After a moment, I let myself drop back into the water. I side-stroked away so she couldn’t see my face. I’d always thought that Lou was holding herself back from me because she thought it was unprofessional of us to get involved, or because she’d been hurt so many times before. But maybe the truth was she didn’t want me.

I blinked tears away, ducking my head under the water for cover. If Carrigan was here, he’d be hard as a rock, I thought, emptying my lungs in a big air bubble.

From Lou’s side of the pool, a big crash. I broke the surface to see Lou, determinedly clinging to the side of the pool, her arms firmly hooked on the asphalt behind her. A slightly terrified look on her face. She bit her lip and stared at me.

“You’re my best friend,” she started, and then stopped. She wasn’t going to say it out loud; she wasn’t going to tell me. But I knew.

This time, Lou was greedy, her mouth moving all over mine, down my neck to my ear, which she tugged on with her teeth. A little gasp came out of me, and I threaded my fingers into her hair, pulling her head back to mine. I used my body to keep her upright against the side of the pool, and she wrapped her scratchy wet jeans around my waist. My tongue was exploring the jumping contours of her throat when she whispered something above me. I kissed my way back up to her mouth.

“What did you say?”

Lou’s eyes were closed, and her head was tilted back against the asphalt. She didn’t open her eyes, but she rolled her head slightly away from me, like she didn’t want me to see all of her face as she said it. “Rita Palmer,” she repeated, quietly. “That’s her name. But promise me . . . you won’t tell anyone. Not even Jackal. Promise me, Jo.”

My fingertips began to tingle and I kissed her again, harder and deeper, moving my lips all over her now, promising her secret was safe, she wouldn’t be sorry she’d trusted me, we were really, finally, finally partners now.

I sucked on a salty spot on her neck and came up for air giddy. “God, Lou, thank you—when it’s all over, you won’t regret this, I promise, we don’t need her, we’ve never needed her, it’s going to be so much better when we’re not under her fucking thumb—”

Lou’s head snapped forward, nearly hitting me. She pushed me away, frowning. “What do you mean? Of course we need her. I didn’t tell you her name because I wanted you to . . . because . . .”