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Lynn put a hand on his chest. “He’s antagonizing you, Cam.”
Beau shrugged. “Is that what I’m doing? And here I thought I was asking an extremely important question. One that has not yet been answered.”
“You should have been in jail by now,” Campbell fired at him. “We all know that you are guilty as hell. But you keep walking. Nothing sticks to you, does it? You think you can make the cops into jokes.”
“I’m not making you into anything. But from where I am sitting, you are doing an excellent job of making yourself into an ass.”
Avalon’s attention swung between them, and a dull ache began to grow behind her left eye. She definitely should have snagged the cup of coffee that Percy had offered to her before leaving the hotel.
“You going to pretend you did not know Slater Wade?” Campbell scoffed. “Because we’re looking into his life now. We’ll trace him back to you. Lying is useless.”
“Slater Wade.” Beau tasted the name. “That the dead man who was left in the street?”
A nod from Lynn.
“Can’t say the name rings a bell,” Beau retorted. “But good luck with that tracing. I will be very curious to see what you discover.”
Campbell growled.
Beau smiled.
And… “Enough!” Flat. Avalon was actually surprised the word came out so calm because calm was the last thing she felt. It was her training that kept the calm veneer in place. She’d dealt with too many killers to break apart when she was just facing cops. Cops and one annoyingly sexy blast from her past.
“But I was having fun,” Beau protested.
Yes, she knew he had been. “You were also being a deliberate dick.” She glanced over at a glowering Campbell. “So were you. Stop the BS and let’s get down to business. Beau didn’t start the fire at my place last night. For the record, he didn’t start the fire years ago, either.”
“And how the hell do you know he didn’t?” Dots of spittle came from Campbell’s mouth as he bit out the question.
“Because I saw his broken body when Beau got me out of the flames. He would have died to keep me safe.” He almost had. “He didn’t even know me back then. I was some random kid who was about to burn to death, and he ran into the fire to save me.” Her hero. That was what he’d been to her over the years. And despite what she’d learned about him…he still is. “Maybe you’ve got a hard-on to toss him into jail, but you aren’t getting him for the arsons, Detective Cunningham. I believe in Beau’s innocence, one hundred percent.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Beau stiffen. But she didn’t look his way again, not yet. He needed to see that the cops could help them. She understood that cops had been his enemies for most of his life, but not every cop was out to get him.
Or, at least, not right now, they didn’t have to be.
She cleared her throat. “Slater Wade.” The name made her chest ache because she could see him in her mind. Could feel him as he gripped her, and the terror slid through her veins once again. “I don’t recognize the name. I’m assuming you’re searching his home.”
“Got uniforms there now.” Lynn tilted her head to the side. “Guy has a rap sheet a mile long. Started when he was thirteen. Boosting cars and petty theft.” One eyebrow quirked. “But unlike others with a similar start, this appears to have been Slater’s first brush with the big time.”
“The big time,” Beau repeated, and he did not sound amused. “You think telling a woman that she is going to burn, breaking into her home and assaulting her…you think that’s big time?” Anger rumbled in each word. But it was a carefully contained rage.
That was the way she kept feeling about Beau. Like he was contained. Holding something back.
“He’d never had a murder charge on him and from what we can tell, Slater never was linked to any arsons.”
“Flunky,” Beau said. He pointed at Campbell. “Your word, but clearly, that’s what Slater was. Only he wasn’t working for me. My money is on the bastard who ran him down and made sure Slater couldn’t talk to any cops. Or to me. Because I am quite effective at getting reluctant witnesses to talk in the right situations.”
Lynn’s lips tightened. “I’m sure you are.”
Campbell grunted.
“By any chance…” Avalon licked her lower lip. “Did Slater have a brother?”
“He has no living family at all,” Lynn told her. “So, that story you said the attacker fed you about covering for his brother? Total BS.”
Good to know.
“Oh, come on. We all knew the prick was lying about that detail. Even the uniforms on scene last night thought it was crap.” Beau waved his hand vaguely in the air. “It’s sort of strange trying to see things from your perspective, detectives. Got to tell you, I am not impressed with your interview style. Here, how about I help things along, so we are not just stuck in this crappy room all day?” He angled closer to Avalon and lasered his focus on her. “Who are your enemies?”
