Page 447 of Dark Love

“The last time she gave you a name… What are we going to do?”

“’We’ aren’t going to do anything. You can’t leave Imogene.”

Payne’s head snaps back to Imogene. She’s watching the television, but checking for Payne every few minutes. “Temperance suggested that Imogene needs a friend as well as therapy.”

And why would he call me about this? “Then have her call one of her friends. Surely, they will come over.”

“Imogene refuses to talk to anyone she knew before. She doesn’t want them to see her like this.”

Women make my head hurt. “Then what are we supposed to do?” I’m certainly not going to take the place of this woman’s girlfriends.

“I was thinking… who better to understand what Imogene is going through than someone who might have—”

He’s talking about — “ABSOLUTELY NOT!”

“Hear me out for a second.”

“No. There’s no discussion. We aren’t dragging Dahlia into this mess. That’s not happening. She doesn’t need—”

“What doesn’t she need?” Payne steps forward. “Tread carefully,my friend.”

Payne and his obsession are going to drive me out of my mind. “Dahlia doesn’t need to know just how close a call it really was. She doesn’t need to know how bad it could have been.”

A brittle laugh follows me. “You don’t think she doesn’t already know that? You don’t think she hasn’t thought about all the things that could have happened to her? Why do you think her hand shakes? Why do you think she almost had a panic attack? Women get it. They know exactly what could happen if they’re roofied. You’re not protecting her. You’re putting your head in the sand.”

He’s wrong.

“Temperance—you know, the doctor that deals with cases like this all the time—suggested that it might be beneficial for both of them.”

My friend doesn’t lie to me, but none of that makes sense. Dahlia is fine. She doesn’t need to see the damage that was done to Imogene.

But Payne is right, she almost had a panic attack. “I’ll go talk to Temperance myself. If she can convince me that it’s in Dahlia’s best interest, I’ll think about it.”

“Good. So, what’s the plan with the soon-to-be dead man?”

“No plan. I’m going to get to know him first. Then I’ll take care of him.”

“We’re a team. I’ll be there when you need me. Seriously, even if we need to call Barb in to sit with Imogene, I’ll be there.”

Payne would do just that. “Let’s wait and see before we jump.”

“Dyce isn’t wrong about these things.”

She’s not. I don’t have time for any of this today.

***

Stakeouts haven’t gotten any better the older I’ve gotten. It’s still boring. But I prefer doing it myself rather than having Shock hack into the camera feedsaround the soon-to-be dead man’s place. All the cameras people have placed around their homes does make it tempting.

But rarely does something covert happen where they live.

Payne isn’t going to give me a long time to decide. He can be a bit persistent.

Time to set up a meet.

Me: Does your mother have a few minutes to talk to me?

Max: Are you going to bring cookies too?

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