Page 49 of Only Girl Alive

“No one on this team does, or do I need to remind you about Collin’s ankle or Bina’s eye surgery? If you ever opened your mouth to complain about aches or pains, we would know you’re just as guilty.”

“I think the rest of us should leave while the two of you work this out,” said Ray.

Eve could see the grin he was trying to hold back. She began questioning a relationship between her and Clyde. The team’s dynamic would suffer. She pulled her thoughts back to the case and left her personal life unsettled.

“I’ll take it easy. I promise,” she said to soothe Clyde’s mind. “If I get a headache, I’ll take a nap. My biggest problem this morning is aches and pains. I feel like I need to go for a run.” She held up her hand at his furious glare. “I won’t, I promise.”

That was the best the team got from her. Eve wasn’t happy about the forced time off but she was excited to lay out the case and look for things they’d missed. Ray sent the report to Family Services, giving Eve as the point of contact.

Her gaze followed Clyde as he carried the printer from the van into her room a short while later.

He placed it on the dresser and turned to her. She simply stood staring at this man who had become such a large part of her life while she wasn’t paying attention. His arms opened and she walked into them. Her earlier doubts about the two of them not working went straight out the window.

“This is highly inappropriate,” she said into his chest.

“I’m worried about you. This feud with your stepbrother has gone too far. You know he had something to do with your assault. At the very least, he knows who did it.”

Eve’s guilt shot up another notch. She knew who did it too.

“Be careful out there today,” she said without responding to his statement.

Clyde pulled back and placed a kiss on her forehead before walking out.

Eve sat on the bed staring at the door. She couldn’t deny her feelings and this was not the time to dwell on them. The case came first.

Her team would be back with lunch in a few hours and would catch Eve up on how the interviews were going. They would call immediately if new evidence came to light. Frustrating, but it was the best she had right now.

She began by downloading all the SIM cards she’d used in her camera to a new file. She didn’t go through the images she had printed for the team the day before. She wanted a fresh perspective and a photo of each part of the house. While her computer did its thing, she connected the printer and printed a test page. She walked to her door and placed the Do Not Disturb sign on the outside knob. She then made her bed so she could build a timeline with sheets of paper and place them on the comforter in chronological order. She used a Sharpie for each main event, beginning with the original call from her brother.

It jogged her memory and she pulled out her phone and hit Tamm’s number.

“I need you to pull the call log from the county attorney’s first call on this case. I need it transcribed ASAP.”

“I’m sorry, who is this?” Tamm asked in a fake sugary voice.

“Are you trying to be funny?”

“I was told you are on bed-rest and not to help you.”

“Okay.” Eve took a breath. “Who exactly pays your salary?”

“The great state of Utah,” Tamm quipped back.

“That was not the answer I wanted and I don’t want to argue over this. I’m working in my hotel room standing as close to the bed as I’m going to get and I need your help.”

“I told Clyde I wasn’t your watchdog,” Tamm said with a faint laugh.

“How did that go over?”

“As expected. I will, however, monitor you. If you overdo it, I’ll relay the news to Clyde and you can deal with him directly.” She continued before Eve could get a word in, “This also comes with a condition: when this case is over, I want to know what’s going on between you and Clyde.”

“What do you mean?” Eve asked, trying to buy some time.

“You know exactly what I mean. Now, back to the case before you have a coronary.”

“Can you get me that transcript?” Eve asked, and rubbed her temples. She shouldn’t be surprised Tamm was the first to say something out loud. She wasn’t exactly known for timidity.

“I’ll need about thirty minutes and it’s yours.”

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