Page 17 of Deadly Sins: Envy

“You think so?” he asked.

“I do. She talked about you all the time on tour.”

Dean pointed to a coat closet across the room. “Grab the box out of the pocket of my pants, would you?”

Gina set the drinks and snacks she’d returned with on a side table and rushed to the closet. She handed Dean the box and he opened it.

“I had the band custom made,” he said. “She loves butterflies, so I had them engraved all the way around it. What do you think?”

I thought it was beautiful.

In addition to the butterflies on the band, there was one on each side of the diamond, positioned like they were holding it up.

“It’s gorgeous,” I said.

“Yeah,” Gina said. “She’ll be thrilled.”

Coop bent toward the ring and his face went red. “Yeah, it’s nice. Sloane, we ... ahh, better go.”

CHAPTER 7

Coop rolled the car to a stop at ten to midnight. He switched off the ignition, grabbed a small satchel from the back seat, and took a deep breath in. I glanced up at him from my uncomfortable position on the floor of the passenger seat, where I’d positioned myself a few miles back to avoid being seen.

“Do you see anything?” I asked.

He lifted a pair of binoculars to his eyes, canvassed the surroundings, and covered his mouth while he said, “Nope. I assume he’s already inside, waiting to make the exchange.”

“Good luck.”

“Thanks for being here,” he said.

A compliment from Coop.

I couldn’t believe it.

“Thanks for inviting me along,” I said. “I didn’t think you would.”

“Way I see it, if I hadn’t, you would have found a way to be here anyway.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Stay put,” he said, “even though I know you won’t.”

He was right.

I wouldn’t.

Not because I didn’t trust him, and not because I didn’t trust the police. We knew little about the kidnapper. I didn’t trusthim.

“If your plan is to follow me in, wait a bit and be smart about it,” Coop said.

“I always am. You have any idea how many times I’ve hung around your crime scenes in the past and you didn’t notice I was there?”

“Now’s not the time, Sloane.”

He was right.

It wasn’t.