“Maybe eat a vegetable so you don’t give birth to one of those twenty-pound babies,” Kate said, grabbing one of the afghans from the back of the chair and lying back down. “Do you know what a twenty-pound baby would do to your vagina?”
“I can’t imagine it’s good,” I said, crossing my legs.
“Turn the light off on your way out.”
When Scarlet and I got back to the house, she hit the bar in the butler’s pantry, made herself a drink, and then gave me an absent wave and then headed straight to her room.
I was feeling a little exhausted myself, but I was still hopped up on sugar, so while my body was tired, my mind was going full speed. I changed out of my bumblebee attire into what I liked to call my work-from-home outfit, which was essentially anything that felt like pajamas, but was still nice enough you could answer the door if someone showed up unexpectedly.
After I was suitably attired, I decided a sandwich was in order. I added lettuce and tomato because the thought of having a twenty-pound baby was terrifying, and then I grabbed a bottle of water to wash away the caffeine.
It wasn’t long before I heard the rumbling sounds of Scarlet’s snores. I turned on the evening news to drown her out, and it was just good luck that Nick’s homicide was the breaking story. It was nice to catch a glimpse of him as he told the reporter no information at all, while making them think he was giving important information. It helped that the reporter was a woman and she seemed dazzled by his presence.
Nick was a fantastic cop, but the department had made him somewhat of a spokesman over the last few years because he was just as good in the public eye as he was behind crime scene tape. He was sexy as hell, he had charisma, and people liked him. He’d do well in politics.
Ever since Nick had given me the greenlight on doing some redecorating, my mind had been going nonstop. I’d been having trouble lately focusing. I had two pages of notes, and a fresh new Pinterest board. Now I just had to find someone who could get it all done. Because cop hours and pregnant ladies weren’t conducive to home remodeling. Especially if you wanted to finish the project.
I sent out a feeler to Suzanne since she’d been in the construction business once upon a time. I’d read about nesting, but I hadn’t expected the urge to redecorate the entire house to come on so strong. I wanted it done yesterday.
I brought my sandwich to the kitchen table where I’d set up the agency laptop, my notes, and all the information my mother had given me. I needed to pay another visit to my mother and check out my dad’s shed, but there was no use doing it in the dark and rain. Tomorrow morning would be soon enough.
It felt strange running a background check on Vince, but I figured it was best to follow protocol and treat this just like I would any other case. I started running the search, and then I opened another tab so I could do the reverse phone lookup and find out who Angelica was.
“Luis Vega,” I said, writing the name down on my notepad. “Of course it’s not going to be easy.”
Now I had to do a search for Luis Vega and work my way backward until I found someone named Angelica. While I waited for the computer, I flipped back and forth between Pinterest and HGTV and sent pictures to Suzanne and Rosemarie. Suzanne assured me she had a crew who could start immediately and just to send pictures and they’d take care of the rest.
I liked the idea of someone else taking care of everything. I wanted a no-stress pregnancy, and I wanted Nick to have as little of a headache as possible. As long as he kept getting called out to murders, I’d be in the clear.
Vince’s background check finished first and I pulled up the file. I skimmed over the standard information—driver’s license, social security number, photo ID—and wanted to get to the nitty gritty of his past. People didn’t realize that even their social media information showed up on background checks now days. It was impossible to hide something if you used technology.
I didn’t really know anything about Vince’s past, even though he’d been around since before my sister