Page 69 of Courting Gossip (Courting)
‘Actually, you’ll have to pick me up,’ Nina said. ‘I’m staying with…afriendtonight. Let me give you the address.’
* * *
Genieve didn’t recognise the house where they found Nina, but it was an old Colonial in the Palisades. The neighbourhood was slow and tranquil, the closest DC got to traditional family living with houses with actual yards. Situated on the Potomac, it was highly sought-after real estate. That fitted Nina’s style, but Genieve knew she lived in a penthouse apartment downtown. Curiosity buzzed through her, but she refused to pry into her boss’s life. They all had more important things on their minds right now.
Brody opened the door for Nina, and she slid into the back seat. She was dressed to the nines with her high heels firmly in place. Battle armour, surely, for their meeting with the detective.
Genieve turned in the passenger seat and twisted the seatbelt in her hand. ‘Did Morgan tell you any more? Did he say if they trashed the place?’
She had nice things, but she was more concerned about the items of sentimental value. Those couldn’t be replaced. Neither could the feeling of privacy or safety.
Nina leaned forward and pressed a hand over hers. ‘He said there wasn’t a lot of damage.’
Genieve nodded. So destruction hadn’t been on their minds. Had it been theft? Or was somebody snooping around for information? The latter seemed the most plausible, but they would have been disappointed. She kept her job and her private life strictly separated.
Brody was quiet as he drove deeper into the heart of DC. Traffic was light, but DC wasn’t sleeping. It was just resting. The streets were lined with parked cars, while their drivers slept in apartments overhead. The night owls were easily identified; their lit windows looked like a checkerboard. The Apple Tree Grille’s lights were on, too. The restaurant was open for night workers and insomniacs and anyone who just wanted their famous apple pancakes.
Genieve wasn’t feeling hungry when Brody held the door open for her. She wanted to know all the details of what had happened at her house, but at the same time she didn’t. Nina rubbed her back, and she sucked in a quick gulp of night air. She led the way and looked for the detective.
He was difficult to miss, sitting in a booth by the window. He looked big and imposing. Genieve felt his gaze run over her, but it kept on going and stuck on Nina. He sat up straighter in his seat, and lines creased his forehead. Genieve could have sworn the air sparked.
‘Take any seat you want,’ a waitress said as she walked by, carrying a plate of pancakes at shoulder level.
Genieve pointed in the detective’s direction. ‘We’re with him.’
But she really didn’t feel like sliding into a booth across from the man. He didn’t look happy. Beside her, Genieve saw Nina straighten to her full height in those already impossibly high shoes. With a lift of her chin, she headed in, her heels clipping on the flooring and drawing the attention of a crew of sanitation workers. She slid into the seat beside the detective, and he rubbed the back of his neck as if he didn’t know what to do with her.
‘Detective, I believe you’ve met Genieve Hart and Brody Haynes.’
‘I have.’
The cop didn’t extend his hand, but Genieve didn’t expect him to. She felt her knees wobble, and she slid into the seat across from him.
‘Thanks for offering to meet us,’ Brody said as he sat down beside her.
‘It seems like we’ve come full circle.’ The detective’s dark eyes narrowed. ‘Every time I catch a B&E, you two are involved.’
Genieve shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and Brody drummed his fingers along his thigh.
‘And Genieve has been the victim both times,’ Nina reminded him. She was sitting tall with her legs crossed, but her top foot was rolling. That was never a good sign. She sent Morgan a look of warning.
Genieve couldn’t stand the suspense. She appreciated the detective buffering her from the press, but that worried her even more about the scene going on at her rowhouse. She folded her hands on the table, her fingers going white. ‘How bad is it?’
He eased up a bit. ‘The damage isn’t that bad.’
Was he just saying that? She remembered again how nice he’d been to her at the hotel, how concerned he’d been for her safety.
‘Really,’ he said.
All right. She believed him, but she still braced herself. ‘What did they take?’
He shrugged. ‘It’s hard to tell. That’s why we need you to come look at it, but the focus seemed to be on your bedroom.’
Genieve went cold. Her bedroom? It wasn’t hard to read between the lines there. She was an escort – one who went above and beyond the limits of the law. Had Brody been right? Was it someone she’d turned down? An obsessed former client? She ran an unsteady hand through her hair.
‘It’s not so much what they might have stolen. It’s the idea of someone in my place, going through my things.’ A shudder ran through her. ‘It creeps me out.’
Brody rested his arm on the booth’s backrest, but he didn’t touch her. Was he reverting to the dispassionate observer? Hurt, Genieve sent him a sidelong look. She was surprised to see fire in his eyes.
