not leaving my face. “I thought I told you to stop investigating outside of legal theory and online databases?”
I really didn’t like being told what to do. My hackles rose, and I had to shove them back down, considering this was my boss. At least for the moment. “Because I’m a woman?” Yep. I went right there.
To my surprise, he paused as if thinking it over. “No. That’s not it.” He took another deep drink. “It’s a couple of things. One, we have both the DEA and the state police on this investigating, and our jobs don’t come into play yet. Two, you’re green, Anna. Brand new at this. You shouldn’t even be in the deep end of the pool right now.”
When his pause went on for too long, I lifted my chin. “And three?”
“You’re a magnet for trouble.” He handed my coffee back to me. “I’ve been a prosecutor for almost a decade, and not once have I had to climb a tree to escape a guy with a gun.”
Well. Since he put it that way. I took another drink of my coffee, enjoying the extra hit of vanilla flavor Tessa had given me. I hadn’t even told her about my sleeping with Aiden yet. Then I looked at the board, and at Aiden’s picture right in the middle. “Who are Bert, Chris, and the Third Street Boys? Another motorcycle club?”
“No. Street gang with connections up and down the west coast. They run drugs and guns and everything else.” He took a drink of the coffee. “My guess is that they’re competing for Beast, and the best way to do that is to kidnap the chemist. Why they shot at either Randy or Devlin outside the courthouse, I don’t know.”
My eyebrows lifted. “You think they were at Melvin’s to kidnap him because he’s the chemist?”
“Don’t see why else they would’ve been there.”
My face hurt, and I tried not to mess with the bruise. “Melvin is probably in hiding.”
“Wouldn’t you be?” Nick asked.
I wanted to be right now. Instead, I squared my shoulders and studied the board. “Have you found a stronger connection or any more proof of criminal activity between the Lordes, Scot Peterson, and Melvin Whitaker?”
Nick gave a low grunt. “No. Closest I’ve gotten is that those two morons shot at Randy Taylor, or at Aiden Devlin, and then they showed up at Melvin’s house to chase you into a tree.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”
“We have a possible manufacturer of Beast in Melvin, dealers and money guys in the Lordes and Devlin, and what in Scot Peterson? What’s his connection as the former and now dead prosecutor?” Nick shook his head. “I’ve gone through his finances with everything I have, and there’s nothing amiss.”
“Maybe Scot was innocent,” I said, looking at his picture. “Just because he met with both Melvin Whitaker and Aiden Devlin doesn’t mean he was a co-conspirator in the drug trade.”
“There’s no other explanation,” Nick countered.
Well. If there was one, I hadn’t found it. “Maybe.”
“Do you still think Devlin is innocent?” Nick drawled.
After the revelations of the previous night? That he had been stealing cars as a kid? “I’m not saying he’s a perfect citizen,” I murmured. “But drug dealers are bad, and I can’t see him being bad.” What was it Aiden had said? Nobody was all good or all bad. “I don’t think he could’ve killed anybody.”
Nick shook his head and then glanced at his watch. “I have felony arraignments in ten minutes. You?”
“Misdemeanor first appearances in half an hour.” It seemed odd to be going through the motions of my job when so much more was at stake right now.
Nick turned just as I licked extra syrup off my bottom lip. He blinked. Then his gaze dropped to my mouth, and I swear, my upper lip tingled. What was wrong with me? Aiden’s lips had just been on me.
“I’m your boss,” Nick murmured.
Heat spiraled through me. “Yeah. You’ve told me that quite a few times.”
“I don’t even think I like you,” he said, his eyes a very intriguing amber color.
Some of the heat dissipated. “Ditto.” And I meant it. Okay, kind of. He was likable in an intense, ambitious, possibly narcissistic way.
He shook his head and focused on my eyes. “Good ole Detective Grant Pierce asked me if you’re seeing anybody.”
I jerked, my brain spinning. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope. Seemed really unhappy to be asking the question, but he did it anyway.” Amusement lifted the corners of Nick’s mouth. “He’s way too old for