wouldn’t believe they had the right man.”
“What makes you say that?” I asked, following in behind.
He glanced over his shoulder at me, signs of frustration sat hard in his jaw. “He is as sweet as apple pie.” He looked ahead of him again and picked up his stride.
This didn’t surprise me. I’d witnessed this very same thing a dozen times over through the years as an interrogator. “Why do the crazy ones always have to be so damn nice?”
Kellen smacked my ass. “That’s how you know it—no one sane is ever that nice.”
I jumped forward from the hit and banged into Mike’s back. “Oops, sorry,” I said, peeling myself off his back.
Mike peeked over his shoulder and gave me a chastising look. “Focus please.”
I grinned shamefully. “Sorry.” Then snapped my gaze back to glare at Kellen and whispered, “Do you mind?”
Kellen shook his head completely unashamed. “Don’t mind at all.”
Chase’s grin came quick as he took a step forward and said in a low deep tone,
“Actually, don’t mind if I do.” Then he walloped my ass—hard.
I gasped and shot forward again landing right into Mike’s back again. He spun around, glowering. “Hadley, pull it together.”
“I’m sorry,” I retorted, rubbing my butt. Chase’s hit hurt. I took a glance around to make sure no one had seen it, which they hadn’t. I should have known that Chase wouldn’t have taken such a risk as to expose himself. I met his amused gaze. “Stop that.”
I looked to Kellen. “The both of you.” They just grinned at me in return. I might be annoyed, but it was hard to watch them both grin at me like that and not respond to it. I finally resigned and grinned back. “Just save it for later.”
Their grins grew with all types of sultry promise.
Up ahead, Mike stopped at the truck, held open his door, but didn’t get in. “What did you find out at the hospital?” he asked me.
“Oh…um…” Shit, I hated being put on the spot and lying. I never did it well like Chase could. “We ah…located the hospital Chad was in.” Okay, I was about to feed him a ton of bullshit but it would make our delay more believable. “We went there and spoke with the nurse. The, umm, the doctor wasn’t in, but is going to meet with us now.”
Mike looked solemnly. “Not much good it would have done anyway, we didn’t have a warrant. I doubt he would have talked to you. Luckily, I just got the warrant from the judge. It’s in the glove compartment.” He gestured for Chase to get into the driver’s seat.
“Go on then. Get what you need and meet us at the station then Hadley can interrogate this McKinney. I’ll catch a ride with the Chief. Let’s just hope that Sabrina Stopforth is in better shape than this young lady.”
If I had a heartbeat, it would’ve started pounding. This was the part of the job I loved. The adrenaline that I was sure I’d been feeling now, if I could.
We started a race that I was ready to win.
Chapter Eleven
An hour later, Chase was nestled in the backseat sound asleep. He might be upset with me later for the whole mind-warping bit, but he needed the rest. This whole situation had drained him. He looked beyond exhausted and I could see it wearing on him. Using a little mind control for his benefit was nothing I would feel bad about.
“There it is,” Kellen said, pointing out the front window.
I followed his gaze to see a large decorated wooden sign that read, Aurora Psychiatric Hospital.
“Pfft, some hospital. Being nutty sure keeps you well.” The building resembled more of an upscale suburban bungalow than anything that could be classified as a hospital. I straightened up in my seat and glanced back to Chase. “Wakey, wakey, rise and shine.”
Chase immediately sprang up, glanced around, his brows furrowed in confusion. He leaned forward slightly, glanced at the clock to see it read, four a.m. He blinked a couple more times, then turned his speculative gaze on me.
I laughed in response and quickly added, “You needed the rest and trust me, you didn’t miss anything.”
His eyes squinted into nothing and the muscles in his jaw flexed. “You gave Kellen shit for doing that earlier.”
I looked at Kellen, who only grinned at me in return. Immediately, a serious pout settled across my face. Now there was going to be two against one. This might not be such a good idea after