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Cam straightened and blew out a breath.  Sure, but we do have to talk.
 Yeah, of course. We will. She grabbed Miguel by the sleeve of his shirt and tugged him away
from her desk. And away from Cam.
 Saved by the murder, huh? Miguel said once they were out of earshot. He glanced over his
shoulder, but she continued tugging him forward, bypassing the elevator for the stairs.
 Shut up. She hit the push bar for the stairwell door and took the steps down in a jog.
He grinned and followed at an easier pace.  I m detecting lots of interesting undercurrents between
you two all of the sudden. Did you finally fuck?
Eva whipped around.  What? No, of course not. He s my best friend, nothing more.
 Uh-huh. Miguel appeared thoroughly unconvinced.
 Oh, God. Defeat rolled through her and dragged her down to sit on one of the steps.  Does
everyone know?
 Chica, he said in the same admonishing tone she d heard him use with his teenage granddaughters
and ruffled her hair as he passed.  You work with a bunch of detectives. We ve always known it was
never a question of if with you two, but when. He stopped a few steps down and gazed back with a
knowing expression.  So, was it Key West?
She sighed. She didn t have to answer. He already knew. The whole freaking department already
knew.
 Hah! He did a celebratory Ricky Ricardo dance move down the rest of the stairs.  I won the
bet.
Whoa. Bet? That got her moving again. She chased him out into the parking lot.  Hold up, de la
Rosa. You bet on my sex life?
 Call it living vicariously.
 I ll call it illegal gambling, she told him and rounded the hood of her car.
 Aw, chica. Opening the passenger side door, he pouted at her over the roof.  Can t an old man
have a little fun?
 Not at my expense, okay?
His brow furrowed.  Never. But I thought  He looked back up at the stationhouse.  Shit, is there
something wrong between you and Wilde?
More than something. Everything. And she did not want to talk about it. She shook her head and slid
in behind the wheel.  Where s this murder?
Chapter Nine
Karma was a complete bitch.
Eva pulled her Taurus into her driveway and killed the engine, then took a moment to lay her head
against the seat and breathe out. The scent of death and garbage still clung to her clothes and hair, and
exhaustion weighed down her limbs. She d worked for twenty-two of the past twenty-four hours, was
running on gallons of coffee and a twenty minute nap. She wanted a shower, a good meal, and her
bed. But karma was a mean bitch and because she d used the murder call to escape Cam, she now had
to go to his house and talk to him about that very same murder.
Dammit.
The stop at her house hadn t exactly been out of her way, nor had it been the most direct route to
Cam s, but after leaving the death scene, she hadn t been able to work up enough courage to point her
car in his direction.
Okay, so she was procrastinating, but she did have to check on her house s wellbeing. She d bought
the three bedroom, two bathroom, semi-detached Colonial for a ridiculously cheap price after the
previous owners fell victim to the recession. It had needed major work to make it livable, so what
she d saved in the initial purchase cost, she put toward renovations. Now it was exactly as she
wanted it the brick siding clean, no more ugly metal awnings over the windows, her little patch of
fenced-in yard neatly landscaped with some hardy bushes. Not Home & Gardens worthy, but it was
quaint and cozy a perfect refuge from all the craziness she saw at work.
Except when her sister Shelby or her mother used it as a crash pad between boyfriends.
Shelby had a history of  inviting a few friends over whenever Eva worked the night shift. But to
Shelby,  a few equaled anything from two to fifty people. For all she knew, her house had been the
site of a rave last night. Wouldn t have been the first time.
All appeared quiet from the front, and all of the windows on the closed-in porch were still intact.
Promising sign. Maybe Shelby had turned over a new leaf like she claimed.
Okay, Eva really had to get out of the car now. If she stopped moving, she d crash out for a solid
eight hours and she still had to visit Cam.
God, she wished that could wait until morning. With her reserves tapped dry, she d be more apt to
open her mouth and say shit to him she shouldn t. Like,  Hey, that night in Key West? A-ma-zing.
What I can remember of it, at least. Wanna try again now that I m sober?
Not cool.
Why not? A naughty little voice whispered through her thoughts. Her damn libido speaking up like
the devil on her shoulder. Her angel was conspicuously missing from the other shoulder.
 Because I don t do one night stands, she told it and shoved open the car door. The cold blast of
night air did little to perk her up. She climbed out of the vehicle, stretched, but still felt tight all over,
her muscles protesting the movement. She needed a good gym session. Or a long night of sex.
It wouldn t be a one night stand anymore if you did it again, the libido devil pointed out.
 I don t do flings, either. Besides, he s my best friend. The alcohol gave me plausible deniability
the first time, but if I jumped him again& It s just too weird. Annnd so is arguing with the voice in my
head. Oh, Christ, I m tired. Or crazy. Probably both. She gave herself a full body shake to wake up
and hit the car s lock button on the key fob as she trudged through the iron gate in the fence
surrounding her yard, up the short walk, and the six concrete steps to her front door.
No music blasting from inside. Also a good sign.
Poe, Shelby s African Grey Parrot, sat in the window and gave a squawk of greeting when she
shuffled inside. Smiling, Eva paused to rub his head. She enjoyed Poe and often teased her sister that
he was the best boyfriend Shelby s ever had. Poe gently caught her finger in his beak and pulled
himself onto her hand, then climbed her arm to her shoulder. She reached up and ruffled the grey
feathers on his chest until he chortled and flapped his wings. The sound lifted her spirits, all of her
fatigue and worries taking a backseat for the space of a bird s call, and she laughed.
Maybe Poe was her best boyfriend, too.
She crossed the porch, stepped into the living room and froze. Her sister sat on the couch next to
a guy with short, sandy blond hair. A half-eaten box of pizza lay open on the coffee table and
Jeopardy blared from the TV with the two of them trying to out-geek each other.
 Preston? Shit. Why hadn t she noticed his car?
He turned and grinned.  Hi. You re home.
 Yeah, she said, drawing the word out.  This is my home, right?
 Of course it is. I just stopped in to see how you re doing.
 I didn t realize our relationship had upgraded to the stop-by-for-the-hell-of-it level. Where s
Lark?
 She had& things&  He waved a dismissive hand.  I was bored and in the neighborhood, so I
picked up a pizza and came on by. Is that a crime now, Detective? he asked with the down-home,
Virginia boy smile that used to make her melt. And, okay, it still did a little. Which pissed her off.
Why couldn t she just get over this guy already?
 No, she admitted on an exhale.  But it s getting late and I still have things to do, so you ll have to
excuse me for not being Miss Social Butterfly. Shel, can I talk to you for a sec?
 Sure, Shelby said brightly, but didn t move.
 In. The. Kitchen.
 Oh. Okay. She bounced up from the couch and followed.
As soon they set foot on the black and white tiles of the kitchen floor, Eva whirled on her sister. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]