Page 54 of Criminally Yours

“And I’m sorry for the things I said and did.”

Strike wiped the tears staining Millie’s cheeks with his thumb as she twisted the tool to its breaking point.

“Strike said you went through some stuff at home,” Millie stuttered.

“Yeah.” Casey’s voice was tight. “But it’s no excuse.”

“We all do stuff we regret as teenagers,” Millie replied. Strike’s brow furrowed, but she looked at the roof. He clicked his fingers. He wanted her eyes on him. She raised her brow as she stared back. “You’re helping people in your job now, and you probably saved my life today.”

“I guess.”

“If you want to chat about the past and what was going on, call Strike sometime, and we can speak,” Millie said.

“Thanks, that’s kind. I’ll take you up on that.” Exhaustion threaded through Casey’s voice.

“Counsellor curse. I always want to support people. And it might help me move on, too,” she said.

“Okay.” Casey sighed. “So the shooter disappeared quickly, but he left forensics, including DNA. It’ll take a while to get it through the system, and we might not get a match, but I promise I will find him. They used a shotgun. Only an amateur would use a shotgun.”

“Professionals use rifles,” Strike confirmed.

“So it was Hugo?” Millie’s voice wobbled.

“Probably. But I want to know who told him where we’d be,” Strike replied. “There are no trackers on this vehicle. We checked.”

“Millie, I recommend Strike take you to a safe place. I don’t want to know where. The fewer people who know, the better. You need to bed down while we do forensics. We need a reason to bring Hugo in for questioning, and without your statement or proof, we can’t.”

“In the meantime, Luke will continue to work on Millie’s phone to get the video. We will get this bastard,” Strike said, flexing his spare hand. Tension still twisted his organs.

“I’ll be in touch. Stay safe, everyone.”

The phone went dead.

“I guess you two are going to Cornwall,” Cam stated.

Millie twisted her tool quicker. “Strike, please come in the back so I can sort out your wound.”

He couldn’t deny her anything.

“I’ll drive us to the safe zone while she fixes you up,” Cam said with a shrug.

Strike climbed back in the car and pressed himself against Millie. She nudged her glasses up her nose as Cam started the car.

“This is going to hurt.” She dabbed a sterile wipe around his wound. A crease formed beneath her eyes, and he pushed a tendril of hair away from her face.

At her brief smile, he hissed. “Are you enjoying hurting me?”

His hand gripped her thigh, his fingers digging into her flesh. He squinted at her swallowing throat. “Do you have a pain kink, Doc?”

She shook her head and smiled. “No, but you have a danger one.” She cleaned the area around the wound with antiseptic.

He winced and grumbled.

“I thought they called you the robot,” she said, applying a temporary plaster.

The softness of her fingers had him sneaking a look at her lips. His fantasies teetered between her open mouthed and on her knees to him holding her close as they snuggled.

“I guess I can’t be one around you.”