needed to focus on my job.

I’d been roused at quarter-to-fuck-you this morning with an urgent job. According to the woman on the phone, a man had died in an industrial accident, and now that the investigation was completed, they needed the scene cleaned ASAP. The plant had been running at half capacity ever since the accident while the investigation went on, and the company was hemorrhaging money thanks to the lost production. Now that the scene had been released, they needed this workstation cleaned so it could get back up and running.

I wondered what the poor victim’s family would think if they knew how frustrated the company was that they’d lost money while OSHA figured out if they were to blame for the death.

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