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We might have been covered from the waist down, but it was pretty clear where my hand was placed. All three of us stared a moment, everyone trying to catch up with the situation. I noticed his arm twitching as if to cover my breasts but then he stopped himself. It was likely worse to touch them in front of her. “I saw the food in the kitchen,” the woman continued. “Kona seems to have eaten some meat…”

So, we would be having vegetarian dinner for breakfast then I guessed. Then I realized the woman also saw our bruises. What kind of activities she thought we were up to in bed had to confuse the hell out of her. I had to bite my cheek not to laugh.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Gaines,” I said smiling, not letting go under the covers despite his subtle efforts to pull back.

“Yes,” she answered, looking with uncertainty at me. Honestly, if she was a Mrs., she shouldn’t be this shocked. “Nice to meet you, too. Perhaps we can meet at a more…clothed time,” she said, looking at the dog and getting the hell out of there, Kona in tow.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” he exclaimed sinking back down on the bed, looking at the ceiling with despair in his eyes. Then he eased up on an elbow. “I should go after her and apologize.”

“Really?” I gave a gentle squeeze, making his eyes widen before pulling me closer, any thoughts of apologies already forgotten. “Anyway,” I added, “you can blame it on Kona. She really is a bad watchdog.”

Thirteen

“Don’t worry about it,”Evans said as we exited Alan’s car, the only vehicle we had at our disposal.

I groaned at the memory, which only made her smile wider. “She looked like a deer caught in headlights.”

“Well, she’s the one who wandered into someone else’s bedroom.” Evans walked quickly between the cars in the parking garage, heading for the door to lead us out of there and up to the hospital. Actually, that was understandable. My kitchen was never that messy, and I was rarely at home at nine AM. Mrs. Gaines had access to my apartment on account of Kona, but still…it was so embarrassing. Not to Evans, of course. She had laughed it off. She’d done the same when we’d realized she didn’t have any clothes as well. She’d looked hilarious in oversized sweats, with a belt, and a shirt. After having swung by her place, though, she looked herself again–black pants and a woman’s blazer, a black shirt with a floral pattern…deep red lipstick. I didn’t know what came over me the night before, but now I couldn’t quite keep from stealing glances at her.

“Is meeting Mulligan really necessary?” Evans asked for the umpteenth time that morning as a pair of elevator doors opened for us. She stepped in beside me, and in the cramped space, I could smell my shampoo on her hair. Weird, yet oddly intoxicating.

“Yes,” I simply said, not bothering to explain any further. She was repeating the question hoping for a different answer. Mulligan had called while we ate breakfast–wolfed it down, actually–telling me McAllen was awake, and that they had found Andrea. At that point, I had been glad she couldn’t see my face. I realized from our brief conversation that she had no inkling we had been at Steep Rock, but Andrea being found also meant something else. My leeway was no more. There was no point in investigating Evans. Mulligan still wanted a debrief, though. Evans, of course, didn’t want to go to the police station. I didn’t think that had anything to do with Steep Rock. That was just Evans.

“Let’s stick to what we agreed,” I told her as the doors opened again, releasing us from the awful music that was supposed to be calming.

“Fine,” she said, not for the first time, either. She rounded the nearest corner and walked straight into Detective Kaye, almost making her drop her notepad.

“Oh, hi, Maggie,” she managed despite being startled. I noticed her eyes briefly fly between us and immediately knew Maureen had not kept her mouth shut. I would likely take some jabs for this later–I had been vocal about not liking Evans very much–but I didn’t have the time now.

“You seen Bill yet?” I asked Kaye.

“Yeah, just finished.”

“How is he?”

“Not too bad, considering,” Kaye said as she shut the notepad and put it in her jacket pocket. “He confirmed everything you said, Nate.”

“Yeah, well…”

“At least you can go visit him with no issues now.”

I nodded.

“Anyway, I’m on my way out. We found Andrea Kirby yesterday.”

“Really?”

“That case has been all over the papers,” Evans broke in. “Is she okay?”

As Kaye turned to look at her, I did the same. Evans looked mildly interested. A natural question to ask.

Kaye shook her head. “Kidnappers killed her, unfortunately. I’m amazed they kept her alive the whole week. Dr. Ellis says there’s no sign of sexual assault.” She shook her head, clearly at a loss as to what the kidnappers had been after. “Anyway, it’s totally messed up.”

“What?” I managed.

Kaye looked at Evans and pursed her lips in thought. The issue wasn’t lost on the latter, though. Kaye couldn’t share all the information with a civilian.

“I’ll get some lovely hospital coffee, shall I? Talking to the both of you at once makes me feel like a munchkin anyway.”

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