voice, how you talk, is not something you should change, because for me, it’s part of what makes me think I could be around you twenty-four seven, no problem at all.”
It took me a moment to be able to speak. I was afraid I might break down from the compliment. “It seems to me you like quite a bit about me.”
He nodded, and his own voice was rough when he spoke. “Yeah, I do.”
“That’s excellent, because the feeling is mutual.”
Quick, flashing grin. “It was weird, but you were the first person I thought of calling when the cops came to question me, and that’s never happened before. I’ve always handled things myself and don’t worry about anybody else.”
“Which you did,” I assured him, breathing a sigh of relief. “Like I did with my father being ill, but having you here would have been…better, you know?”
“I do know,” he agreed.
“Promise you’ll come for Thanksgiving.”
“If nothing weird happens before then, yeah, I’ll come.”
“Excellent.” I was trying hard not to let my voice go out on me in excitement.
“I just hope it’s a good idea.” He sounded almost…sad. “Parents don’t usually like me.”
“How do you know? Whose parents have you met?”
“I mean friends I’ve had, people at work. The only parents who like me are the Bowens, and I’m their employee, and the parents of the kids I work with at The Mission.”
“I think my parents are going to love you. It’s hard to imagine anyone not.”
“You say that so seriously.”
“If you haven’t gathered yet, I’m a pretty serious person most of the time.”
“Yeah, I get that from you.”
“It’s not a good thing.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s a giant turnoff.”
Quick snort from him. “Is that right?”
“Most guys like games and mystery and don’t want to make plans. People like to live in the moment and not be bogged down with what could be.”
“Well, I prefer your spreadsheet thingy, or whatever you’re doing, because it shows you wanna see me, and that is a huge turn-on, if you ask me.”
I almost whimpered. It was a near thing.
“Hey, I don’t wanna wait for Thanksgiving, just walk around now and show me your place. I wanna see.”
“I haven’t been home. It’s not clean and I don’t want you to think me slovenly.”
“I don’t think that’s possible,” he assured him.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. I want you to have something to look forward to when you visit and seeing my place and how close I am to the beach I’m hoping will lure you into staying.”
“I’ll have you there,” he assured me. “I don’t need anything else.”
I sighed deeply. “You say very nice things.”
“Which, I’ll be honest, hasn’t happened before. You seem to bring it out in me.”
I had to wonder how a man I barely knew could make me feel like I was glowing.
9
Jeremiah
Detective Aguilar brought his partner, Detective Dennehy, with him, and he was the one who reiterated what I’d been told on the phone when he got to Zack’s shop: Shawn had taken something from somebody, with or without meaning to, and now the gang—that was what they were calling them—wanted it back. At this point it came down to tracking Shawn’s every movement over the last month.
“He doesn’t know what he took?” I was surprised. “I mean, you asked him and he has no fuckin’ clue?”
“Yeah, no,” Aguilar assured me. “Apparently when you swipe a lot of small shit, it doesn’t stick in your head.”
“I guess that’d be too easy,” I muttered.
“We think he got involved with someone and didn’t want to be an escort anymore,” Detective Aguilar informed me. “You weren’t the only one he’d asked to fill in for him; he was tapping all the guys in Gina’s stable.”
“So you’re thinking his connection to the gang is through someone he was dating?”
“Maybe. Or maybe a regular client who wanted him to, I dunno, be exclusive?”
That made sense.
“You don’t remember anyone who fits that description?”
“He has friends he went out with and did whatever with, but as I said, I saw him in class and that was it.”
Aguilar nodded. “I know, kid. Like I told you earlier, we checked you out. Two jobs plus school, I’m surprised you even agreed to do it when he asked you. And when we talked to the professors you and Shawn had in common, they had great things to say about you, but not much about him at all.”
“Shawn comes off like he was skating by,” Dennehy chimed in. “And I have to wonder why he’s going to school