Page 118 of Lawton

She looked at me for a long time. "Don't lie to me."

Don't lie to me, either.

But I didn't say it. She'd had a rough night, and it might get rougher. Because later on, I'd be asking her some questions. I didn't want to. But I had to. Whatever she was hiding, it had to stop, and not only for my sake. If she was in trouble, I needed to know.

"Alright," I said, "yeah, they're banged up a little, but they'll be fine in a couple weeks. Maybe sooner."

"How can you be sure?" she asked.

Bishop spoke up. "Romeo fights for a living. Remember?"

I gave him a look. "Usedto fight for a living."

"Yeah, whatever." Bishop said, turning back to Chloe. He gave her a long look. "But it seems to me that you wouldn't be losing sleep over these guys. You worried about them?"

Good question.

Chloe stiffened. "No. Of course not. It's just that –" She shrugged. "I dunno. I don't want 'em dead or anything."

I didn't want to hear it. "About the police," I said. "It's your decision. Yes or no?"

She bit her lip and gave it some thought. Finally, she said, with obvious reluctance, "I don't want them doing this to anyone else."

Bishop spoke up. "We'll encourage them not to."

"How?" she asked.

"Better if you don't know," Bishop said.

Her voice was quiet. "You're not gonna hurt them?"

Hell yes, I was going to hurt them. What did she think? That we'd just let them go with a stern warning?

"Baby," I said, working hard to keep my voice soothing, "want us to take care of it? Say the word, and you don't need to think about this ever again."

After a long, painful pause, she gave a small nod.

Good.

I turned to Bishop. "You take care of them. I'll get her inside." I draped an arm over her shoulder and began leading her toward her front door. She kept pace for a couple of steps, but then abruptly stopped.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing." She hesitated. "It's just that you don't need to come in with me."

The hell I didn't. I glanced toward her house. "At least let me check the place out, make sure everything's alright."

She shook her head. "No." Her voice grew shaky. "Really, I'm sure it's fine."

I gave her a long look. "Baby, it's not fine. You're not fine. I can see it all over your face. Now tell me, what is it?"

"Nothing." She pointed toward Bishop, who was now climbing into the driver's seat of the dark sedan. "You should go with him."

No. That wasnotgoing to happen.

Chloe was squinting at the car. "Where's he going, anyway?"

Nowhere she needed to know, that's where. Somehow, I made myself say, "I'm guessing he'll drive 'em home. Or maybe some public place. Hard to say."