Justice Delayed (Memphis Cold Case #1)(22)

He shook his head. “You can’t live someone else’s life.”

“I’m not.” His skeptical glance sent a wave of protest through her. “Being a newscaster is what I want to do. And keep your eyes on the road.”

“You scare me sometimes the way you go after a story,” Will said. “Like when you interviewed that gang leader.”

“He offered, said he wanted to let people know he wasn’t all bad, that a gang was like a family. Then he blew up on camera.” Adrenaline had been what got her through the interview. Her knees had knocked so hard, she’d been afraid the guy she was interviewing would hear them. “Treece was my cameraman then, but I’m going to get someone else for the edgy interviews. It’s causing trouble between her and Reggie.”

“Yeah, I know.” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel again. “Why do you take such risks, anyway?”

“To get a story that’s unique. No pain, no gain.” That wasn’t totally true. Sometimes she took risks because she wanted to help someone, like the girl she helped get off the streets, and like tonight when she would meet Chloe. Even though Andi knew it would be dangerous, the girl wanted out, and she had to help her.

“I thought ‘no pain, no gain’ applied to exercise,” he said.

Will’s dry humor was one of the things she’d always liked about him. She flicked her gaze toward him, and an unexpected tingle shot through her as she studied his profile.

He wasn’t pretty-boy handsome, but there was something about his face that drew her. He had a rugged appeal with his square jaw and high cheekbones and longer-than-usual hair that curled over his ears.

“When did you bleach your hair?”

“Subject jumping again.”

“Sorry. But when?”

“A couple of months ago when I worked vice.” He finger-combed his hair. “Haven’t had time to get it cut, either.” Will flicked on the left turn signal and went around a smoke-belching pickup.

She let a few miles pass by in silence as he navigated through roadwork, but at least it broke the monotony of the interstate that made the trip seem to take forever. “How much farther?”

“Probably another hour.”

She settled back. “Do you remember that Easter egg hunt when you stole my eggs?”

“I didn’t steal your eggs. Brad did.”

She thought that would get a rise out of him. “But you didn’t stop him.”

“I can’t believe you’re holding that against me!”

“Oh yeah. That time ranks right up there with the time you and Brad locked me in Stephanie’s studio so I wouldn’t follow you to your ball game.” Andi almost laughed at seeing red crawl up his neck into his face.

“I don’t think I want to travel memory lane.”

“Okay, but just so you know, you two are the reason I don’t like places I can’t get out of.”

He flashed a quick look her way. “I am sorry about that.” Then he tilted his head toward her while he kept his eyes on the road. “Why do you want to leave Memphis?”

“I don’t, but it’s the only way I can get ahead in this business. Anchor spots are hard to come by in Memphis and take more years than I want to invest. That’s one of the reasons Treece and I are making documentaries—to get noticed by the news networks.”

A billboard advertised a Subway shop at the next exit, and she said, “How about stopping for a sandwich? There’s a food court five miles down the road.”

“Sounds good.”

Pain radiated from her back to her hip, and Andi rummaged through her bag for her pain medication. When she found the bottle, she shook two tablets into her hand. The one tablet she’d taken just before she left for work hadn’t eased the pain. She really needed to get that disc fixed.

“What are you taking?” Will asked.

Andi lifted her water bottle to her lips and washed down the pills. “Something for my back.”

“Ibuprofen?”

“Something a little bit stronger.” She hoped he didn’t ask how much stronger.

“Has this been going on for a while?”

“A few months. Ever since I climbed over a fence to get a story on a dog chained out in the cold weather.”

He shook his head. “Well, you need to get it fixed—and stop taking so many risks.”

“You sound like my mother and Treece. I plan to get a nerve block as soon as I can get an appointment. Would you hurry up? I’m hungry.”



By the time they’d finished lunch, Andi was ready to tackle anything, even confessing to Will that the pills were prescription. Almost. She hated lying, even by omission, and she knew when she didn’t say it was a prescription pain reliever, he automatically thought of something like Advil. But neither did she want another lecture. Besides, the doctor prescribed them and she knew what she was doing. She wasn’t about to get addicted to the pills. They helped her anxiety too, and she certainly needed something for that right now.

The closer they came to Riverbend, the sweatier her hands became. She wiped them on legs that wouldn’t stop jiggling and focused on the letter.

If it was real . . . No, she wouldn’t go there yet. “Will we have trouble seeing your cousin on such short notice?”