Page 23 of Caution Tape

Well, he shoved him into the trunk of his car.

“Maybe your friend wasn’t a real friend to begin with,” he adds in.

“Oh, he had no choice in the matter. Trust me.”

“Let’s dig into that a little deeper,” he says, his eyes exploring mine eagerly. “He had no choice?”

“No. He didn’t.”

“Everyone has a choice, Cora.”

“You don’t understand,” I argue, my aggravation clear. “His choice was taken from him.”

“How so?”

Letting out a sharp breath, I shake my head, searching for the right words.

“For fuck’s sake,” I snarl impatiently. “It just was.”

“You’re upset,” he observes.

Finally, I glare at him. “No shit. You need a degree to make this obvious observation?”

“Have you talked to this other person?”

“Target Guy?” I ask, not even wanting to say his name.Fuck you, Nolan.

“Yes. Him. Perhaps you should tell him how you feel,” he suggests.

Or perhaps I should bury my knife between his shoulder blades while I watch as he cries out in agony and sheer desperation.

“Perhaps,” I say with a sadistic grin.

“Do you have feelings for this person, Cora?” he asks, catching me off guard. I blink at him, intermingled emotions of annoyance and disgust bubbling in my mind. “For either of them? Both?”

“That’s not possible,” I grit out, grinding my teeth. “I don’t have feelings for anyone. I hate everyone equally. Jerri was the exception.”

“And why is that?”

“Because he was my friend.”

“No. You said you don’t have feelings for anyone. That you hate everyone equally.”

“Jerri never fucking bothered me like most people do,” I snarl. “He never asked me stupid fucking questions, never once tried to change me, and he gave me space—“

“Why do you not allow yourself to have feelings for people, Cora?”

“Because they are useless. What’s the point of having them, anyway?”

“Experiencing feelings in their entirety is a normal part of life.”

“Well, I amnotnormal,“ I shoot back, watching him closely as he stands. He makes his way to where I’m positioned beside the window and stares into my eyes. “I’m the opposite of normal. You should know this.” Rolling my eyes, I groan. “God, Michael. You really suck at your job. I hope you know that.”

He chuckles, seeming to take it as if I were joking.

I shake my head at him. “Have you ever considered doing something else with your life? Something you’re actually good at?”

“For someone who doesn’t have feelings for anyone, you seem pretty upset about Jerri.”

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