Page 38 of The Dollmaker

“When did you get in?”

“About twenty minutes ago.”

“Long day.”

Rebecca dropped her purse on the couch and slipped off her shoes. “I thought you were expecting regular hours.”

“For the most part, I am.”

Rebecca handed the pizza to Tessa. “Let me shower and change, and then we can visit before I drink my wine and crash into bed.”

“Sounds great.”

Minutes later Rebecca joined Tessa in the kitchen dressed in a very oversize T-shirt, with her damp hair draping her shoulders. She dug one wineglass from the cabinet and a half-full bottle of white chilling in the refrigerator. Rebecca pulled the wine cork and filled her glass while Tessa grabbed a soda can and popped the top.

Rebecca raised her glass and toasted. “To my day off tomorrow. Your new job. And to a jungle-free, civilized life.”

Tessa clinked. “Thanks.”

“How did it go today?”

“We responded to a very grisly crime scene. I saw Dakota there.”

Rebecca stilled the glass inches from her lips. “And?”

Tessa knew him well enough to know that under the still waters circled anger as alive and all-consuming as a shark in the ocean. In the coming days, eating would happen on the fly and speaking would whittle to the basics until his case was solved. “Not bad.”

Rebecca raised a brow. “It’s me you’re talking to. How was he?”

Tessa flipped open the pizza box and took a slice. “The same.”

“So what’s the deal with you and Sharp? Married or divorced?”

“Married, technically.”

Rebecca’s eyes narrowed. “What else aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing really.”

“So it is strictly business?”

Tessa pulled a piece of cheese from the top and coiled it around her finger. “Basically.”

“Have you forgotten what it was like when you were married to him? I respect the hell out of the guy as a cop, but you weren’t happy with him.”

“You make him sound like a monster. He isn’t.”

“I didn’t say that. But he got so wrapped up in his work that he wouldn’t come home for days, and when he did, he would hardly speak.”

“There’s no way you can see what he sees on a day-to-day basis and not be affected.”

“I know Dakota is doing good work, but he’s not an easy man. God knows, I saw what his sister’s death did to the family. We were both at the funeral.”

Silent, Tessa swirled her soda. “I miss him.”

“Then sleep with him and get it out of your system. He’s not the kind of guy you want to spend your life with. Time is only going to make him worse.”

“Why do you say that?”

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