Brett, to have him hold her the way he had a couple of minutes ago, and she didn’t want him to do it just because it was his job or because they were pretending to be together.
How crazy was that? Batshit, that’s how crazy.
They sat in silence for a while, until another cruiser pulled up.
“Miss Palmer?” Corporal Monk stepped out onto the porch. “If you’re ready, I’d like to walk through with you now.”
“Mm-hmm, sure.” She pushed to her feet, then turned to Brett, who stood behind her, his presence taking up more room on the tiny porch than anything else. “Guess that’s your cue.”
He pushed her hair back a little, tucked it behind her ear, and looked down at her with eyes clouded by something she couldn’t make out. When he cupped her face between his palms, she thought he might kiss her, wished to God he would, but all he did was slowly smooth his thumb across her cheek and then let her go.
“I’ll call you later.”
Nodding, she couldn’t hold his gaze for fear he’d see what she was really feeling, and until she had that figured out herself, she wasn’t about to share it with anyone. As she stepped inside with Corporal Monk, she saw Brett stop to talk with the other member, then indicate Maya with a nod.
It wasn’t anything Ellie hadn’t been through before: the walk-through to see if anything had been taken and an examination of all locks and windows. Nothing was missing, and none of her locks appeared to have been jimmied.
She told Corporal Monk that she could probably save the detachment the time, effort, and cost, because in the past Kurt had never left a fingerprint or anything else that might lead them to him. Corporal Monk assured her that all efforts would be made to find the perpetrator, and that included running prints on anything they thought might help.
With an overnight bag packed, and yet another cop’s business card to add to her growing stack, Ellie climbed into Maya’s car and didn’t say a word until they got back to the apartment.
“So that sucked.”
“No shit.” Maya headed straight to the kitchen to put on the kettle. While they waited for it to boil, she set a small glass of clear liquid in front of Ellie. “Drink that.”
And Ellie did. Or she started to, but as soon as it hit her tongue, she choked, wheezed, and sputtered most of it back up.
“What the hell is that? Gasoline?”
“Grappa. Good stuff.”
“Oh my God. I think I’ll stick to the tea for now.”
Maya had already called Jayne and Regan to let them know what was going on, but they didn’t push it when Ellie asked them not to come down. Now that it was over, all she wanted was to get some sleep, and yet the minute she tucked in on Maya’s couch, she was wide awake. As she did every night, she turned the ringer off on her phone, but unlike every other night, she kept it clutched in her hand.
Just in case.
He’d been in her house again. He’d violated the one place she should have felt safe, just to be a prick. What if her mom had been there? Or what if he’d broken in during the night, while they’d been sleeping? She had no answers, just more questions, more worries, and a deepening sense that this might never end.
A little after midnight, her screen suddenly blasted the light of an incoming call, jarring her straight up so fast she almost dropped the phone on the floor. Brett.
“Hey,” she whispered, sliding her glasses back on. “No, I was awake. You’re where? Give me two seconds.”
With the thick gray blanket still wrapped around her, she tiptoed out of Maya’s apartment and down the narrow staircase that led to the back entrance of Jayne’s bookstore. She didn’t think she’d ever been happier to see another person than she was when she opened that door and saw him standing there, unsmiling, blue eyes all stormy-looking.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m 10-98,” he said, as though that should mean something to her. “On meal break.”
He’d hardly squeezed through the opening before she reached around him to pull the door closed, then seemed to freeze in place.
“Give me a minute,” she said, pushing her hair back and cringing at the blanket. “I’ll just run up and get dressed.”
“Don’t,” he said. “I can’t stay long.”
“But I’m…” What was she going to tell him? That sitting there in her pajamas and