come back at any moment. What am I going to do? I cleared my throat. "Of course, Detective Torres."
"Call me after, dear," Sally said and patted my shoulder. "I'll be waiting." She waved at Detective Torres and made her way back toward her house.
"Hi, Detective Torres," Charlotte said and ducked down so she'd be eye to eye with him in the car. "How are you this afternoon?"
I swore she batted her fake eyelashes at him. You're married. Stop flirting with the law.
"Great." He peered around her. "Ensley? I'll meet you at the house."
I nodded.
"It's good you have company, Ensley. Now you won't eat that whole pot pie yourself," Charlotte said before Detective Torres pulled away.
I felt my cheeks turning red. I knew he'd heard that. It was one thing to be mean to me. It was another to make fun of me in front of other people. "I don't want your disgusting chicken pot pie." I shoved it back in her arms. "You're rude. And cruel. And unbearably awful. Go poison someone else with your over-salted casseroles."
She gasped.
I'd finally told Charlotte off. And I'd slapped her with the sickest burn a housewife could give another housewife - a jab at her cooking. If that was the last thing I did before being hauled off to prison, I could live with that.
The shocked expression on her face was more satisfying than shoving Noah down the stairs. I didn’t even bother scolding myself and pretending that he slipped. I'd shoved him and I'd do it again. After all, he did it to me first.
Detective Torres was parked out front of my house. He was leaning against his car with his arms folded across his chest and his sunglasses covering his eyes. I figured there was a 90 percent chance I was about to be arrested.
Chapter 26
Monday
"Nice snow angels," Detective Torres said.
I looked at my front yard. Just like out back, the ground was covered in snow angels. I didn't even remember coming out front. God, when had I had time to do all this? "Thank you." I hated that it came out as more of a question than a statement.
"It seems like you had some fun last night."
I couldn't read him when he was hiding his eyes behind his sunglasses. It felt like a tactic. I didn't like being played. "Mhm," I said, offering him just as little in return.
"Did you have something to celebrate, perhaps?"
I shook my head. He wasn't as good at this game as I thought. He'd pretty much just showed all his cards. If he was waiting for a confession, it wasn't coming. "I drank too much wine and wanted to play outside with Snuggle Muffins. We got a little carried away it seems." I looked down at my dog. Growling at Charlotte must have worn him out. He was sleeping peacefully in my arms.
"I see. So it was more of a drowning your sorrows kind of thing?"
That sounded better than accidentally getting high. "Exactly."
"Do you mind if I come in? It's pretty cold out today."
I knew it wasn't really a choice. "I don't mind at all." I didn't know what kind of disarray my house was in. Noah had been loose all morning while I was tied up. All I knew was that there were definitely shredded ropes in our bedroom. Hopefully Detective Torres wouldn't come up there.
I plugged in my Christmas lights to buy time. They always looked extra magical under a blanket of snow, even in the daylight. A chill ran down my back like someone was watching me. I looked over my shoulder, but it was only Detective Torres standing there.
He smiled, but the sunglasses hid whether the smile reached his eyes.
I held Snuggle Muffins closer to my chest. The chill was replaced with an unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach. As soon as Detective Torres came inside, I was basically begging to be caught. Noah would show up. He'd ruin everything. And I'd be the one that ended up behind bars, even though he was the monster. At least Snuggle Muffins’ furry little body was a little comforting.
I glanced once more at the Christmas lights as I unlocked the door. Maybe the chill I'd felt was just the Christmas season finally getting to me. And the pit in my stomach was just a desire for gingerbread cookies. There was magic in the air today. Christmas was only a few days away now. It would be the first Christmas since I'd met