Nyla
My eyes were burning. I'd been going over the case files for Ryder’s murder all morning, and I still had no leads, nowhere to go. I'd already looked at all known associates, and they all had alibis that were verifiable. So who the hell had wanted him dead?
The obvious answer was one of his former partners. Two of them were in jail. A third had been incapacitated by a stroke, which only left one. The one no one had been able to find for going on three years now.
A plastic bag rustled and dropped on my desk. My head snapped up. I'd been so caught up in what I was doing, I hadn't seen Hazel come in. "Oh, hey, Hazel. I don't know where Denning is."
"No, I'm not here for him. I'm here for you. I just finished an appointment and was in the neighborhood. We're going shopping."
"What?"
"Come on. When's the last time you skived off of work? Come with me."
"No. Hazel, I know it may seem like I don't do much, maybe that's what Denning even says, but I can't just up and go shopping."
"Yes, you can. Besides, I don't want to go by myself. I need to get a gift for Denning's mother."
I frowned and looked at the calendar. Yup, the old battle ax’s birthday was coming up. "I envy you, but I still can't come."
"Please? You work all the time. You just got back. You don't have to solve every case today. Get your ass off your chair. Live a little. Besides, I'll just tell Denning I asked you to come with me."
I glanced at the clock and saw it was eleven thirty. I realized that she was trying hard, and well, I needed more friends. "Okay fine, I'll take an early lunch. But I can't stay out all afternoon. I need to figure this out because I'm missing a vital clue here."
She glanced down. "What are you working on?"
I closed the folder and gathered the photos. "You know I can't tell you that."
She sighed. "Okay, but you can come shopping with me. Come on, get your purse."
"You know I actually don't like to shop, right?"
She turned and stared at me. "Fine, then you can watch me shop. Let's go."
I sighed and grabbed my purse, wondering how the hell I'd become friends with my ex's fiancée. She was very insistent.
I texted Amelia quickly that Hazel had kidnapped me for lunch and shopping, and that I'd be back, hopefully, around one.
She sent me back an emoji. The gasp face. And then a laughing out loud emoji followed quickly by a crying emoji.
Nyla: Thanks a lot.
Amelia: Have fun with your new bestie.
Nyla: Hey, that spot is already taken. See you later.
And with that, I became Hazel's prisoner.
We set foot outside of the building into the London sunshine, odd for the time of year. I gasped. "I didn't even know it was sunny outside."
"I know, right? Come on."
"All right, hold your horses. I promise you the shops aren't going anywhere."
"Yes, they are. And I'm so glad we're getting to do this. You know, just the two of us. Usually, everyone else is around."
I gave her a tight smile. "Yeah, you know, I'm not used to a lot of people."
"Well, I'm glad we're getting closer. It's important to me."
I couldn't help but ask. "Why is it important to you exactly? I know what you said, but we could just be cordial. You're really trying hard to be my friend, and I'm curious as to why."
"Honestly, I think you're pretty amazing. And I know, even though Denning won't say it, he respects you a lot. At least your abilities. I hear a lot about ‘Nyla did this, and then Nyla did that.’ He's usually mad about it, but you can tell that he's a little envious because he didn't think to do whatever it was that you did. Even when you got shot, all I heard for days was, ‘fucking Nyla got herself shot chasing down an intruder.’ You could tell that he wished he was the one who got to chase down Theroux."
I laughed. "Right, good old professional envy thing."
She sighed. "A little, but he does respect you. And since he respects you so much, I figured you're a good person to know."
I shrugged. "Nah, I have my good days and my bad days. But don't we all?"
My phone pinged and I scowled down at it. "Geez, even when I leave the office, I can't leave the office.”
I sent texts to the people calling me that I'd get back to them.
"Your phone is going crazy."
"Yeah, it is. I'm sorry. I might have to get back."
Even Amelia texted me.
Amelia: Hey, finally got the fingerprints for the murder scene. And we got a match to a Krista Wilson. Her brother ran the Wilson crew and is currently serving six years for robbery. Looking for a last known address now."
Hazel glanced at my phone. "Sorry, I couldn't help but see some of that. Was that Amelia?"
I nodded. "Oh God, sorry Hazel, but I think I have to go back. We finally got a break in our case."
She sighed. "Oh, come on, the store is right there. Five minutes, then I'll let you go right back to work, okay?"
"Okay, but I really need to get back."
She nodded then took my hand. Her hands were cold and a little bit clammy. I had to resist the urge to yank my hand back. This was Hazel. She was harmless. Maybe a little different for a friend, but I had to learn to let my walls down. I couldn't be alone my whole life. She said, "Okay fine. But you know, since you're going back to the office right away, please just turn off your phone. If you keep hearing it, you will just be stressed out."
"I never turn off my phone."
"Yeah, how good can that be for you?"
I sighed. She had a point. Even my father turned off his phone. He always said it was good to sit with his thoughts every now and again. I rolled my eyes as I turned my phone off. "Happy?"
Her smile was sweet. "Yeah, I'm happy. Come on."
I had no choice but to follow her, even though I knew what waited at the office for me. Maybe that's where half of my life had gone wrong. My inability to unplug. I could unplug for a few minutes. It wouldn't kill me. Besides, Hazel had gone out of her way to try. I needed to put in some effort too. "All right, let's do this. Did you at least get any hints from Denning as to what his mother might want?"
She rolled her eyes. "Oh my God, you know Denning better than that."
I laughed, because for the first time in a long time, it didn't actually hurt or irritate me to talk about him.
I tamped down all my internal warning sensors that were pinging. I was glad Hazel had been trying hard. She wasn't so bad. And I had to let new people in sooner or later.
East
I finally saw her along the shops about half a mile from work.
I’d never moved so quickly in my life.
As I left, I grabbed my jumper and called out, "Belinda, cancel all my appointments. There's something I need to do."
I didn't even wait for her to answer. I was already running. I wondered when this feeling would pass. The one where I lived in terror of something happening to Nyla. The one where I worried all the time about her safety, her well-being. The one where I felt like I was going to die if she was in danger. I wanted that to stop. I wanted it to go away. But it was too late. I knew it was too late because, God, fucking hell, I loved her so much. And I’d never loved anyone else like this.