The Girl Next Door (Shadow Agents #6)(24)
Author: Cynthia Eden

And Cooper realized that all along, the detective had responded a little too personally to Gabrielle.

I’ve had one lover.

Jealousy thickened within Cooper. He had the feeling he was looking at Gabrielle’s ex. He should have seen it before.

“You’re homicide,” Gabrielle said as she glanced around the lobby. They’d attracted a few stares. “This was a B&E. Cooper said he had friends who could help and they—”

Carmichael sent a withering glare Cooper’s way. “I’m sure he has plenty of friends. Just like the friend who managed to get him hauled out of my precinct last night.”

Cooper gave him a grim smile. Get your hands off her, cop.

Carmichael maneuvered Gabrielle to the right, getting them in a private corner. Cooper followed right with him.

“You and I are both connecting the dots, Gabby,” Carmichael said.

Cooper hated the way the other man said Gabby. Her name was Gabrielle. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman.

“It’s no simple B&E. You know it. The guy is after you.” He rolled back his shoulders and finally let her go. “I want you to consider moving into a safe house.”

“No.” Her immediate response. “I have my own guard—my partner.” Her gaze darted to Cooper. “I’m safer with him than I’d be anywhere else.”

“With anyone else,” Cooper clarified. Because the cop wasn’t going to keep Gabrielle safe. Cooper was.

You’re an ex for a reason, buddy.

Cooper was suddenly determined to find out that reason.

“What do you really know about him?” Carmichael demanded as he rounded to glare at Cooper. “Because I’ve been digging into your past, Marshall.”

Cooper stared levelly back at the man. Was he supposed to be worried? He knew that his service records were shielded, courtesy of the EOD.

“You were in a boarding school until you were eighteen. Then…somehow…even though your mother was dead and you had no other relatives, you got a paid ride from an unknown benefactor. Four years at Yale.”

The detective had been digging. But he still hadn’t discovered anything particularly impressive.

“Four years, then you vanished. Not a blip on the radar until a year ago when you came back to D.C. and started working as a P.I.”

He hadn’t vanished. He’d enlisted. And unless Carmichael got a whole lot more authorization, he wouldn’t ever see Cooper’s records. Cooper exhaled slowly. Carmichael was an annoyance, nothing more. “Perhaps you should spend less time looking into my past and a little more time looking for the killer. The city would be safer then.”

Carmichael lunged toward him.

Gabrielle put herself between Cooper and the detective. Carmichael kept glaring. In turn, Cooper kept his faint smile in place.

The smile hid the fact that I’m really starting to hate that cop.

“Cooper isn’t a threat to me. He and I are the ones that are giving you leads, so you need to back off,” Gabrielle’s voice was fierce.

Carmichael didn’t look like he was ready to back anyplace.

“I don’t think you should trust him,” Carmichael muttered.

“I do, though. Because he’s had my back every step of the way.”

No, he hadn’t. Shame twisted with the jealousy inside of him.

“And speaking of leads…” Gabrielle said as she pushed back her hair. “We have to follow one now.” She put her hand on Cooper’s arm, but her stare was on the cop’s face. “If we find out anything you can use, I’ll contact you. Just like always—before I put anything in the paper.”

So that was part of their relationship. Carmichael had been busting lots of perps in the past six months, earning commendations…with Gabrielle’s help?

“I’ve got my phone on me,” she added. “You can call me if you need to reach me, Lane.”

The detective leaned toward her. “And if you need me, anytime or anyplace, you call. Don’t let me find out about a break-in the next day, got it? I…care about you. Remember that.”

Then he was gone, storming toward the lobby’s doors.

Cooper didn’t move. Emotion had been thick in the cop’s voice.

“I really do have a lead for us to follow,” Gabrielle said, sighing. “That wasn’t just me trying to get rid of him.”

He turned his head. Found her eyes on him. “You were the one to break things off.”

Gabrielle winced. “You think you figured us out. Just after that little chat?”

He thought he wanted to know everything about the cop right then. Carmichael had torn into his past—turnabout would only be fair.

“No, not yet.” He would though.

For now, he took her hand, threaded his fingers through hers. Even though his hand was so much bigger than hers, they seemed to fit. “So…where’s this lead?”

She gave him a half smile. “Hope you don’t mind a little trip to jail. Because that’s exactly where we’re headed.”

Chapter Seven

She was burning through her favors at an insanely fast rate.

Gabrielle walked through the Department of Corrections, her heels clicking lightly on the floor. She’d had to use two favors just to get in the DOC—and to get access to Johnny Zacks.

Johnny was awaiting sentencing for a heist he’d done a month ago. Another jewelry store break-in, his fourth. Only this time, Johnny had gotten shot by a security guard.

Johnny Zacks had been breaking into jewelry stores for the last few months. He was usually in and out without a trace.

Except for this time…

Johnny was already waiting in the room for her. He was cuffed to the table, and a bored-looking guard stood in the corner, watching him.

“Thanks, Quent,” Gabrielle said to the guard. He’d been the one to first connect her to Johnny. Quent might look like he didn’t give a damn, but he did. The man had a giant heart.

Quent’s head barely inclined at her words.

Johnny, young, tan, with blond hair that was too long and wide blue eyes, glanced suspiciously at Cooper. “Who’s the muscle?”

“My partner.” Saying that was getting easier and easier. “He’s helping me to look for your sister’s killer.”

She felt, more than saw, Cooper’s surprise.

“Y-you’ve got news on Kylie?” Johnny asked.

Johnny was actually Kylie’s half brother. He’d been out of the country when she was killed, and when he’d come back and discovered that his sister had been murdered, the guy had broken apart.