Page 64 of Watch Me

“Thank you.”

I started to walk toward the door, but stopped and turned back around. “Hey, Judy.”

She turned, and I saw that Derrick had stopped too. “Can we keep this locked?”

Judy’s gaze moved to Reagan and then back to me. “Yes. I’ll just tell all of the delivery guys that they need to knock.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it.”

She gave a warm smile and then turned to walk out to the main part of the bar with Derrick.

I grabbed Reagan and brought her in, wrapping my arms around her.

“What happened?” she asked against mychest.

“He just has a crush on you.”

“I kinda suspected that.”

“I suspected it too since the first night I came in here. I saw the way he watched you.”

She pulled her head back and looked up at me. “Do you think it’s more?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think he’s the guy I’m looking for.”

“Okay.” She sighed. “It’s going to be awkward working with him, but I feel better now that I know you don’t think he’s a killer.”

We broke apart, and I held up the evidence bag with the silk flower in it. “I’m still going to run his prints to make sure he’s not wanted for something else.”

“Okay. I better get out there.”

I cupped her face and placed my lips on hers. If I could kiss her every second of every day, I would. I was head over heels for that woman, and I would do anything to keep her safe. That included hiring my own security for her even though she’d had less than a week of police details. Unfortunately, given the lack of evidence, I wasn’t hopeful I would solve the murders anytime soon and needed to keep Reagan safe until Icould.

“Let’s try this again. Have a good day at work, Buttercup. I love you.”

She smiled. “I love you too.”

One week later…

I parked my truck in the underground parking at the courthouse and cut theengine.

“Hey,” Reagan stopped me from getting out by grabbing my arm. “If this doesn’t go in your favor, remember I said I would leave town until this is all over with.”

“I don’t want that,” I admitted. We had spent every night together for months now, and I couldn’t imagine going to bed or waking up without her next to me.

“I can’t have you choosing between me and your kids, Eth.”

I took a deep breath. Even though I never wanted to spend a day apart from Reagan—myReagan—she was right. These were my kids, my blood, and I’d do anything for them. I’d also do anything for Reagan, which made me feel as though I was wedged between a rock and a hard place. “And I can’t do this,” I confessed. “This is killing me.”

Reagan turned as best she could in her seat and grabbed my hand. “If the judge goes in her favor, it’s only temporary. We’ll find a place for me to go to until you catch this guy.”

“It really fucking sucks that it might come down to that. The killer is a pro. He leaves no evidence.”

“You know as well as I do that there’s no perfect murder. Eventually, he will screw up, and you’ll catch him.”

What Reagan said wasn’t something new, and I knew she was trying to put me at ease, but I just wanted something to go right.

“Yeah,” I agreed because there wasn’t more I could say. My future was going to be told to me by a fuckingjudge.