Hidden - Laura Griffin Page 0,25
you freaking kidding me?” she yelled at the ceiling.
They cranked the volume until her walls rattled.
Bailey stepped to the sink and examined the charred pizza. She hadn’t been to the grocery all week, and her freezer was empty.
“Screw it.” She dropped the smoke alarm onto the counter and strode into the bedroom. She pulled a tank top on over her sports bra and slipped her feet into sandals, then packed up her computer bag and locked the apartment. On the outdoor staircase she passed a college guy with a case of beer in each hand.
It was damp and muggy out, but at least the rain had stopped. Bailey passed a hamburger place with a line out the door and a busy convenience store with neon beer signs that glimmered off the wet sidewalk. The next two blocks were empty—just a long stretch of dark doorways. She held her computer bag close as she cast a wary look around.
Cause of death, sharp force trauma. Her source in the medical examiner’s office had been brief and clinical, and Bailey’s mind had filled in the gaps. Bailey hated knives, and the mere thought of coming face-to-face with a blade-wielding assailant made her queasy.
Her phone chimed, and she pulled it from the back pocket of her jeans. Jacob. For some reason just seeing his name calmed her nerves a bit.
“Hi,” she said.
“Are you still at your office?”
“I’m working from home today. Why?”
“We need to talk.”
He paused. Bailey waited for him to suggest something, but he didn’t. Maybe he didn’t want to invite himself over. Too personal.
“Do you know Eli’s?” she asked him.
“No.”
“It’s just west of campus, right by the Stop-N-Save.” She wondered if she was making a mistake sending him to her favorite hangout.
“Pearl Street,” he said.
“Yeah.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in twenty.”
CHAPTER
NINE
JACOB FOUND HER in a candlelit booth in back with a laptop computer in front of her and a glass of red wine at her elbow. For a moment, he just looked at her. She wore a loose pink top over a black sports bra, and her hair was up in another messy bun. Her bare arms were tan and toned, and after seeing her at the lake that morning, he understood why.
She glanced up, putting an end to his gawking as he walked over.
“Any trouble parking?” she asked.
“Nope.”
He slid into the booth, and a waitress stepped over.
“Something to drink?”
“Shiner Bock. Draft if you have it.”
“You got it.”
The waitress walked off, and he looked Bailey over. She had a coy expression on her face now.
“What?” he asked.
“You changed.” She sipped her wine. “So, I take it you’re off for the night?”
“Barring any emergencies.”
She closed her laptop and zipped it into the bag on the seat beside her. She rested her arms on the table and looked at him, and her gray eyes looked smoky in the dim light.
“I never met a reporter who wrote in a pub,” he said.
“I come here when my apartment’s noisy.”
“Why is your apartment noisy?”
“It’s near campus.” She rolled her eyes. “Not far from some of the frat houses. You know the red-brick walkup with the giant weeping willow in front?”
“Right down from Hud’s Hamburgers?”
“That’s the one.”
“That place is retro.”
The waitress stopped by to drop off his beer. When she was gone, Bailey lifted her wineglass.
“Salud,” she said.
He clinked glasses with her and took a sip.
“If by retro you mean they haven’t painted since 1985, you’re right on.”
He smiled. “Why do you live there?”
“I moved in my senior year. Then my roommate left, but by then I was kind of attached.” She shrugged. “It’s a good location. Walking distance to cheap food, shopping, parks.”
So, she’d gone to UT. Jacob had been meaning to check her background, but the investigation had sucked up every minute of his time.
“Also, the landlord made an exception for my cat when he changed the pet policy, so that was nice of him.”
Jacob smiled. “That’s some loyalty you’ve got there.”
“I’ll move at some point, but right now it just seems like a hassle.” She tucked a dark curl behind her ear. “What about you? Where do you live?”
“South of the lake,” he said. “I’m rehabbing a place in Travis Heights.”
“You’re doing it yourself?”
“When I have the time. Which isn’t much lately.”
“Sounds like a big project.”
“Bigger than I thought when I bought it.”
She sipped her wine and set the glass down, and the candlelight picked up the lip print on the rim. She was wearing pale pink lip gloss, and he was reminded of the pair