Page 38 of Parting Shot

“Yeah, but⁠—”

“And then Max said, ‘Oh no, Duncan would never come to my home or yours.’”

I made a noise of agreement.

“Duncan,” he said my name coldly. “Not Detective Stiel but just Duncan, like you two are old friends.”

“Yeah,” I said dryly. “We’re not friends.”

“But Max was just so certain you would never show up at his home, let alone mine.”

“No, of course not,” I agreed, annoyed suddenly. As though I were not a man of my word. Who did he think he was talking to?

“Of course not,” he repeated.

Long silence that I wasn’t sure what to do with.

“Aaron?” I finally said to check if he was still on the phone.

He inhaled deeply.

“What’s this all about?”

“Well, it seems that you and Max both saw this as a foregone conclusion.”

“You lost me.”

“The fact that you would never come to my home—apparently, both you and my brother were certain it was impossible.”

“Right. I would never. I told him to tell you that. I promised him, and I promised you.”

“I see.”

“I would never put you in that spot. It would be reckless and selfish and⁠—”

“But I didn’t know that.”

“I’m sorry?”

He cleared his throat. “I said, I didn’t know that.”

“Didn’t know what?”

“That you and Max had spoken,” he said, clipping his words. “Because you see, I, unlike the two of you, was not privy to that conversation. I wasn’t part of that decision.”

I got up and walked away from the food truck, where I had been standing with Jimmy. “Listen, in the hospital, I⁠—”

“You were in the hospital?”

“You know I was. You just⁠—”

“Is that why you didn’t call?”

“No,” I snapped. “I didn’t call because I was held for five days, and I took a bullet, and I had my arm broken, and then I was in the hospital, and⁠—”

“You were held?” His voice cracked.

“Aaron,” I said gently, “we don’t need to⁠—”