had sex with the dead man’s girlfriend. And you pulled a knife tonight, showing us all that you are extremely prone to violence. Kingston, I think you should turn him over to the cops.”
Kingston’s face hardened. “You know I don’t like cops, Chloe.”
“Yes, but I followed the trail and came here, and they will, too. If you cooperate, they’ll dig into your business less. They’ll just rip apart his life.” She pointed at Eli.
Horror flashed on Eli’s battered face. “No!”
“I assume you have businesses you don’t want the cops to know about?” Chloe didn’t seem overly sympathetic. “That’s unfortunate.”
“I didn’t kill Donnie—I swear! Yes, I know Cinnamon. She called me after she found the body. She was freaking out! We’d hooked up a few times, and she knew I could handle trouble.”
“You can’t handle shit,” Kingston fired at him.
Joel was in agreement with that assessment.
“I have an alibi! I can prove I didn’t do it! As for the ring…I had it before he died, okay? I can prove that, too!”
“You will need to prove that,” Chloe said in her cool British accent. “So be prepared to do so. Now if you will tell me—”
“Time’s up,” Kingston interrupted.
Her head whipped up. “But—”
“Your time is up. Take your doc and head out. Trust me on this, you’ll want to be clear of the Serpent very, very soon.” Kingston’s expression was unyielding.
“Fine.” She sure didn’t sound as if anything was actually fine with her. But she headed for Joel. He thought she seemed a little pale. “He means trouble is coming,” she whispered. “We need to get the hell out of here, now.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Let’s not find out.” She curled her fingers with his and pulled him back through the dimly lit hallway. She walked quickly, unerringly, as if she’d been there dozens of times before. They didn’t speak again until they’d exited the club. Sure enough, even though hours had passed, there was still a long line of eager people waiting to get inside.
“Not going to happen tonight.” She shook her head. Pulled out her phone and fired off a quick text. “Told Marie to pick us up on Decatur, near the Square. We can’t wait around here.” Her heels were clicking again as she hurried.
“Just what is going down here?” He wanted to know.
She didn’t speak.
“Chloe.”
“We need to be farther away. The Square is supposed to be closed at sundown, but I know a way we can cut through it and come out on Decatur. We’ll want to stay to the shadows that the Square will give us.”
Joel glanced over his shoulder. Didn’t see anyone following them or even looking their way, so why was she hauling ass so much and worrying about staying in the shadows? Her heels clicked faster as he kept pace with her, and when they neared the Square and a streetlamp sent light spilling onto their path, Joel reached the end of his patience. “Enough.” He closed his hand around her arm and pulled her to a stop. He turned her around to face him. “Don’t you think I deserve an explanation?”
“Probably several.” She rose onto her toes and looked over his shoulder.
“No one is back there. No one is coming after us. Your boyfriend Kingston probably told them to stay away from you.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” She was still looking over his shoulder. “And I’m certain that I am under an order of protection from him, but I doubt he extended the same courtesy to you.”
“Sure. Right. No courtesy to me. Didn’t expect that to happen. So what if I helped his cousin?”
“Nephew.”
He waited for her gaze to come back to him.
She kept looking over his shoulder.
“I’m angry with you,” he growled. “You made me cross a line I never wanted to cross.”
Her gaze flew to his. “I did?”
“Don’t play innocent. We both know that’s not something you are.”
She bit her lower lip.
“You knew I didn’t want to sew up that guy.”
“Yes, but you have the skills so why let them go to waste?”
“Because it reminds me too much of—” He stopped. Let her go. “Screw it. Let’s go meet up with Marie. No, you meet up with her. I need space.”
Her hand rose and pressed to his cheek. “You can’t let what happened in the past force you to give up something you love. You aren’t a killer, Joel.”
Wasn’t he? “Tell that to the bastard I beat to death.”
She didn’t even flinch. “How many lives have you saved since you became a doctor?”