when the sight of a cop, even an old friend, still made his heart lurch.
“Hey, Vinnie.”
“Eli. I had a call out this way, and was heading back in since my shift’s up. I wanted to stop by to . . . Oh, hi, Abs.”
“Hi, Vinnie.” She stepped up beside Eli. “Come in out of the cold.”
“Oh, well . . . bad timing. I can talk to you tomorrow, Eli.”
“Come on in, Vinnie. We were just having some soup Abra made.”
“Do you want a bowl?” she asked him.
“No. Thanks. No. Ah, I had a dinner break a couple hours ago, and . . .”
“I’ve got Eli on twice-weekly massages,” Abra said easily. “And I’m making sure he eats, which is something he’s been neglecting. And we’re having sex. That’s a new development.”
“Okay. Jesus, Abra. Man.”
“Why don’t you go in and sit down with Eli? I’ll get you some coffee.”
“I don’t want to get in the way.”
“Too late,” Abra said as she walked off.
Eli just grinned after her. “She’s amazing.”
“Yeah, well. Look, Eli, I like you. At least I liked you back in the day, and I’m inclined to like you now. Just don’t mess up with her.”
“I’ll be working hard not to. We might as well go in and sit down.” He turned toward the parlor, stopped when Vinnie studied the massage table. “She won’t take no.”
“Not on much.” Vinnie hooked his thumbs in his uniform belt. “Anyway, Eli, I know Detectives Corbett and Wolfe came to see you.”
“Yeah, we had an interesting chat earlier.”
“Corbett’s straight and smart—and thorough. I don’t know Wolfe, but it’s pretty clear he’s got his teeth in this bone, and he’s not giving it up.”
“He’s had his teeth in me for a year.” Eli dropped down on the sofa. “I’ve got the scars.”
“He’s going to chomp them into Abra now, and into me.”
“I’m sorry, Vinnie.”
Vinnie shook his head, lowered to a chair. “I’m not looking for sorry. But I figured you should know he’s going to do what he can to discredit Abra as your alibi, and take a swing at me as I play into it.”
“He’s a bully.” Abra walked in with a mug of coffee. “A dangerous one, I think.”
Vinnie took the coffee, stared into it. “He’s a hard-nosed, experienced cop with a pretty solid rep. My take? Coming up against you, Eli, when his gut and the circumstantial says you’re guilty as black-eyed sin, then not being able to prove it’s got him pissed.”
“I can’t be guilty of murder just to keep his record clear.”
“He knew Duncan.”
“I got that.”
“I haven’t looked deep, but my sense is they knew each other pretty well. So now he’s got more motivation to break you down. And this time, you’ve got an alibi.”
“Which would be me.”
“And you,” Vinnie said to Abra, “he’s going to see as a liar, protecting your . . .”
“The word these days is ‘lover,’” Abra put in. “He can try to discredit me. He’s doomed to failure. And I can see on your face you’re thinking it was easier, clearer when I wasn’t sleeping with Eli. I’ve— We’ve complicated things. But the truth’s still the truth, Vinnie.”
“I just want you to know he’s going to stir things up. He’ll dig. He’s already dug as far as can be dug with Eli, so you need to expect him to do the same on you, Abs.”
“It doesn’t worry me. Eli knows about Derrick, Vinnie.”
“Okay.” With a nod, Vinnie drank some coffee. “I don’t want you worried. Just prepared.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Have they run ballistics?” Eli asked him.
“I can’t give you details of the investigation.” Vinnie shrugged, drank more coffee. “Your grandmother’s got a nice antique gun collection upstairs. She let me see it once. I don’t recall any .32 calibers up there.”
“No,” Eli said just as casually. “Nothing like that in the collection, or in the house.”
“Well . . . I’d better get going. Thanks for the coffee, Abra.”
“Anytime.”
Eli rose to walk him to the door. “I appreciate you coming by like this, Vinnie. I won’t forget it.”
“You look out for her. She knows just how vicious people can be, but she’s still inclined to think they won’t be. Stay out of trouble.”
I thought I was, Eli mused. But trouble had a way of wiggling its way through the smallest opening.
When he stepped back into the parlor, she straightened from adding a log to the fire. Then she turned, flames licking and rising behind her back.
“However it happened,” he began, “whoever’s to blame, you being here,