Текст книги "She's Not There"
Автор книги: Marla Madison
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Текущая страница: 15 (всего у книги 23 страниц)
51
TJ drove Janeen and the kids home from Eric’s. As she drove, she kept a close eye on any vehicles following them for more than a mile or two. TJ hadn’t told her sister all the details of what had been happening the last few weeks, only that they were trying to get evidence someone was abducting abused women.
Janeen had her own experience with spousal abuse, one which included her sister, and ultimately resulted in TJ leaving the police force. She hadn’t been forced out. Her brother-in-law’s shooting had been ruled a clean shoot, necessary to protect the lives of Janeen and the police officer who shot him—TJ.
Try as she might to squelch them, scenes from that night still played in TJ’s mind: her sister screaming, Mario’s knife pressing into Janeen’s neck, the way his body hit the wall when TJ had shot him. TJ’d been eternally grateful her sister had had the foresight to send the kids down the hall to a neighbor before things escalated.
TJ eased up on her rearview-mirror observations when Janeen asked, “So, what time are you meeting Richard for the big weekend?”
“Soon as he gets off; probably leave about five.”
“You don’t sound too excited about it.”
“Since when do you care about my plans with Richard?”
Janeen had never liked Richard and kept telling TJ to find a man her own age, someone to settle down with. Have kids even, despite the fact TJ denied wanting such mundane things.
“That Jeff guy seemed real nice. He’s the one you’ve been working with right?”
TJ should have known her sister would have picked up on her attraction to Jeff. Damn, she didn’t want to talk about it. “Yeah, he’s the one. Poor guy’s real upset about his wife going missing. Gotta feel sorry for him.” Maybe the sympathetic words would change the subject.
Her phone rang just as they stopped at a light. Richard said, “Sorry, babe, but I’m still in Chicago. Some family things are going on and I have to stay for a couple more days. We’ll have to do our weekend another time. Tell you what. Why don’t you take your sister and the kids and go to the Dells anyway? I’ll pick up the hotel tab.”
“Not necessary.” TJ said, annoyed at the last-minute cancellation. But Janeen had been right; TJ hadn’t been excited about their trip. But she suspected there was more to his call than a family thing; Richard wasn’t a family kind of guy.
He said, “Should I reschedule?”
“Sure. No problem.” Did he really think she’d bought his weak excuse? The jerk probably met someone in Chi-Town who he couldn’t resist. But she needed a weekend alone. Alone, in her own place.
It had been two years since Lisa had stopped seeing her therapist, Robert Bernstein, but after what had happened with Tyler, she knew it was time—time to sort through her ongoing love affair with exciting, albeit unfulfilling, relationships.
“Lisa. It’s been a while.”
“I know. Sorry, Robert, you probably have a lot going on, but I’d like to see you.”
“Something urgent?”
“Not really. Can you fit me in?”
“I’m not in the office today. I’m actually off for the weekend at my wife’s insistence.”
“I don’t want to take you away from your family.”
“No, no. Mother and daughters are at the mall indulging in their favorite pastime. I’m about to go for a run. Want to join me?”
They met on a hiking path in the Kettle Moraine area, a state park north of Oconomowoc. Lisa found him at the side of his car, doing deep stretches. “I maintain a very slow pace. The better to hear you speak, my dear.” He laughed. “Baby steps, you know. I’m trying to get rid of some of this gut.” He patted his middle. A tall man, Bernstein carried the extra pounds well.
“I know what you mean. I stuffed enough food in my mouth yesterday to hibernate for a month.”
They started off walking, then picked up the pace to a slow jog. There weren’t many people on the paths, a few dog walkers the only people around.
“Robert, you’re doing a great job with Jeff. He speaks highly of you.” Lisa had sent Jeff to Robert when she stopped seeing him.
“I’m not sure I can take all the credit.”
“Being busy has helped, too, I’m sure.”
“Lisa, I know you aren’t here because of Jeff.”
“No. I’m not sure how much Jeff has told you about what we’re doing . . . It’s been intense.”
“Intense? It sounds more like life-endangering lunacy to me.”
“Something had to be done. Too many women have been victimized by this person.”
“How do you know it isn’t persons?”
“We don’t, I suppose.”
“Other than the obvious, what’s bothering you?”
“Nothing in my life has changed a whole lot since we last talked—since you gave up on me.” That’s what it had felt like.
“Gave up on you? I wouldn’t put it that way, Lisa. You’d given up on yourself; there was nothing more I could do for you. Taking any more of your hard-earned dollars for therapy would have made me a charlatan.”
“I guess you’re right.” Professionally she’d known it, but it had, nevertheless, made her feel deserted.
“You know I’m right. Only a quack keeps seeing a patient who won’t make the necessary effort to get better. You’re here, so what’s changed?”
“It’s a long story, but I’m not happy with my life, my relationships.”
“Lisa, if you’re serious about working on it now, I’ll be happy to start seeing you again.”
Lisa stopped to retie a shoelace, glad for a break in the conversation.
Robert ran in place. “I’m surprised you aren’t putting therapy on hold until this investigation of yours is over.”
Lisa sighed. He knew there was more. She’d never been able to hold out on him.
They resumed their pace. “It can’t be easy for all of you, holed up together like you are.”
“You’ve guessed it, haven’t you?”
“Hey, your life is in danger, you’ve been forced to live away from the home you love, Paige is gone, and you’re trying to break away from the addiction that’s always kept you going. It’s only natural you’d want to reach out to someone when you’re in such a vulnerable place.”
“All true. But Eric Schindler can be such an exasperating man.”
“Eric Schindler?”
“You didn’t think I’d be attracted to Jeff, did you?”
Robert laughed. “Jeff is in your usual age range.”
Lisa grinned. “Guess I deserved that one.”
“So what’s happening with Eric?”
“Nothing yet, but there’s beginning to be an attraction there. For me, anyway.”
“What’s holding you back? That’s not like you.”
“Eric and I are both broken, Robert. Two jagged pieces don’t make a whole.”
“Lisa, I’ve always maintained you are not a relationship addict. Not in the true sense.” When she started to protest, he said, “You aren’t. I know it’s how you label yourself, but you know as well as I do not every little foible can be labeled a personality disorder. Everything in our profession is not black or white.”
He was right. But labeling it made it feel inescapable, unfixable. It allowed her to enjoy the excitement of the new and the pain when it ended; even a painful breakup made her feel alive. “Then what is the solution for my not-a-relationship addiction?”
“You know the answer as well as I do, Lisa. You have to break the pattern, learn to find joy in a relationship not destined to be terminal. One both exciting and comfortable with someone who loves you, who’ll be there for you.”
“Right. Meanwhile I’m trapped in limbo with a man I’m both attracted to and despise.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Despise may be a little harsh. He has some good qualities.”
Robert chuckled. “So, what would be wrong with just going with the flow for now?”
“Are you suggesting I hop in bed with him?” She laughed at the thought, but it intrigued her.
“As your therapist I would never do such a thing. As your friend, I’m concerned about you and think connecting with another person might be good for you right now. I’m not saying it needs to be a sexual connection.”
She stopped running and broke out in laughter. “Oh, Robert, I almost said, ‘You’re screwing with me, right?’ but the absurdity of the pun stopped me.” Lisa wiped away the tears brought on by her own joke as Robert looked on, smiling.
“Lisa, call my office and make an appointment. I think you’re ready to work on your issue.”
“My man-diction?” Her play on words sent her into another fit of giggling.
52
In her apartment after she’d dropped off Janeen and the kids, TJ reviewed what they had so far on the missing women; there just weren’t any real commonalities among them. A few had had a hint of a new man in their lives, but nothing certain. They needed something concrete.
Eric didn’t think Kayla had been seeing anyone, but she’d been a party girl, so maybe anything could be possible. When TJ had interviewed Kayla’s two running partners neither claimed to have known about her seeing anyone. Maybe she needed a rematch with those bitches. It was, after all, Friday night—their night to prowl the clubs. TJ wasn’t ready to let the group know she and Richard cancelled their weekend plans. She didn’t want to tell them and listen to a safety lecture about being alone, but she wasn’t feeling up for going out by herself either.
She dialed Shannon’s cell. The woman was always eager to be included. When she picked up, TJ said, “You aren’t talking to me. Get it?”
“Sure. What happened?”
“My plans changed.”
“Okay. I heard you went to the Y this morning. Did you find anything?”
“Nothin’ much. Found the woman who talked to Jamie from time to time. She remembered Jamie mentioned a new guy she‘d seen around the Y, described him as a real hottie, but that was about it. Checked with management to see if they had a new membership right around that time, but there weren’t any new sign-ups that fit the description. So either he was already a member at some other location or passed himself off as a member.”
“Too bad we couldn’t find someone who remembers him.”
“Yeah. Don’t think there’s anything more there.”
“How about the Sombrero Club?”
“They said next week would be better. You know, folks gone for the holiday now.”
“Well, employees might be, but this might be a good weekend to find the regulars hanging out,” Shannon suggested.
Great, TJ thought. Now Shannon would think going out there tonight was her idea. “Wanna meet me there?”
“Uh . . . sure.”
“Park in the overflow lot across the street. I’ll meet you at ten.”
A country-rock band was playing at the Sombrero Club when TJ and Shannon walked in. The place was busy, but not as crowded as she’d expected, even better for her purposes. The clubs got the biggest crowd after eleven, so now would be a good time to talk to the bartenders.
Every barkeep they talked to either hadn’t been working that night or didn’t recognize the photo of Jamie Denison. TJ noticed another guy working the waitress station at the end of the bar. When she showed him the photo, he studied it for a long time.
“I think I saw her that night. Yeah, I noticed her ‘cause she was just standing by herself near the end of the bar.” He grinned. “I’m partial to blondes. She wasn’t dancing or talking to anybody. She just stood there holding a glass of wine and watching the crowd.”
“Did you notice when she left?”
“No.” He reached over to fill an order for a waitress who’d slapped a drink slip on the bar.
When he finished, he said, “I saw her talk to somebody.”
“A guy?”
“Nah, a woman. She’s a regular—name’s Kimberly. She’s out on the dance floor now. The one with the tight pants and shiny top.”
She was easy to spot. Doing a wild hip-hop, the other dancers gave her and her partner a wide berth.
TJ stopped the woman as she came off the dance floor. Moving fast, it looked like she was trying to shake off the guy she’d been dancing with.
“Excuse me, Kimberly?” TJ introduced herself. “Mind talking to me a minute?”
Leading her into the restaurant with noise level more conducive to conversation, they took a seat in the waiting area. TJ handed her the photo of Jamie, explaining the bartender had seen them talking the night Jamie had disappeared.
Kimberly’s dark brown hair, cut short on the back of her neck, tapered dramatically longer to fall into giant commas around her face as she looked down at the photo. “Yeah, I talked to her. Probably a Friday night, but I can’t say which one. Couple months ago, maybe. Might have been that night.”
“Can you remember what you talked about?”
“She was just standing by the bar watching, not dancing or talking to anyone. Then Willie came and asked her to dance.” When TJ looked at her questioningly she said, “Oh, yeah. Willie’s here all the time. He’s a real loser—kind of a nut-job, you know? Anyway, this chick in the photo turned down everybody who asked her to dance. When Willie kept asking her she got real pissed.”
“Did you hear what she said to him?”
“I don’t think she said anything really bad. When he finally moved on, I said something to her like ‘He does that to everyone.’ That’s when we talked.”
“Do you remember what you talked about?’
“She said something like ‘How could a creep like that think I’d dance with him?’ I told her not to feel bad, he hits on everybody; no one dances with him unless they’re desperate. ‘Cause he dances like he’s having some kind of seizure.”
“That’s all she said to you?”
“I don’t remember anything else. We didn’t talk much, but mostly we talked about getting rid of guys who won’t take no for an answer. And losers like Willie always hit on the hottest girls. Go figure.”
TJ asked, “He here tonight?”
“I haven’t seen him yet, and he’s always the first one here if he’s around.”
TJ figured Kimberly was done talking; her gaze kept drifting toward the bar. “Did you see her talk to anyone else?”
“Uh-uh. I didn’t see her again. After I talked to her, she left the bar, went into the restaurant.”
TJ found Shannon and repeated the interview with Kimberly. They went into the restaurant and asked for the manager. When a baby-faced guy wrapped in a white apron walked out to talk to them, TJ didn’t think a guy who looked like he hadn’t had his first shave yet could possibly be the manager. His nametag, however, read, “Jason Turnbill, Night Manager.”
A deep, husky voice contrasted with his youthful appearance. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m looking for anyone who saw this woman on a Friday night about two months ago.” TJ handed him the photo of Jamie and gave him the date. As he looked at it, she added, “She was seen entering the restaurant at about eleven.”
“She doesn’t look familiar to me, but I’m not out front too much at that time of night. I can check my records and get back to you in a couple days.”
“Listen, this is really important. Could you run this by the people who are here now and see if anyone remembers her? And we’ll need a list of employees who worked that night.”
Baby-face frowned. “Is this that woman who’s missing?”
“Yeah, and we need to know about her movements that night.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back.”
Shannon said, “She probably just got something to eat and left.”
“Dunno. She didn’t go back home.”
“Right. She probably wouldn’t have gone to another club if she ate.”
The back of TJ’s neck tingled. “Somethin’ happened here.”
Jason Turnbill came out accompanied by a petite young woman wearing jeans, a T-shirt and an apron about five sizes too big for her, so long it dusted the floor. “This is Carly. She remembers something.”
Carly didn’t look a day over fourteen. She held the photo of Jamie, and then looked up at them with baby blue eyes too large for her tiny features. “Um, I got off early. About nine, as soon as the big dinner-rush ended.” She hesitated, pulling at her apron.
Jason placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Just tell them what you saw.”
Carly flickered a small nervous smile. “I have a friend who’s older than me and she comes here to dance. I snuck over into the bar to meet her after I got off.” She stopped talking, and stared at the floor.
TJ tried to put her at ease. “Go ahead, girl. We’re only interested in finding out about Jamie. Her husband is worried sick.”
She looked up at TJ, her forehead wrinkled with worry lines.
“Carly, how about you and me talk alone over there.” TJ walked the girl over to an empty booth in the front of the restaurant.
Carly said, “I just wanted to have some fun, you know?”
“Honey, just tell me about Jamie. If you get any crap from the boss, call me and I’ll talk to him for you.” She handed the girl a business card.
“Thanks. It’s just . . . I really need this job, you know? So, anyway, my friend never showed up. I knew I shouldn’t have stayed. Then this really cute guy asked me to dance. We danced for like a really long time, and then we went out on the deck to talk. It was so cool, you know, the moon shining on the lake.”
“Then what?”
“We talked and, you know, stuff. I saw this woman walk out on the deck. We weren’t real close to her and it was kinda dark, but she stopped in the light when she walked out. I’m pretty sure it was her.” Carly took another look at the photo of Jamie. “Yeah, it was her.” She sighed. “The guy I met turned out to be a real loser. He walked me to my car, then when I wouldn’t go with him to his place, he went back in the bar.” She huffed. “I meet all the losers.”
“Did you notice how long she stayed?” TJ asked, trying to keep the girl on track.
“Right. When she came out she had a glass of wine and she sat down on one of the chairs facing the lake. She looked sad. Well, I couldn’t really see her face—I guess it was just the way she moved. She kept staring at the lake. Then the next time I looked over her way, there was a guy sitting in the chair next to her. He had a drink too, and they were talking.”
“Did you notice whether they left together?”
“When we left they were still sitting there.”
“Did you see what he looked like?”
“Old. Maybe forty? He looked tall, big shoulders. I never got a look at his face. I think he had gray hair.”
“Were they still talking?”
“Yeah. And he was holding her hand.” She closed her eyes and wrinkled up her face as if trying to recollect something, and said, “Oh, yeah, something weird—they had two boxes of takeout sitting on the table next to them. Not opened or anything.”
TJ thought she’d gotten everything she could from the girl, but asked, “How about other people? Anyone else out there closer to them who may have overheard what they were talkin’ about?”
“No. It was late and there wasn’t anyone out there except some little kids running around. They must have been waiting for their parents to get done eating.”
“Any idea who the parents were?”
“No, lots of people come in with kids, and I wasn’t waiting tables that night.”
TJ slid out of the booth. “Thanks for talking to me, Carly. No one’s heard from this woman since that night and we’re afraid someone may have taken her.” TJ leaned over, her mouth inches from the girl’s ear. “So if I were you, little girl, I’d keep in mind there are some scary people out there and be real careful who you walk with into a dark parking lot.”
Nodding assent, Carly gave her a sheepish little half-smile.
After a few more passes through the bar, making certain Willie hadn’t come in, TJ and Shannon went out to their cars. TJ briefed Shannon on her talk with Carly.
Shannon frowned. “It’s going to be hard for Jeff—finding out Jamie was out in a bar alone. And met a guy.”
“Yeah, but not as bad as finding her body.”
Shannon looked thoughtful for a few seconds. “What about Eric’s wife? Are you sure she didn’t hook up with someone?”
“I was. Now I’m wonderin’ again. Maybe we should give her lady friends another go-round tonight.”
“Tonight? Isn’t it a little late?”
“Nah, they’re night creatures. I know where they hang, and it’s not too far from here.”
53
Secrets, the Brookfield nightclub frequented by Kayla’s friends, was located off the lobby of a Radisson hotel across from the Brookfield shopping center. Snobby was the word that came to mind whenever TJ entered the place. She’d only been there a few times—once on a date with a dentist from the area, a man she met at the bank. There’d been no second date.
The other times were when she’d been trying to get a bead on Kayla—find out who her friends were and what made her tick. When she and Shannon walked into the softly lit bar, a live jazz trio played a mellow version of “The Lady is a Tramp.” Appropriate. Dozens of the area’s richest and most attractive mingled at the bar and in the booths positioned against the wall. The ambiance sported lots of mirrors, plants and a soft aqua décor, blending every shade of turquoise from the palest water to the deepest teal.
TJ hated the place. It was all about who had what and who was the prettiest—women and men. She and Shannon had dressed for the place, but looking like she fit in didn’t make her want to be part of it.
Shannon took a seat at the bar next to a couple splendid in gold, diamonds, and designer clothes. As soon as TJ’s eyes became accustomed to the dim lighting, she spotted Suzette and Diana, Kayla’s running partners. The pair had been out of town the night Kayla Schindler went missing. TJ had questioned them more than once. They hadn’t been helpful but she hadn’t thought they held anything back, either. The friendship between the three had been a shallow one. TJ didn’t think they knew much about each other’s lives other than what they shared when making the rounds of their favorite clubs.
When TJ spotted them, the women appeared to be vying for the attention of a rather elderly man wearing a silver-gray custom-made suit and a matching rug. Two kinds of men frequented these places, the old and rich, and the not-so-old trying to be rich. The wannabes tended to be good-looking, the others looked like this guy.
The women gushed when they recognized her. “TJ!” She suspected their delight at seeing her hid a sense of rivalry. The guy with the rug eyed her and she shot him a look that sent him on a quest for more willing game.
“Hey, you two. Sorry to interrupt, but I need to talk to you again.”
Suzette, the gray-eyed redhead, pursed her glossy, carmine lips. “What more could there be? You asked us everything imaginable and we weren’t even in town that night.”
Bitch. TJ couldn’t stand these women. Not because of who they were but for what they represented—women with only superficial ideals. Money, looks, and rich men made up their entire purpose in life. Disgusting. “Some new information has come up and I’ve got some questions for you.”
Diana, her hair in a shiny black bob set off by dangling, diamond, hoop earrings, actually looked concerned and told TJ to ask them whatever she needed to ask.
“Is there somewhere other than here Kayla would have gone by herself?” The women looked at each other. Diana’s gaze settled on a woman sitting at the bar. Younger than most of the patrons, long, softly curled blonde hair trailed down her shapely back, exposed by a sleek brown dress cut nearly to her tailbone.
“See the blonde over there?” Diana nodded, her opinion of the woman obvious. “She’s always trying to push her way in.” She scoffed. “None of us like her; she was wasting her time. But if Kayla was out by herself, Amber might have glommed onto her. Maybe she knows something. But other than here, I don’t know where Kayla would have gone by herself.”
“And you’re sure you don’t remember her having a guy hanging around?”
“No. Men liked her, but she was only interested in her husband. She was confused about life, I guess. He was gone a lot. She got depressed about it—and other things.”
Well aware of what the “other things” referred to, TJ said, “Thanks, ladies.” She made her way over to Amber, wedging her way between the blonde and the trio of men surrounding her.
She explained to Amber who she was and asked if she could have a minute alone with her. Amber’s heavy-lidded gaze cased TJ from head to toe, nearly leering. Yuck. She’d ask the snake her questions and get the hell out of here.
When they were alone in the lobby, Amber took a sexy pose on a light-blue divan that perfectly complemented her brown dress. As she crossed her long legs, the slit on the side of her dress opened high enough to expose her underwear—or would have if she’d been wearing any. Her eyes traveled over TJ again. “What do you want to know about Kayla?”
“Did you see her the night she disappeared?”
“Sure.”
“Why didn’t you come forward with that information?”
“It didn’t seem important.”
TJ resisted the urge to slap her. “Where did you see her?”
Amber sat back and crossed her arms. “I came in here at about nine that night. After about an hour, I got bored and decided to go downtown to Vinnie’s. When I walked out to my car, I met Kayla coming in and told her nothing was happening here. So we went down to Vinnie’s.”
“You ride together?” So far this would explain no one at Secrets seeing Kayla the night she disappeared and why her car had shown up in an east side parking lot.
“No, we drove our own cars.” Amber shifted position as two handsome men approached the club, making sure they’d seen her.
“Then what? Just tell me everything you remember.”
“Vinnie’s was packed. Couple guys at the bar gave us their seats, then hung around. They must have thought giving us the seats would get them in our pants. Fools. After we got rid of them we each did our own thing. I saw some friends and went over and had a drink with them. After that I don’t know where she went. I didn’t see her again, so I figured she either left or met someone.”
“Are you sure you didn’t see her with anyone?”
“Kayla always had guys around her.”
“But no one in particular that night?”
“Not that I remember. It was a long time ago.”
Crap, this got her nothing new. But she knew lots of the staff at Vinnie’s. They’d tell her whatever they could remember, but the skank was right—it had been a long time ago.
“What about the two guys you blew off? How pissed were they?”
Amber’s neatly penciled eyebrows shot up, her green eyes widening. “You don’t think they could have done something to her?”
“I don’t think anything. What do you remember about them?”
Scrunching her eyes, she seemed to be concentrating for a minute. “Not much, really. They were dressed like factory workers on a night out. Jeans, flannel shirts over T-shirts, work boots, like that. They thought we’d be impressed they were stagehands for some Broadway show playing at the Center.” She snorted. “Like that would impress us.”
“How did you blow them off?”
“We tried being nice first—told them we were waiting for dates—but they kept hanging around. They didn’t get it so Kayla told them to disappear. We’d had a couple drinks by then and she was getting loose lips.”
“Do you remember what she said?”
“Not exactly. Maybe something like, ‘Thanks for giving us your seats, but you can move on now.’ And when that didn’t work she told them we weren’t interested in losers like them. Might have been worse than that. I don’t remember for sure, but they left.”
Weird. It sounded like Jamie Denison’s attitude at the Sombrero Club. Probably didn’t mean anything. But they’d have to try to find the stage guys, see what they had to say. She thanked her and got up to leave when Amber offered to buy her a drink. There was no mistaking the question in the probing peridot eyes.
“Sorry, got other people to talk to tonight.” Shit. TJ figured if she would ever be tempted to have a fling with a woman, this flytrap would be the last one she’d try it with. She shuddered and hurried back into the bar to get Shannon.
On the way to the car, Shannon asked, “Now what?”
“Think I’m gonna go back to Eric’s.”
Shannon stopped walking. “Did you find something?”
“Maybe. But I’m not sure what it means.” She made a face. “Might not mean squat. It’s freezing out here. I’ll call you on your cell and fill you in on the way there.”
The house was quiet when TJ returned to Eric’s. She put on a pair of sweats, and restless, went back upstairs and made herself a drink. She carried it to Eric’s office, where she sat down and studied the whiteboards for a while, then got up and added the newly gathered information under Jamie and Kayla’s names. She circled the new bullets under each name that said, “Blew off creepy guy.” What could that have to do with anything when it was two different guys?
TJ sat down in Eric’s plush, leather desk chair. They were missing something. Not missing something exactly; there was something there, something important they hadn’t connected. What was it? TJ couldn’t stand feeling like the answer hung there on the fringes of her consciousness, just beyond her ken. Damn! She knew nothing would bring it out now. She had to walk away from it. Do something else.
On her way back downstairs, she noticed the door to Jeff’s room ajar and peeked in to see if he might be awake. He wasn’t there. Strange. Maybe the others were out for the night. Back in the kitchen, she peeked into the refrigerator. She got out some turkey and bread, set it on the counter, and saw Phanny watching her. That dog was always hungry. She fixed herself a sandwich piled high with white meat, ”accidently” dropping a piece on the floor the dog snapped up.
“I thought you were gone for the weekend.”
TJ looked up from mid-bite to see Eric moving toward the refrigerator.
“Change of plans. Came back for a turkey sandwich.”
He laughed. “You’ve got a friend I see.”
“Yeah, this dog’s always where the food is.”
The turkey and bread came back out, and Eric sat next to her at the island with a double-decker turkey sandwich in front of him.
TJ knew his style. He was good at getting her to open up by saying nothing. “Forget it if you’re waiting for me to tell you what happened.”
He took a bite of his sandwich and studied her.
“Okay,” she admitted, “Richard stayed in Chicago. Some family thing.”
Eric kept eating.
TJ could tell he was resisting a smile by the way his laugh lines puckered at the side of his eyes. “You never did like him,” she accused.
Eric put down the sandwich and turned to her. “The guy’s a good cop.”
She glared at him.
“I don’t like him for you, all right?”
“Why?”
Eric looked surprised she asked him. “I suppose ‘he’s not good enough for you’ isn’t what you want to hear.”
TJ kept glaring.
“I guess I always thought you deserved someone who made you his top priority. Not married to his job—someone younger, a little less street-worn.”
