Page 43 of Things We Hide from the Light

“She had one fucking beer. You gonna run a sobriety checkpoint in my dining room?” Knox demanded.

“I wasn’t talking about the beer,” I said to him through clenched teeth.

“I’m fine. Thanks for dinner, Knox. I’ll see you around.” She slipped past me and headed out the front door.

“What. The. Fuck. Was. That?” Knox punctuated each word with a jab from the broom handle into my ribs.

“Ow.”

“No,” he said.

“No what?”

Using the broom handle, Knox pointed to the door Lina had exited through, then back at me. “That. It’s not happening.”

I ignored his comment. “How much do you know about Lina?”

“What the hell do you mean? I’ve known her forever.”

“Do you know what she does for a living?”

“She works in insurance.”

“Wrong. She’s an insurance investigator for Pritzger Insurance.”

“Not seeing a difference.”

“She’s basically a bounty hunter for personal property.”

“So what?”

“So she shows up in town right after I take a couple of bullets. She lies about what she does for a living, and she knows theU.S. marshal who’s up my ass. You don’t think those are some interesting coincidences?”

“Why does everyone in my fuckin’ life wanna talk shit to death?” Knox muttered.

“Why does she wear a watch that monitors her heart rate?”

“How the fuck should I know? Don’t all those idiots who run for fun do that? I’m more concerned with why my brother had one of my best friends pinned up against a wall.”

“You got a problem with that?”

“Yeah. A big one.”

“Care to elaborate?” I asked.

“Fuck no. You and Lina ain’t happenin’. End of story. No elaboration necessary.”

“That strategy ever work with your girls?”

Wearily Knox pulled out one of the chairs and sat. “Not so far, but I’m hopin’ one of these times they’ll let me take the win. Sit your ass down.” He indicated the chair Lina had vacated.

As soon as I sat, Piper scrabbled at my shins and I picked her up. She cuddled up against my chest and let out a sigh. As if I made her feel safe. Damn dog.

“You wanna talk. Fine. Shut the hell up and listen. Trust me when I say Lina’s the kind of friend you want on your side. Not just cause she’s hell on wheels when you’ve pissed her off, but because she’s one of the good ones. If she ain’t runnin’ her mouth about job descriptions and stupid smart watches, she’s got a reason for not sharing. Maybe that reason is you haven’t earned her trust. Or maybe that shit’s because it’s none of your damn business.”

But there was something in me that knew it was my business.

“I know—”