“Right? I don’t know what to do with her.”
“Don’t get me started,” I said, pulling my hand out of Reyes’s grasp to wave it around dramatically before he took hold of it again. “She’s so demanding. Food. Water. Next thing you know, she’s going to ask to be unchained every time she has to go to the bathroom.”
Cookie scoffed. “Like that will happen. So, Robert is at the courthouse this afternoon, but he asked that you call him later.”
“This whole suicide-note thing sounds suspicious. I think this is a ploy to get me to call him.”
She laughed softly. “Honey, you need to talk to him.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re dating the guy. You have to be on his side now.”
“I’m not on anyone’s side.”
“Oh yeah? Two weeks ago, you would’ve had me kicking him to the curb.”
“No, I wouldn’t have. And you know it.”
I let out a deep, annoyed sigh. “Whatever. I’ll just go by the courthouse and talk to him face-to-face. Make him squirm like the rabid dog he is.”
“Oh,” she said, hesitating. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Interest level: 10. “Intriguing response. And why is that?”
“He’s observing the trial of one of his cases.”
“And?”
“And the presiding judge is, well, not your biggest fan.”
“The Iron Fist?” I screeched. “Holy cow, I am so there.”
“Charley,” she said, her tone warning, “you know what happened last time you saw her.”
“Pfft. Water under the bridge, Cook. It’s a-relevant.”
“Isn’t there already a word for that?”
“A-relevant again. You’re on a roll.”
Kit dropped us off in front of Calamity’s, the bar and grill Reyes bought from my dad. Her pallor had turned a chalky shade of white, but she said she’d have a team at the campgrounds immediately. She’d make something up. Tell them we found the remains somehow.
I wanted to set her mind at ease, but we both had work to do. Explanations would have to wait. It was still pretty early and Calamity’s wouldn’t open for another hour, but Reyes had a lot of work to do as well. I decided to remind him.
“You have a lot of work to do,” I said as we walked behind the bar to our apartment building, where my cherry red Jeep Wrangler, aka Misery, sat waiting for me.
“I told you. I hired a manager.” He was trying to sound all nonchalant, but I could feel the tension in his body. Better yet, I could see it. His arms corded with sinew and thick muscles, flexing in reaction to every sound – and on Central, that meant a lot of flexing. But he had a killer poker face, his gait relaxed, his smile charming.
“Right. I keep forgetting. Wait,” I said, coming to a stop, “who did you hire?”
“Teri,” he said with a shrug.
“No way.” I started walking again, digging for my keys through the used Louis Vuitton I’d gotten off eBay – because a used Louis Vuitton was better than no Louis Vuitton – and mulling over the fact that Teri was the new manager of Calamity’s. She had been a bartender for my dad forever, and even though she was a little rough around the edges, I couldn’t think of anyone more suited for the job. “She’s awesome.”
“Mm-hm.”
“And she’s honest.”
“I know.”
“And she’s been sober for over five years. It’s crazy, though. Why would an alcoholic become a bartender? Isn’t that setting the bar a little high? Pun intended, of course.”
“I suspect for the same reason a person like your sister with extreme OCD might become a therapist. To help others.”
“Oh, yeah. That makes sense. Teri’s really good at spotting people who have had one too many. They call her the key thief. So, are you going to relax anytime soon?” I stuck my key into the lock and opened the door.
Reyes stepped behind me and shut it. Keeping his arm braced against the door, he pressed against my backside. “Is that an offer? I am feeling a little tense across my shoulders.”
I turned to face him. “I thought you were mad at me.”
“I am.”
“Well, I make it a rule never to have sex with anyone who’s mad at me.”
He arched a brow. “It’s a wonder you’ve ever had sex at all.”
“Right? Okay, I’m going to the courthouse. I have a case. And I have to give Uncle Bob hell.”
“What did he do now?”
“He – He —” I shook my head, unable to say the words out loud. “I can’t talk about it. It’s too painful.”
A dimple appeared at one corner of his mouth. I so very much wanted to kiss it. “That bad, huh?”
“Worse. I don’t know how we’re ever going to get past this.”
“So, all the times he’s saved your ass, come to your rescue, helped you with cases —?”
“Null and void.” I turned to open the door again. He shut it again. “Reyes, I’m never going to get there at this rate.”
“Were you planning on going somewhere without me?”
I twisted around again. “It’s daylight. You said that even if the Twelve really are here, they can’t go into direct sunlight.”
“And the fact that you were just almost attacked by one?”