Page 33 of Fatal Deception
The drive to the hospital was mostly silent. He turned the radio on at just enough volume to discourage speaking. Audra figured that was best. They’d probably just argue.
But in the silence, she found herself wondering about things she shouldn’t. Like his ex-wife. Like what kind of husband he’d been. Like the fact he had beenveryuncomfortable the other night around Magnolia.
He pulled into a parking spot in the front of the hospital. “What lie are you going to hand out for why you’re limping?” he asked as he shoved his car into Park.
“I’m not going to lie. I’m going to say I tripped and fell, which I did.”
“Over a damn grave hole,” he muttered.
“It wasn’t deep enough to be a grave hole.”
“Do you ever just let things go?”
“I leteverythinggo. You’re the one who doesn’t let things go.”
He just shook his head. “You got it from here?”
“Aren’t you coming in?”
“Nah, going to head into the station. I’ve got too much to do. Just text when you’re ready to head back.”
She hesitated then, knowing that she’d do best to stop thinking about him, wondering about him, poking into his personal life. She’d do best to treat him like what he was. A detective on a case she was involved in. Beginning and end.
She couldn’t manage it, because too many things added up, and now that she knew he had an ex-wife… She just had to know. “You don’t…have a child, do you?”
He didn’t look at her, stared straight ahead, his hands still on the steering wheel, but there was a tension in him. Still, his answer relieved some of hers. “No.”
“It’s just… You get a little…fidgety around Magnolia. When the topic of kids comes up, and now, you won’t even come in andsee the baby and… I just didn’t know if it’s something I should avoid. If—”
“I don’t have a kid,” he repeated. Stiffly this time, and with something in his eyes that she might have calledhauntedif she thought someone like Copeland had feelings.
Still, it wassomething. “But there’s a sore spot there?” she pressed, not fully recognizing herself. She wasn’t a presser. Though she did hate to accidentally tread on soft spots.
He sighed. It was the only sign he wasn’t fully made of stone. “Sure. Sore spot. Yeah.”
She couldn’t imagine what it meant, but it made her heart hurt for him. “Okay. I’ll be gentle around it.”
He glared at her. “I’m a tough guy, Audra. You don’t need to be gentle.”
But that was just silly. “Everyone needs a little gentle, no matter how tough they are.” She gave him a small smile. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
FIRST,COPELAND DROVEhome and packed a bag of his things so he could stop borrowing Audra’s dead dad’s stuff. Then he drove to the police station. Grumbled some greetings before he made it to the detectives’ office.
Where he would dive into work and forget aboutgentle.
Laurel was there but was clearly in the process of getting all her stuff together to leave. She glanced up at him.
“You been to the hospital yet?” she asked.
Copeland considered his answer.Yeswouldn’t be a lie, but if she went in and talked to Hart, he’d be found out as a liar, and then they’d both demand to know why. “Not yet. I needed to get a few things done first.”
She nodded, slipping a cross-body bag over her shoulder. “You still going to be MIA here tomorrow?”
“Unless another more pressing case comes up. I’ve got some leads on the Young shooting. Another little…weird happenstance. In fact, I’d like your take if you’ve got a few.”
“Shoot.”
He went over it with Laurel, wanting someone else’s opinion on the matter. Because on the surface, this was all weird, petty scare tactics. But underneath it was all aboutdeath, and that was threatening. Not to mention the sheer amount of time and effort that was going into all these things.