Free The Law of Desire by Gwyneth Bolton

honest, then you could be the next murder victim? We can’t help you if you’re not honest.” Kendall leaned back in his chair and slanted his eye.
    “I understand that, sir. And if I knew…” A tear slipped down her face and she froze. She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth. Her hand went to her cheek and she wiped away the tear. “I don’t know. I have to go. Can I please leave now?”
    Kendall paused and then shook his head. “Don’t go far, Ms. Jones. We might have some more questions for you once the investigation into the murder of Timothy and Thomas McKnight picks up. I know of your tendency to leave the state during murder investigations…And we’d like to keep tabs on you for our colleagues in Los Angeles. They may have some questions for you concerning the murder of your brother. We’re going to compare notes on the two cases and see what we come up with. So please don’t go far.”
    She took another deep breath before nodding. There was the slightest tremor in her hands and chest. If Lawrence hadn’t been watching her so closely he might have missed it. She looked like she had reached her breaking point and was hanging on by a thread. And he couldn’t help but worry about what might happen to her once she left the precinct.
    What if the people in the white van got her?
    “Chief, if it’s all right with you I’d like to take some personal time.”
    Where did that come from?
    Minerva got up and walked out of the office. Lawrence followed her with his eyes and then turned back to his cousin.
    He knew he couldn’t let her get far. When the door closed, he took a sharp intake of breath. There would be no turning back after this.
    “Look, Chief, someone has to look out for the girl. And I feel like there’s a whole lot she isn’t telling us. So, I’m going to take this time and watch her…if it’s okay with you.”
    “You’re narcotics, Lawrence. This is now a homicide investigation. It’s not your beat.”
    Lawrence couldn’t hold back his frown. He had to catch up to Minerva. He didn’t have time to plead his case to Kendall. He would just have to use his sick time.
    Kendall tented his hands and studied Lawrence. Kendall was in his mid-forties and straddled the line between the older Hightowers and the younger ones. There was no telling how he would play things sometimes. Most times he was really cool and laid-back. Other times, he might just as well had been one of the elders.
    Lawrence hoped he was in cool mode today.
    “Take the time and be careful. She’s not telling us everything she knows and the next bullet coming her way might catch you.” Kendall shook his head. “And I’m not even gonna go there on your job duties and your responsibility to the badge. Keep your head, son.”
    “Yeah, Chief. I got it.” He made a move to leave.
    “And it might be good if you could get Ms. Jones to go someplace safe with you while you figure out what’s going on with her. As long as she’s with you we don’t have to worry about her fleeing or ending up as another victim. I’m thinking James’s spot up in the Poconos might be an ideal location to lay low for a minute until we figure out what’s going on here.”
    Turning slowly, Lawrence couldn’t help but smile. Yeah, his cousin the chief of police was in cool mode today. Kendall knew him like the back of his hand. The man had basically given Lawrence permission to do exactly what he was thinking of doing anyway.
    The vacation home his father purchased for the family the first year his business, Hightower Security, did really well would be the perfect spot to take her.
    “Yeah, Chief. That’s a good idea. I’ll do that.”
    Kendall nodded and Lawrence left.
     

    As she left the rest room, Minerva chided herself on almost losing it in the police chief’s office. Just what she needed: another dang suspicious Hightower cop on her case.
    What does that family do, breed cops?
    Everything was coming to a head and she realized