until dinner. I couldn’t wait. I was going to assist the police, however slightly. To be on the inside of this case. To help catch the damn kidnapper.
But there was something else on my mind as evening approached. I was intrigued by Detective Stiles, how his mind worked, how he approached a case. And, aside from all that, I liked the way he smelled.
ELEVEN
IT WAS DARK WHEN I GOT HOME.ANGELA REFUSED TO LISTEN. “I’ll pay for the cab.” “No way.”
“Why are you being so stubborn?”
“I’m not. Nobody’s going to mess with me, not in my neighborhood.”
“But it’s several blocks to your neighborhood.”
“Anybody tries to mess with me, I know what to do. I got a good pair of lungs, and I didn’t grow up with four older brothers without knowing how to defend myself.”
She pulled on green wool gloves dotted with little red and white christmas trees and headed for the door. “Bye, Molly,” she called.
Molly looked up from her coloring book long enough to say good-bye. I walked outside with Angela. At least I could watch her to the corner. But across the street, carrying a large crate down the walk from charlie’s house, was a better solution.
“Yo, Jake,” I called. “How’s it going?”
He started, surprised, then popped the crate onto the back of his pickup, looked over, and waved. “Yo—how’d that salt work out?”
“Good,” I shouted. “Real good. Thanks.”
“Who’s that?” Angela whispered.
“Jake,” I whispered back. “You know him—”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do. He helped us move out Molly’s crib.” “That was him? He looks different.” “His hair’s longer.”
“ ‘Sup?” Jake approached our front steps, smiling broadly. His eyes, deep set and too close together, seemed sunken in the dusk. He was unshaven, shoulders bulging through a zippered hoodie.
“You busy right now, Jake?”
“Why? Something I can do for you, ladies?”
Angela covered her mouth. “Zoe, don’t—”
I squeezed her arm. “Angela, you remember Jake. Jake, Angela.”
He grinned broadly, teeth sparkling, chest out. “Sure. How’s it going?”
“Yeah, okay.” Angela gave him a disapproving once-over. “Angela insists on walking home, Jake, and I don’t think it’s safe.”
“No way. It’s not. You want a lift, Angela? Where you headed?”
“I don’t need a lift. I’m fine.”
“No trouble. You gotta be careful these days. I just gotta run into that rehab for a second, then I’m headin’ out anyway. I’ll be right back. Stay put.” He took off down the street and turned in to a half-renovated townhouse.
“I’m not speaking to you no more,” Angela announced. “You got no sense of boundaries between us. What’s my business is not the same as what’s your business.”
“I just want you to be safe.”
“It’s not your business if I’m safe. Besides, I’m not talking to you.” “Fine.”
I walked her down the stairs to Jake’s pickup. We stood there, not talking, breath steaming, waiting in the cold. A minute later, Jake came running back carrying a lunch box and a paint-stained tarp. He tossed them into the back.
“Hop in.” He opened the door and reached gallantly for Angela’s hand.
“Get her home safe, Jake.”
“You got it. No problem. Glad to help out. Any time.” He preened like a shining knight. Or a horny rooster.
Angela fried me with her eyes but climbed into the truck. Jake closed the door after her and ran around to the driver’s side. “She couldn’t be safer, don’t you worry.”
The engine roared and they drove off, Angela glaring at me through the window. Watching them, I realized how cute a couple they made. Except that Angela planned to marry Joe, her high school sweetheart. Otherwise, I might have played Cupid.
TWEIVE
“DINNER?” SUSAN SQUAWKED IN DISBELIEF. SHE WASINHER manic mood again. “You’re going out with the police detective?” “No, I’m not going out with him.”
While Molly lolled in her bath, I went through my closet, trying to find something to wear to dinner. “It’s a meeting. He wants me to help him out, as sort of a consultant.” “Consultant” sounded better than “snitch.”
“I’m sure he does.” Her tone was sarcastic. “The question is, how closely will you have to work?”
“I’m serious, Susan.” I tried to sound calm.
“What? You think this is legitimate? You think Homicide normally consults art therapists?”
“I wouldn’t know.” I pulled out a gray dress and held it up in front of the mirror. Too frumpy and shapeless. And the navy was too daytime.
“About what, precisely, will you consult? Teaching watercol-ors at the Police Academy? Offering decoupage therapy to the Highway Patrol?”
“He wants my help with a case.”
“A case of what? The hots?”
“Very funny.” How did she