Free Djinn and Tonic by Jasinda Wilder Page B

tornado hit the place, which doesn’t make a damn lick of sense. Especially since none of the surrounding buildings were in any way affected, and there was no weather that could have produced a tornado.”  
    Leila stands and paces. I can feel her shutting down. I can feel the lies bubbling up in her.
    “Carson…please. I know there are things that…don’t add up, okay? I know.” Leila crosses back to my side, standing over me. Her deep brown eyes are pleading, begging me to understand. “But there are things I just can’t explain to you. Not right now, not ever. I’m sorry, I just—I can’t . For my sake and…for yours. Just…just let it go. Please?”
    “I can’t, Leila. I’m not wired that way.” I shift forward, wincing at the twinge in my ribs. “Plus, I’m a cop. Was it a robbery? Was it a terrorist attack? I was injured, fairly seriously, on my own turf. I can’t just let it go, professionally I can’t.”  
    “You just have to know the truth? What if the truth is ugly? What if the truth is something you can’t handle? What then? What if the truth led you into another case like the one you were telling me about, if not worse? What if the truth meant you and I couldn’t…” She trails off, biting her lip, squeezing her eyes closed.
    “Couldn’t what? Be together? What secrets could you possibly have that would keep us apart? I’ve seen damn near everything in this job, Leila. I’ve dealt with the worst humanity has to offer. So trust me when I say there’s nothing you could say to me that would shock me.” She’s shaking her head, but I ignore it and keep going, letting the truth spill out of me. “I like you, okay. A lot. I think that’s pretty well clear at this point, but it goes deeper than that. A lot deeper. I like you in a way I’ve never liked anyone. Why can’t you just trust me? What do you think I’m gonna do when you tell me the truth? Especially after the way I handled things with Miriam.”
    “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Carson. Please believe that.” The sorrow in her eyes is a knife to my chest. “But it’s complicated. Really, really complicated. It’s not just me, it’s my family. Running away was bad enough in their eyes. If they found out I was messing around with an outsider …”
    “An outsider? What the hell does that mean?”  
    Leila looks ready to cry from frustration. “I didn’t mean outsider, I just meant…I am a Muslim and my family expects me to remain that way. I may not be dressed that way right now, but that’s a minor rebellion in comparison to getting involved with someone…with someone who lives outside of our ways. Can you please stop asking me questions? Please!” She turns away and buries her face in her hands, sucking in deep shuddering breaths.
    I take a deep breath and expel it slowly. I reach for Leila and pull her over to me. She resists at first, but the closer she gets, the more her resistance melts. I pull her down to the bed and tug her onto my lap, ignoring the ache in my ribs. She curls her body in against mine on the tiny hospital bed.
    “Listen,” I whisper, “I’m sorry I pushed it. I’m just hard-wired to demand the truth. I know there’re things you’re hiding, and, yeah, that bugs me. But I care about you, okay? I won’t ask any more questions right now. Just promise me you’ll tell me when you’re ready?”
    Leila shakes her head. “What if I were to say I couldn’t ever tell you everything? What then?”
    “I don’t know. I want to be with you. I want you to trust me. If you can’t trust me, then where do we go from here?”
    I feel her tears on the shoulder of my hospital gown.  
    “I don’t know.” The words are almost inaudible. “I don’t know if I can be with you, no matter how much I want to.”  
    “What’s stopping you?” I ask.
    Leila is silent for a long moment, and I wait for her answer.  
    “My father, for one thing. And other…factors. More of what I just