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“You betrayed me!” Sweat stood out on his shiny forehead.

“You’re taking this way too personally,” she said nonchalantly. “Chill the fuck out, why don’t you. It was just a game. I thought you liked games.”

He sat down clumsily, his face an odd shade of purple. She wondered if he was having a heart attack. Wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen. But she didn’t want to witness it and get mixed up in calling 911.

“Look, Dodo, I need some space,” she said, turning the knob. “Okay? So don’t call me. I’ll call you.”

35

“MELANIE! WAIT UP!”

It was Dan, calling to her from the entrance to the underpass. ¡Gracias a Dios! She was so relieved! He strode over to them.

“I thought you were coming back to the hospital, and you’re out partying?” Dan said, smiling. “I should’ve guessed. You’re a wild one, all right.”

“Bernadette roped me into it. I told her we had work to do.”

“Absolutely. That’s why I’m here. I have some information we need to follow up on right away.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry, Rommie,” Melanie said. “I wish I could help get Bernadette home, but the investigation is at a critical point. I know you understand.”

“Sure, no problem. Thanks for helping out,” Rommie said nonchalantly. She must have been imagining things, because if he was annoyed or angry that she wasn’t getting into the car, he sure did a good job of hiding it. She walked around to where Bernadette stood slumped against the front door, eyes closed, complexion ghost-white.

“ Bern, honey,” Melanie said gently, touching her shoulder, “I need to go. Do you want me to put you in a cab?”

She opened her eyes. “No, it’s okay. I just drank too much. I’ll feel better in a minute. Rommie can take me home.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

Rommie came around and opened Bernadette’s door. He wouldn’t meet Melanie’s eyes, but she put that down to the embarrassing scene she’d just witnessed. Bernadette got in, staring straight ahead, looking like she might break down and sob at any moment. Melanie’s heart ached for her boss, but she understood there was nothing she could do. Some things people just had to work through on their own.

“Call me if you need anything, Bern. Doesn’t matter how late,” she said.

Without speaking, Dan and Melanie headed for the street, hearing the sounds of car doors opening and closing behind them. The engine of Rommie’s car sputtered to life. Headlights threw their shadows into relief on the pavement as Rommie and Bernadette drove slowly past and disappeared from sight.

AS THEY EMERGED FROM THE TUNNEL, DAN said, “Jeez, that looked ugly. You seemed like you wanted out of there pretty bad.”

“Yes, I did. Thanks for rescuing me. You’re very good at it.” She smiled at him, and he flushed with pleasure.

“Just doing my job, ma’am,” he joked. “So what was going on? Looked like Ramirez was practically kidnapping you.”

“Yeah, that’s how it felt. Listen to this and tell me if you think it’s strange: Apparently Rommie’s cheating on Bernadette. She was drunk, and they were in the middle of a fight, but then he insisted I leave with them.”

“Why?”

“I think what he really wanted was to get me to show him some bank records I subpoenaed from Jed Benson’s accounts.”

“What’s in the records? Anything worth getting excited about?”

“Yeah, like millions of dollars of structuring.”

“You’re shittin’ me!”

“Nope!”

He whistled. “Wow. Millions, you said? It’s gotta be drug money, right?”

“That’s what Bernadette said, and I agree. But there’s more.”

He was listening so attentively. She opened her mouth to tell him about the fingerprint report but then stopped herself. Something in the careful way he watched her suddenly struck her as odd. God, she was paranoid tonight! But, unlike with Rommie, where Dan was concerned, she had actual reason to be. She was losing sight of what Delvis Diaz had said to her earlier that evening-that the people she’d brought to the interview were dirty. He didn’t mention Dan by name, but still, shouldn’t she try harder to keep her guard up, at least until she could get the full story from Delvis? Not that she’d necessarily believe him even if he did implicate Dan directly. Delvis might have reason to lie, and Dan struck her as honest as the day was long.

“What is it?” Dan asked. “You said there’s more?”

“Um, lost my train of thought.” Not that she seriously doubted him. But still. “So do you think that’s weird?”

“That he wanted to see the records? No, not really. Sounds like they’re pretty devastating. Besides, Ramirez makes a career out of sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong. You know I think the guy’s an idiot. Just look at the fact that he’s stepping out on your boss. He’s biting the hand that feeds him.”

“Why do you say that?” she asked.

“His influence with her is half of why they keep him around. The guy is such a royal fuck-up he’s come close to getting booted more times than I can count.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”

“He’s been beating this minority thing to death for years, or he would’ve been out on his ass long ago.”

“Hey, watch what you say there, pal!” she said. “Soy puertorriqueña también, remember?”

“No offense meant to you, sweetheart. You’re, like, the smartest person I ever met. Which is why people like him piss me off, because they give people like you a bad name.” He looked at her and laughed. “You should see your face right now. You’re going, ‘Who the fuck is this knuckle-dragger I’m hanging out with?’ Look, I’ll never be politically correct, and you can’t take me into polite society. But I promise you, my heart is in the right place.”

She laughed, too. It was hard to be mad at him. “You do have kind of a redneck quality, Agent, but I admit, on you it’s charming.”

“It’s the Irish beat cop in me.”

“So, hey, speaking of cops, if you’re here, who’s at the hospital with Amanda?”

“Randall finally showed up. I left him there and came looking for you, see what was taking you so long.”

“Where the hell was he all afternoon?” Melanie asked.

“I didn’t ask, and he didn’t say. Dealing with personal shit, I guess.”

“Oh. Right. So should we go back there?” She looked at her watch, missing Maya, thinking of Elsie at home counting the minutes. “It’s getting pretty late.”

“No need. Randall said he’d beep me if anything interesting happened. So, listen,” he said, turning toward her and stopping momentarily, “you wanna maybe go get a drink or something?”

“A drink? We don’t have time for that.”

“You need to fill me in on those bank records, right? Besides, I need to grab a bite to eat.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Come on, just for a little while. You got a better offer?” he cajoled.

Despite her warning to herself only a moment earlier, she felt powerfully drawn to him. His blue eyes were glued to her face with such intensity that they blazed. And his voice-rough and sweet at the same time-seemed to caress her. But she’d say no, she’d make herself, she had to. She couldn’t spend time with him like that, alone in a bar. Bad, bad idea. On a lot of levels.

“I can’t. If we’re not going back to the hospital, then I need to get home.”

“So pick a place on the way, and then I’ll drop you. Thirty minutes, tops, I promise. Then I’ll take you right home. My treat. Please. Say yes.”

He was hanging on her answer. How long had it been since somebody wanted so badly to spend time with her? Had anybody ever? Had her husband? She reminded herself of all the reasons to say no. There were a lot of them.

“Okay,” she said breathlessly. Ay, de Dios, she was making a big mistake. “Just a quick one.”

His face lit up. “Whatever you say. I’m parked right over here.”