Wanting the Detective

Chapter 9

Lucy took her time dressing and styling her hair after a long shower. She wasn't in a rush to face the awkwardness she was sure to encounter when she met Kurt downstairs. How could she have been foolish enough to think he wanted her? He had everything: a great job, beautiful family, nice house. To top it off he was unbelievably good looking. He probably turned down offers like hers every week. Heck, maybe she was cramping his style by staying here.

Suck it up. She swallowed hard and descended the stairs. This wasn't about either of them. It was about Dawn. Lucy would work with anyone in any situation if it meant getting closer to finding her sister.

She found Kurt pacing the space between the kitchen and dining room with his phone to his ear. He placed a finger to his lips as she entered. "I agree—throw it away... I know where that is, get there as soon as you can and we'll meet you." Kurt paused for a moment. "The agent I was with the other day... No, she's fine. Calm down, Pinter! I'm on my way, okay?" Kurt ended the call and stuffed the phone in his jacket pocket.

Lucy slid her feet into her loafers and grabbed her shoulder holster. "What's going on?"

"Get your gun and let's go. You wanted something to happen today. It's happening."

His words stung, but only for a moment before the excitement of a possible development in her sister's case took over. She followed Kurt to the garage and slipped her arms through her holster.

Kurt swore under his breath and yanked the garage door open. What had been a minor annoyance was suddenly a major setback.

Lucy holstered her gun as she watched Kurt check himself over to be sure he had everything.

They both climbed into Kurt's car and he backed out of the garage with surprising speed.

Her heart thundered in her chest. "What's going on?" She strapped herself in as Kurt sped down the highway.
His focus remained glued to the road. He either hadn't heard her or didn't care enough to answer.

They were silent for several minutes as Kurt navigated the rural highways and exits that would connect them to the Georgia 400.

"Talk to me!" Lucy felt as though she didn't know him. He was suddenly abrupt—too determined on the task at hand to give her the courtesy of filling her in on what was happening.

He was silent for a moment before answering. "We're headed to Oakland Cemetery. That was Pinter on the phone. He decrypted Dawn's SD card a couple days ago, found a bunch of crooked bookkeeping data on it, and decided to talk to Thames about it before me." Kurt shook his head and inhaled sharply through his nose. He floored the gas pedal as he merged precariously between two cars onto I-85.
Lucy grabbed the dash to steady herself.

Kurt continued, oblivious to the fact he was driving like a lunatic. "So, some 'FBI agent' from Knoxville shows up the next day and asks for the SD card plus any other copies he has of the data. He claims there was some covert investigation happening and the FBI is worried about the Police Department screwing things up for them."

"Did Pinter explain why he didn't contact you with any of this information?" This was big. Why would Pinter have kept this information from the man who commissioned it?

"Because he didn't trust you!" Kurt laughed, it was a cynical sound that made Lucy's heart constrict. Was the opinion of a colleague Kurt didn't particularly like enough to make him doubt her—or was his sudden aloofness to do with the awkwardness that still remained from the kiss they shared a few hours ago?

Could she still count on him?

She shook her head and glared at Kurt. "Yet you're bringing me to meet him with you."