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“Because…” She walked a beer mat end over end on the counter.
Were they back to this? Mitch set his glass aside. “Because?”
“I had things to do.”
“Things like catch a taxi?” He lifted an eyebrow. “Travel clear across the city to—”
“You can be so irritating sometimes.”
Must be a caveman trait. “You’re not nearly as irritated with me as I am with myself. I made a big mistake trusting you.”
Her mouth dropped open. Shock flitted across her face, followed by guilt and some other emotion he couldn’t name. “You can trust me.”
“You prove that by running out on me, making me worry because I’ve just gotten a warning from Justin and I can’t find you?”
“Justin?” She latched onto his arm. “What happened?”
Mitch pried her fingers loose. “He was calling from a hospital somewhere. Told me he’d been attacked. Shot. By the drug dealer’s minions. He thinks that’s who they were.”
“Attacked?” Her face crumpled.
“He said they wanted to know where Les was. When he couldn’t tell them, they wanted to know where you were.”
“Me?”
“You’re the sister.”
“That doesn’t make sense, Mitch. Why would they ask Justin about me?”
“One of them could have seen him talking to us outside the old courthouse.”
She sucked in her lower lip, pressing her pretty mouth tight. “He seemed awfully nervous then. Do you think he knew he was being followed?”
“It sure would have helped if he’d mentioned it, but what would that have helped? We were already being careful.” Mitch popped another peanut in his mouth.
“We would have thought twice about going to the wharf to find Les.”
Mitch shook his head. “You never think twice.”
Her jaw tightened, and she went back to walking the beer mat on the bar. “Is Justin going to be okay?”
“He seemed to think so.” Mitch laid a hand on her shoulder. “Sounded like he might have police protection, so don’t worry. What are you doing here, anyway?” Here comes another stall.
“I got a message from my brother.” She tossed the coaster on the bar. “He asked me to meet him here.”
A straight answer. This had to be progress. “Why didn’t you answer my call and tell me?”
“I couldn’t answer because you’d have wanted to know where I was.”
Mitch tapped his fingers on the bar. “Would you have told me?”
“Yes. I’m no good at lying. I figured I’d have a better chance to convince Les to surrender if I was alone. Besides, he told me to come alone.”
“I could have met you here. Hung around in the background.”
“I saw how you were grappling with him in my kitchen when you tried to arrest him. I thought you might get mean.”
Mean? Her brother was the one who’d knifed him and Hal. “You know what I thought?”