he said, not so mildly. “From now on, let the detectives investigate, or your butt will be out on the street so fast you won’t have time to call your grandmas with the news before they hear it from the grapevine. Got it?”
Why did I get the feeling that Nick had been somewhat gentle with me so far? I wanted to get irritated or protest, but I was just so tired—and wet. And kind of scared in general. “Fine.” It was a sucky answer. I was saved from having to redeem myself when Detective Pierce strode into the interrogation room and slapped a case file down on the table. I jumped as high as Cheryl did at the sound.
He didn’t go easy on her, but she held tight to a story of not knowing a thing about drugs running through the spa. Finally, when Pierce confronted her about the two joints she’d left for me in the locker, she turned and glared at the window. I barely kept from stepping back. “You bitch,” she said, looking so different from the smiling woman who’d given me a pedicure that my toes started to ache.
I sipped more of my coffee.
“Fine,” she muttered. “I had a couple of joints, and this bitch was hurting so much after having her entire pubic area waxed smooth, that I felt sorry for her. I gave them to her, so it wasn’t a sale or a distribution. It was one woman helping another.” She glared harder, focusing somehow close to where I stood. “I hope you get ingrown hairs.”
I winced. Was that a possibility?
“There’s a lotion called ‘Smooth Lava’ that will make sure you don’t,” Nick said matter-of-factly by my side.
Heat ripped into my face, which only got hotter when Pierce turned and looked over his shoulder at me, his gaze both interested and irritated. Great. Now everybody knew I was clean shaven. “How does he know where I’m standing?” I whispered.
Nick shrugged. “Good guess?” He started to say something else and caught himself, snapping his mouth shut. Probably something about my smooth bikini area, which as my boss, he couldn’t say.
I didn’t ask what comment he’d held back.
Through the glass, Detective Pierce flipped open the top of a manila file and pushed a photograph toward Cheryl. “We found Randy a couple of hours ago,” he said. “This is what he looks like now.”
She froze, her gaze on the photo. All the color faded from her already pale face. Then she lifted her head, her face hardening, and sat farther back in her chair with her arms crossed. “I’m done.”
“Tell me everything, and we’ll protect you,” Detective Pierce urged, leaning toward her.
“Like you protected Randy?” she asked, her shoulders hunching. “Not in a million years.” Tears gathered in her eyes, and she wiped them away as if in slow motion. “You idiots have no idea what’s going on.”
“Then tell us,” Pierce said. He worked Cheryl hard for another hour, but she didn’t give a thing up.
Nick finally entered the room, his gait casual and his position obvious, even in the sweatsuit. “I’m the prosecuting attorney, and I’ll get you a deal. Protect you.”
She eyed him head to toe. “Right. You can do that?”
“Yeah. Work with me.” His voice was low and sure, his manner comforting. At least it would be to me, but I wasn’t in the hot seat right now. Not really.
She blinked. “Wh-what do you want to know? I’ve just seen the pot. Honest.”
Man, Nick was good. The woman was already opening up to him. He didn’t look at Pierce. “Ah, sweetheart. You already know I don’t give a shit about marijuana,” he murmured.
Pierce’s head swiveled, and his brows drew down as he studied Nick. But he didn’t say anything. What the heck was happening? I moved closer to the glass; my heart kicking awake even though I was clueless. Why was Pierce looking irritated and curious at the same time?
Cheryl scowled, her pink lips drawing back. “It’s all about pot. That’s what I have. What do you mean?”
“Let’s just say I want to bake a nice loaf of bread,” Nick drawled.
I wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but Cheryl paled even further. Fine blue lines showed beneath the thin skin on her forehead. “I want a lawyer,” she blurted out, her voice shaking.
What the heck?
Nick cocked his head. “I know what you know, lady. Tell me everything, and I’ll protect you. It’s too late to play dumb.”