you’re not waiting on me.”
CJ didn’t comment; she simply led the way to the door, only to pause at the foot of the cot. They’d have to close the cot to get out. CJ bent to start to do so, but Mac said, “Hang on.”
Moving away, he quickly shifted the couch and end tables to the left several more inches, then stepped back to the cot to shift it as well. When he finished, he’d managed to make a good foot of space between the cot and the door. It couldn’t open all the way, but it was enough to let them out without having to suck in their guts.
“Thanks,” CJ said, but raised a hand for him to stay where he was as she cracked open the door to peer briefly out into the hall. Finding it empty, she gestured for him to follow and stepped out. CJ normally wouldn’t have locked the door for such a short trip, but there was a possible threat to Mac’s life, so she took the time to lock the door before escorting him downstairs to the kitchen.
Five
Mrs. Vesper hadn’t only left the cookies out, the pot of tea remained on the table as well and was still warm. CJ fetched a fresh teacup while Mac emptied his now cool drink from earlier and then they poured themselves tea, doctored them, and put the cream in the fridge before grabbing several cookies each and heading out of the kitchen. They’d nearly made it to the stairs when they heard a car pull into the driveway.
CJ set her tea and cookies on a small table by the stairs, gestured for Mac to stay where he was, and then moved to the back entrance that overlooked the small parking area. Tugging the curtain aside a bit, she peered out at the vehicle parking in the only empty space next to her own, and then relaxed. It was a police car. Her replacement was here, or her backup, she supposed, since they’d have to share her room for tonight at least. It was just too late to bother to find somewhere else for Mac to stay. But tomorrow she would pester Captain Dupree into making alternate arrangements, CJ thought as she unlocked the back door, opened it, and watched the officer who got out and started toward the house.
He was an older man, tall with a slight stoop to his broad shoulders, and a bit of a gut. Not a huge one, but one that suggested he liked his beer after work. His walk was confident, his hands loose at his sides, relaxed but ready to retrieve his gun if necessary.
“Ms. Cummings?” he asked as he mounted the steps.
CJ nodded, but placed one finger to her mouth in the sign for him to lower his voice. She didn’t want to disturb Mrs. Vesper or her guests, so waited until he was in the house and the door was closed again before holding out her hand and saying softly, “Pleasure to meet you, Officer . . . ?”
“Dandridge,” he answered at once.
CJ nodded and then gestured to Mac as he came to join them, “This is Mr. Macon Argeneau.”
“Sorry to hear about your troubles, Mr. Argeneau,” Dandridge said as he shook his hand. “Looks like I’ll be guarding you for the rest of the night.”
“Yeah, I’m not too sure about that,” Mac replied, and when Dandridge showed surprise, he added, “No offense, but you’re a big guy and I just can’t see you and me fitting into a queen-sized bed together.”
“What?” Dandridge asked with amazement.
CJ rolled her eyes with exasperation, locked the back door, and simply said, “Come.” She then led both men back to the stairs, pausing long enough to collect her cookies and tea before leading the way up to her bedroom suite where she had to hand Dandridge her tea so she could unlock her door. She then gestured for both men to wait in the hall briefly while she slid inside to perform a quick search to be sure the rooms were still empty. She wasn’t really expecting trouble, but it was better to be safe than sorry as the saying went. Once assured that no one had entered while they were gone, she returned to the door and waved the men in.
“Your tea,” Dandridge said, offering her the steaming cup when she turned from locking the door behind them.
“Thanks.” CJ took the cup and carried it and her cookies to the table,