Page 96 of Allure

Ashley shakes his hand and then gives me a hug, and I think she might sob as she pulls away. She quickly shuts the door and locks it.

That fucking mugger.

He’s done.

I’m going to see to it.

CHAPTER33

Declan and I are silent as we head back to our cars. He doesn’t move away from my side as I walk around to the driver’s side of my car.

“What are you planning?” he asks, his words soft but with an edge.

“Who says I’m—”

“You aren’t going to let this rest,” he says. “I know you.”

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out,” I say idly, not wanting to give him any credit for knowing me so well.

We stand there, Declan staring at me. I know because the heat of his gaze makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, mostly because I refuse to look at him.

“Have you learned anything about the case?” I mumble.

“Anything that might help us?” he asks pointedly.

I grimace. “There isn’t an ‘us,’” I point out.

“Yet you called me here to talk to Ashley with you. You could’ve talked to her yourself, but you wanted me here.”

I did. As much as I want to nail the mugger, I know I can’t risk trying to do it all alone. I’m not stupid.

I swallow hard. “I won’t disparage the police.”

“Because of my father.” He snorts. “The media is already raking them over the coals for having not caught the guy. You have every right to be upset that your attack is still out there, and worse, he’s still attacking others.”

“I have an idea,” I say slowly, finally looking up at him.

Declan’s staring at me. I can’t read his facial expression, or maybe I’m too much of a coward to want to read what his light brown eyes are trying to tell me.

“It’s not risky,” I continue. “Not if we play things right.”

“And how are we going to do that?”

“Well… do you think you can get your hands on something from the precinct?”

A muscle in his throat twitches, and I swallow hard, hating that I want to kiss that spot.

“I can’t swipe the file. Scanning it is one thing, and that alone could’ve gotten me and maybe my father into trouble.”

“I don’t want the file. We’re going to be putting ourselves in the line of fire…”

“Oh, shit.”

I grin. “Look at it this way. I bet your life is a hell of a lot more interesting since I came into it.”

“A hell of a lot more fucked-up you mean.”

“Ouch.” I rub the back of my neck, wishing that didn’t sting as much as it did.

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