goodnight kiss, even though I’ve tried to send him signals that I’d be open to more.”
Julie waggled her eyebrows at Toni. “Oh, really?”
“Well, of course. Have you seen the guy? He’s super-hot. Who wouldn’t want to tap that?”
Julie laughed. “Are you sure you’re not a guy?”
“Like I haven’t heard that before.” Toni grimaced. “I think in this relationship, I definitely am. I want in the guy’s pants. Desperately. It’s been entirely too long of a dry spell and there’s only so much that B.O.B. can do for me.”
Julie giggled. “So what is he up to tonight?”
“Detective Barnes has him working late on the rapist case.”
“Have there been any more attacks?”
“I think there was one over the weekend, but he isn’t allowed to talk to me about it, so I just kind of have to go by his work load to know when something is going down. His hours seem incredibly erratic. I had no idea cops worked such different hours every day.”
Julie frowned. “Hmm, they usually don’t at Pete’s level, but I know they really want to catch this guy so that may affect the way they normally do things. I hate it when they have to work long hours. I worry that exhaustion will cause them to make a mistake. So much of what they do could turn dangerous so easily.”
At Toni’s worried look, Julie winced. “I’m sorry, Toni. I don’t mean to scare you. It’s been a long year, so I tend to look at the negative side of things. Ignore me.”
“Okay, let’s go with positive things. Enlighten me. You and Chris?”
Julie ducked her head. What could she say? There were moments when it seemed like there was something there, but then others when it seemed like Chris was just a friend. They’d shared a few kisses, but they’d never developed into anything more. She didn’t know what to think anymore. Aaron told her everything happened for a reason. She was just trying to hold onto that, but having Chris live with her in her house? Geez, this was a special kind of torture. She wanted more and wanting was dangerous.
“Julie?” Toni prompted.
“Sorry, I must be getting tired. Chris and I are just friends.”
“Hmm, I don’t think so. He doesn’t look at you like you’re just friends and you should have seen him before you woke up in the hospital. The guy was out of his mind with worry. He cares way more for you than just friends, I promise you that.”
And there it was again, that hope.
Chapter 28
He parked his car at an angle in front of the gang of juvenile delinquents leaning up against the chain-link fence.
“Yo, man, you’re in our space. That could be dangerous for a man like you,” one of the punks called to him.
“Yeah, well, I’m not too worried. Go fetch your boss-man, Slade. We have some business to discuss.” As a group, the punks relaxed their stature. Knowing Slade was a shoe-in for safety within this group.
He leaned up against the hood of his car while he waited, looking over the motley group to memorize their faces. There was no telling when information about one or more of them might prove useful to him.
On the verge of losing his patience, finally he spotted Slade coming through the doorway. The cocky bastard was strolling like he had all the time in the world. It was time to disabuse him of that notion.
He flicked his thumb toward the passenger door and growled, “Get in.”
A momentary flash of wariness popped into Slade’s eyes, but then he seemed to remember that all his homies were watching him closely. Slade couldn’t show weakness if he wanted to stay in control of these boys, so he ambled toward the car like he didn’t have anything to worry about.
As they drove away, he asked, “So how have things been going for you, Slade? Did that little problem I took care of for you a couple of months ago work out?”
“Yeah,” the kid mumbled.
“Good, good, because now it’s time for you to show your appreciation for what I did for you.” He tossed Slade a manila envelope. “I need you and your boys to take care of this guy. He’s become a problem for me. I don’t care how you do it or what you do to him. Just get him out of my way. The details about where he lives and works are in there. Make sure you take care of him when he’s alone. I don’t want