Page 33 of Donovan's Men

Fuck my life.

Fuck Rutger Lewis.

Well, yeah. The guy was one fucking asshole. And a dangerous criminal who led the department on a two-day goose chase through the city while we tried to catch him.

Mariah and I’d barely finished interviewing Meggibeth Smythe when a call came in for all hands on deck. A gangland shooting had taken place, and Rutger, the leader of one of the gangs in question—and our lead suspect—was in the wind.

Two days in, a nosy neighbor in Lower Lonsdale, over in North Vancouver, called in a tip about the strange new guy next door. If we hadn’t been desperate, I wasn’t certain we’d have followed up. But a cop in North Van had a hunch. A SWAT team was called in, but Rutger surrendered peacefully.

We’d been ordered home to sleep, and since the homicides hadn’t been my case, I’d gladly obeyed.

Friday morning, Cole’s doctor called to say I could interview him.

My call to Mariah was answered with ano fucking way, I’m sleeping for a month.

I headed to St. Paul’s by myself. I hoped to see Donovan, but Michael and Caressa flanked Cole when I entered his room.

Hesitantly, I approached the bed.

Michael visibly bristled, his hand going protectively to Cole’s shoulder. He made a sound low in his throat—almost like a growl.

Caressa flanked Cole, her pale-blue eyes wary.

I held up my hand. “Just here to ask Cole a few questions. I promise I won’t be long.”

Carefully, I took Cole through his entire relationship with Meggibeth. Absolutely no red flags except that she appeared to have been extra attentive to him. Her appearance at the gala on Saturday night had been a surprise since tickets were quite expensive, but Cole had again brushed off any notion something might be wrong.

His recollection of the shooting was actually fairly good, given the trauma he’d suffered. Which brought us back to where we’d started—with Cole a little out of it and Caressa, with Michael, clearly wanting me gone. Still, a few more things remained.

“You’ve spoken to Donovan?” Cole cocked his head.

Heat rushed to my cheeks. “Uh, yes. I’ve spoken to Mr. Riggs. Several times. He’s been…most helpful.”Where is he going with this? Better to just move things along.“So you’re going to be released soon.”

Cole nodded.

“The watch commander will add a couple of drive-bys in your neighborhood. If anything suspicious happens, don’t hesitate to call.”

Caressa’s gaze shot to me, with her incisive eyes taking me back a proverbial step. “What are you suggesting?”

“That word’s gotten out about where Cole lives. We’ve had police cars driving by, and that seems to have deterred the press. But if they know Cole’s home, then it might take more…persuasive measures.”

“Fuck me.” Caressa’s invective appeared to startle both Cole and Michael.

I shrugged. “We’ll do what we can.” After closing my notebook, I pulled out a card.

My arm hung in the air as I gazed between Michael and Caressa. I was about to put it on the tray when Michael snagged it.

Our gazes clashed.

I read…anger? Disgruntlement? Annoyance? “If you think of anything else.”

“I doubt I will.” Cole’s brow unfurrowed. He took a deep breath and blinked. The blink was long and lazy. He appeared ready to go to sleep.

“Uh, thanks.” I met Michael’s gaze. “If you see Mr. Riggs…”

“We’ll tell him you saidhi.” Caressa grinned in a way that made me distinctly uncomfortable.

What has he said to them?I’d assumed he would be circumspect, but maybe I’d miscalculated on that count. Maybe he’d said something—done something—that led them to think more was going on.