Chapter Thirty-Eight

Colton was waiting for Angel to explain the reason for her apology when Pudge rushed past him toward the back door, growling. The fur on the back of his neck rose in a way Colton knew meant bad news.

He hadn’t gotten a chance to tell Angel about the car. Maybe he would have told her…or maybe he would have kept it to himself so as not to worry her.

“Please tell me he sees a bunny,” she said with hope in her voice.

“That’s not his bunny noise.”

“Can’t a girl catch a break?” She sounded more annoyed than scared, but he shouldn’t have expected anything else. Angel was always calm and in control of the situation. “I watched the house until the guy with Markel left. I didn’t give them any reason to be suspicious.”

He decided to confess because it was important she knew what he knew. “Are you sure? Because I think someone was following me this morning.”

“What did you do?”

“I shook them.”

“So they know that you know you were being tailed?” As convoluted as her question was, he understood.

He grimaced. “When someone is following you, your instinct is to lose them.”

“I’m not accusing you of messing up. Although I wouldn’t blame you since you’ve been out of the game for over a year.”

He didn’t need a free pass. He hadn’t messed up. “I assure you, I didn’t wreck your cover.”

“I didn’t say you did—” She was interrupted by Pudge as he put his paws on the door, barking savagely.

“They’re coming. Go hide,” he ordered, knowing she wouldn’t like that.

“I don’t want to hide.” She pulled her gun and chambered a round.

Normally he found that sexy, but this time fear rattled his spine. He could lose her. Whoever was waiting on the other side of the door would take her away. Either in cuffs or a bag.

If the person in his backyard was law enforcement, he didn’t want anyone to get hurt. After all, they were just doing their job. They didn’t know she was innocent.

“Wait a second,” he said, thinking of another option. One that might actually get her to stand down rather than going with a more aggressive option. “The neighbor lady makes the best apple dumplings I’ve ever had, and she always makes enough for me. I don’t want to have to move because of a shootout in my backyard.”

“Someone contacted me,” she said. “Via email.”

Surprised, he waited for her to continue. He could tell she didn’t want to tell him. “Who?”

“I think it was the killer. They’re playing a game. I don’t think they can really know where I am.”

“But they said they did?”

“Yeah.” She sighed and nodded.

Pudge was still barking viciously.

“Angel, you can’t shoot someone in my backyard because you think it might be the killer.”

“Fine. I assume you have one of those nifty Hawaiian words for attack?” She nodded toward the dog who was desperate to get out.

“Yes.”

He moved to the door and grasped the knob. While he didn’t want to hurt his neighbor, a kid messing around with eggs, or a cop doing his duty, he also didn’t want to put Pudge at a disadvantage if someone was coming to finish off the loose end they’d left at Heath Zeller’s apartment. If Pudge wasn’t allowed to attack, he could be hurt, or worse.

Colton opened the door and gave the command. Pudge leaped over the railing and tore off down the length of the yard. When he ran under a bush, Colton thought maybe he had been wrong about the bunny, but then he heard a man shouting for help.

After a number of incoherent—and painful—sounds, the man shouted, “I’m with Thorne.”

“Shit,” Angel said as she pushed past Colton, yelling, “Stop! Pudge, don’t hurt him!”

As if that was going to work.