why I’m feeling so damn rotten. I can’t help it. It bothers the hell out of me. I want to be there for you.”
He meant it. There could be no mistake. In spite of the anger and indignation she had been feeling toward him, she knew that he would never do anything to hurt her. They had been close for too long; she had shared confidences and stories with him that she had never shared with anyone else. They had saved each other’s lives, watched each other’s backs, and lately she had even made the idiotic mistake of having sex with him. You couldn’t go through all that with a man without knowing him. And she wouldn’t pretend she didn’t believe him because he’d been a complete asshole to her. “Okay, you know how I feel,” she said curtly. “Two wonderful, caring people died for no good reason. None of it makes sense. But I’ve got to make sense of it or I won’t be able to stand it.”
“I know you won’t.” He paused. “Any clues?”
Blood on the fence posts. That bit of malicious mockery in her own car today. “Nothing definitive. Sorry to disappoint you. But you only threw me into this case yesterday. What can you expect?”
“You hesitated. Which means I might expect practically anything. And you know I didn’t mean to throw you into a situation that might hurt you. You realize I’m apologizing.”
“An apology from you is so rare that I’m having trouble recognizing it. I didn’t get one when you got me kicked out of Kabul.”
“And you won’t get one. I did what I thought was best. This is different.”
“You bet it is,” she said wearily. “And I can only deal with one problem at a time. Getting back to Afghanistan will have to wait. I’ll accept your apology for getting Griffin to drag me into this particular case because I would have become involved the minute I heard about the murders anyway. So forget about it, Lynch. This is my show now and I won’t have your interference. Think positive. For once I’m doing exactly what you wanted me to do.”
“No, you’re not. But that might come with time and effort.” He said softly, “Have a good dinner with Olivia. I’m glad she’s with you. Let me know if you want to talk. I promise I’ll accept any tongue-lashing, keep quiet, and not offer advice.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”
“You can never tell.” He chuckled, and she could almost see those brilliant blue eyes gleaming with mischief. “Try me.”
He cut the connection.
And she felt suddenly alone without that vibrant, crackling presence reaching out to her. Very dangerous sign. It meant, though she found it hard to admit to herself, she might have become accustomed to the thought of Lynch’s betrayal. Not that it mattered. The anger was still there, it just meant that she was remembering Lynch as a whole personality and in spite of herself she’d been touched that he’d called when he’d realized she might be in pain.
But that might not be a good thing.
I can’t help it. It bothers me like hell.
And what bothered Lynch quite often ended up with interference and manipulation. All she needed was to have him looking over her shoulder and calling every night to check on her progress. Had she said anything that might have triggered his curiosity?
You hesitated.
It was what she hadn’t said, she realized with exasperation. And it was only a matter of time before Lynch tapped one of his sources and heard about that bomb scare today. If he hadn’t called Griffin this morning instead of later today, he might already have known about it.
Considering Lynch’s contacts, she couldn’t stop that from happening, but she could delay it.
She quickly punched in Griffin’s home number.
“I just got home, Kendra,” he said impatiently. “Couldn’t it wait until tomorrow?”
“I have no idea, but I’m not taking any chances. I just had a call from Lynch, and I didn’t want him phoning you and demanding a report. Since you seem to be in his pocket I figured you’d be the first one he’d call.”
“I’m not in his pocket,” Griffin said sourly. “We just have a mutually profitable arrangement that benefits us both. Though the bastard was almost nasty about all my efforts to do that when he phoned this morning. What did he expect? I gave him what he wanted.” He added, “And I gave you what you wanted, too.”
“Yes, you’re completely misunderstood. You acted just as