Page 68 of Sweet Like a Psycho (Secrets of Suburbi 2)

I opened up the final drawer. Three backup toothbrushes. I pulled one out and wondered if only having two in there would upset her. I’d pick up another after work today. I closed it and quickly brushed my teeth and washed my face.

When I came back out of the bathroom the bed was empty. She had made it, removing any trace that two people had slept in it instead of one. I understood. It was going to be hard explaining it to Zeke. He asked a whole lot of questions about everything. His mind was like a sponge. He’d certainly taken to cursing like a sailor pretty easily.

I tried to be quiet as I made my way downstairs. Luckily it was just Violet in the kitchen. Zeke must have still been asleep.

“Do you have three of everything?” I asked as I sat down on one of the three kitchen stools.

She poured a cup of coffee and placed it in front of me. “It’s good to have a back up for your back up. Just in case.”

“Fair point.” I wrapped my hands around the mug, happy for the warmth it provided. The old house was drafty despite the fixed heater. “Have you ever thought about seeing a doctor for your compulsions? I feel like they make medicine to help with them.”

She put a few slices of bread in the toaster and proceeded to make a sandwich with two more slices. “I don’t like doctors.”

“No one likes doctors.”

She finished the sandwich and put it into a plastic container. “I mean…I don’t do doctors. I haven’t been to one since Zeke was born.”

“What about when you’re sick?” I already knew the answer. She was sick when we first met and she just waited it out.

She shrugged. “I’ve taken Zeke to the pediatrician a few times. But I manage just fine myself.”

“Do you always pack Zeke’s lunch?”

“The food in the cafeteria isn’t organic.” She put the sandwich and an apple into a lunchbox. “You’re full of questions this morning.”

“We kind of skipped over our talk last night. And I need to ask some questions…I don’t want you to think I’m a bad detective.” She had joked about that last night. I hadn’t taken it too seriously, but I didn’t want her to actually think I was bad at my job. Even if I kind of was. Sometimes it was hard to find passion in a job that dealt with so many horrors. When I was with her, it was easy to forget all the horrible things I had seen. She was a breath of fresh air.

“I didn’t mean you were actually bad at your job. I was referring to you being responsible for picking out that lizard. You clearly didn’t get a good look at Lizardopolous. Zeke saw right through the imposter. But I guess in some other ways…you kind of are a bad detective.”

She was making it hard not to be offended here. “In what other ways?”

“You’ve been flirting with your prime suspect.”

“It’s not my case anymore.”

“Just because it’s not your case doesn’t make me innocent.”

“We both know you’re innocent.”

She closed the lunchbox after putting in a bottle of water. “Do you think that maybe we can have that talk today?” She fidgeted with the lid of the lunchbox.

“I can come by for lunch.” It was tempting to call in sick, but the captain was already breathing down my neck. I was trying to get off her shit list, not move my name to the top of it.

“That would be great.” She nodded like she was trying to convince herself her words were true. The toaster popped, breaking the awkward silence. “Toast?” She didn’t wait for a response, she just started spreading jam on it and slid me a plate.

“Is everything okay, Vi?”

“Yeah.” She kept her eyes glued to her piece of toast. “We just have a lot to talk about.”

She wasn’t wrong. I’d somehow avoided all the awkward questions that would usually happen before I was intimate with a woman. Not to mention all the awful boundaries I had crossed by looking into her past. This afternoon would be my chance to come clean about everything. Or I could suck it up and do it now. I cleared my throat.

“Mommy! Mommy!” Zeke shrieked. His little feet pounded on the steps as he bolted down the staircase. “Lizardopolous came home! Lizardopolous came home!” He was holding his new lizard high in the air as he slid into the kitchen.

I didn’t know what had changed his mind. Maybe he had a dream that his real lizard came home. Either way, I was glad to see he believed now.

“Oh!” Violet said and crouched down to look at him. “How about that. I told you once he started doing his camouflage thing you’d realize it was him.”

“No. I mean he must have come home last night whi

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