There was a short silence. “I’m listening,” he said cautiously.

My breath puffed out in relief. Fidgeting, I dug for a pen in my shoulder bag. Opening my datebook, I clicked my pen open. “Ah, you work by commission, right?”

“Something like that,” David said.

“Well, you know that boat that exploded?” I snuck a glance at Kisten. The light from the oncoming traffic made little glints in his stubble as he clenched his jaw.

There was a rattling of computer keys in the background. “Still listening …”

My pulse quickened. “Does your company own the policy on it?”

The sound of keys quickened and vanished. “Seeing as we insure everything Piscary isn’t interested in, probably.” There was another spurt of tapping keys. “Yes. We have it.”

“Great,” I sighed. This was going to work. “I was on it when it exploded.”

I heard the squeak of a chair through the line. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. You saying it wasn’t an accident?”

“Ah, no.” I flicked a glance at Kisten. His knuckles gripping the wheel were white.

“Really.” It wasn’t a question, and the sound of tapping keys started up again, shortly followed by the hum of a printer.

I shifted in Kisten’s heated leather seats and stuck the end of the pen in my mouth. “Would I be correct that your company doesn’t pay out when property is destroyed—”

“Because of acts of war or gang-related activity?” David interrupted. “No. We don’t.”

“Fantastic,” I said, not thinking it necessary to tell him I was sitting next to the guy who had arranged the whole thing. God, please let Kisten have an answer for me. “How would you like me to come down there and sign a paper for you?”

“I’d like that really fine.” David hesitated, then added, “You don’t strike me as the kind of woman who commits acts of random kindness, Rachel. What do you want out of this?”

My gaze ran down Kisten’s clenched jaw to his strong shoulders, then lingered on his hands gripping the wheel as if he was trying to squeeze the iron out of it. “I want to be with you when you go out to adjust Saladan’s claim.”

Kisten jerked, apparently only now understanding why I was talking to David. The silence on the other end of the line was thick. “Ah …” David murmured.

“I’m not going to kill him; I’m going to arrest him,” I quickly offered.

The thrum of the engine rumbling up through my feet shifted and steadied.

“It’s not that,” he said. “I don’t work with anyone. And I’m not working with you.”

My face burned. I knew he thought very little of me after finding I had kept information from my own partner. But it was David’s fault it came out. “Look,” I said, turning away from Kisten as he stared at me. “I just saved your company a wad of money. You get me in when you go to adjust his claim, then back out of the way and let me and my team work.” I glanced at Kisten. Something had shifted in him. His grip on the wheel was loose and his face was empty.