Page 46 of Detectives in Love

“Newt.”

“Yeah?” I snap back to the present, my throat dry.

Xavier watches me for a second, then silently hands back my phone.

The screen lights up with a message from an unknown number:

It was so nice to see you! Would you like to grab coffee today? — Katie

My heart skips a beat. Not because I’m happy to get a text from Katie at five a.m.—I’m not—but because the timing sucks. It feels weird that Xavier saw it.

When I glance up, he’s already heading for the door.

“Xavier,” I call after him, not even sure what I want to say—just not ready for him to go.

He stops. “Yes?” His eyes meet mine for half a second, then shift away, landing somewhere near the floor.

I hesitate but say nothing.

“If the pain gets worse, wake me,” he says quietly.

I nod. Then he walks out, and his footsteps fade into the hall.

CHAPTER 8. TANGLED

I wake to a blur of voices, all crashing through my skull like echoes from some half-formed dream. For a few disoriented seconds, they tangle with the fading images in my head—Willand standing in one of Rishetor’s labs, Xavier wrapped around Katie Fairfax…

I blink up at the ceiling, washed pale by soft light. Why am I on the living room couch instead of in my bed? Why does my body feel like lead? And more importantly—what’s with all the yelling?

Slowly, the fog clears, and I make out the source of the noise: Xavier and Willand, arguing by the front door.

“Xavier, this is my case. I told you to stay out of it,” Willand says, clearly pissed.

“Well, if you only noticed the missing documents last night, I’m guessing you haven’t been working too hard on it,” Xavier replies.

“You stole my files, went behind my back, and broke into a city crematorium in the middle of the night. Do you even hear yourself?”

“Oh, calm down. I’mthisclose to cracking the case. I just need one more visit to the Rishetor center, that’s all.”

“Not happening.”

“But—”

“No, Xavier. Step one foot in Rishetor and I’ll have you locked up until this case is closed. So do me a favor—take the damn day off, get some rest—”

“Take the day off?!”

“—or work on the Bridge case. But if I catch you near Rishetor again—”

“God, you’re such a killjoy, Willand…”

“I mean it, Xavier!”

The door slams with a bang. I push myself up on my elbows, voice still groggy. “What’s going on?”

“Willand found out about our little nighttime adventure,” Xavier mutters, turning toward me but not quite meeting my eyes. “And naturally, he’s blaming me for all of it.”

“Well, it was your idea,” I point out, sitting up on the couch. “What time is it?”