Page 74 of Endure the Pain
I arched a brow. “Why don’t you enlighten me?”
Cameron looked more than ready to tell me, until his attention moved to look behind me. He stepped to the side to get a better look at Brenna, who had been quietly watching us. “What about you? Did you see anything or anyone?”
She shook her head.
“What were you two doing together and how do you know each other?” Cameron asked, flicking his fingers between Brenna and me.
Brenna’s demeanor shifted to that of a teenager, full of attitude. The way she looked down her nose at him reminded me of the stuck-up bitches I'd gone to high school with. It made me proud. “We’re cousins and we were shopping.”
Cameron didn’t seem pleased with the way Brenna was snubbing him because his voice turned grumbly. “What stores did you shop in?”
Brenna rolled her eyes. “We went to all the stores. Haven’t you even been to the mall? That’s kind of what you’re supposed to do.”
“What did you buy?” he pressed.
“Do you have a point you're trying to get to, Detective? Because I don’t see how you knowing that we boughtbras and panty sets from Victoria’s Secret pertains to someone blowing up my car,” I snapped.
Cameron ignored me. “Did you see your cousin talk to anyone suspicious or maybe give them something?”
I put myself in front of Cameron, blocking him again from Brenna. “What the hell are you getting at?”
“I’ve noticed you’ve been spending a lot of time at McLoughlin’s, your uncle’s bar. I’ve seen a lot of interesting people visit him there. The kind who are known to have dealings in drugs. Want to tell me why you keep showing up there?”
Well, that was both informative and alarming at the same time. He'd let it slip that he knew what McLoughlin’s was used for. That meant it was time for a new place to store the cocaine. He'd also told me he’d been watching me, which was fucking creepy. “It’s a bar owned by my family. The drinks are cheaper.”
“So you go there to drink?” he reiterated.
“Well, it’s what they serve,” I said.
“Aren’t you pregnant?” Brooks asked, breaking his silence.
It took a whole lot of effort not to react. “I’m still waiting to hear the point behind this questioning and how it has to do with today.”
“Pregnant women aren’t supposed to drink alcohol,” Brooks added.
I let out an annoyed sigh. “So my doctor tells me.” The corner of my mouth twitched as I tried to contain the shit-eating grin I wanted to give Brooks. “But I never said what I drank.”
That seemed to piss him off.Nice try, baby cop.
I walked around Cameron toward the door and opened it wide. “I think we’re done here.” Dean and Will were standing out in the hall and perked up when they saw me. I gestured with a wave of my hand for the detectives to leave. They didn’t move, which pushed my hormonal pregnant buttons. “You’re not here to ask me about today’s incident. All you want to do is accuse me of shit. Therefore, we won’t be answering any more questions without my lawyer present. So please, fuck off.”
“We’ll be in touch, Miss Quinn,” Cameron grumbled as he passed me. I watched as he beelined for the officers who had taken my and Brenna’s statements, standing by the nurse’s desk. Detective Brooks' walk slowed as he passed Dean. They glared at each other and I almost missed the tiny tilt of Brooks’ head.
I quickly looked away, pretending I didn’t see anything. I stepped into the hall and approached Will. “Thank you for protecting me. I don’t want to thinkabout what would’ve happened if you hadn’t caught me when the blast sent me flying.”
Will gave me a curt nod. “Just doing my job.”
Out of my peripheral, I noticed Brooks leave and turn down another hall. “Still, thank you,” I said.
“I’ll be right back,” Dean said to Will, and my stomach sank as I watched him turn down the same hall as the detective.
“Watch over Brenna,” I told Will and followed after Dean. As I went to turn down the hall he and Brooks had ventured down, I had to jump backward before I was seen because they both were standing right there. I leaned my back against the wall and peeked around the corner a little to see if I could listen to their discussion because they were whispering.
“You volunteered for this assignment, remember?” Brooks seethed at Dean. “You’ve been working for them for almost a year and you expect me to believe you haven’t heard or seen anything?” Brooks put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “They flipped you—no,sheflipped you. You’ve changed since you started working for Maura.”
“I told you that she has nothing to do with this,” Dean said angrily.
“She has everything to do with this,” Brooks snappedloudly. “I warned you not to fuck me on this. We erased your entire history as a cop so you could go undercover. All you have is me to pull you out of this when we take the Quinns down. Who’s to say I won’t leave you to rot with them?”