“What, for ice cream and soup?” I asked defensively.
“Twenty-five with flowers.”
“That makes no—fine.” I turned around and grabbed a bouquet of carnations.
She gave me a cheeky smile and slowly bagged my purchases.
With my cardboard-tasting pizza and half-dead carnations that granny told me to “give to handsome boy, so get sex,” I flagged down a stray taxi and got a lift home.
Up the rickety, creaking steps to the third floor, I glanced up over the rim of my sunglasses in time to see a big, dark mass standing at the top landing.
“Oh God—!”
“Hey.”
Not Neil. That voice….
“Calvin?”
“Are we on a first-name basis now?”
“You scared the shit out of me.”
“Sorry. Are you coming up?”
“Yeah, let me just pick my heart up off the floor first.” I trudged up the last steps and stood beside him, looking up. “What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for you to get home.”
“I can see that. I mean, how’d you get inside?”
He pulled out his wallet and flashed his badge at me in response.
“Oh good, which of my neighbors think I’m being arrested?” I asked, maneuvering both bags to one hand as I fished for my keys.
“The ones upstairs,” he answered, taking my groceries for me.
“I—you don’t need to hold those,” I protested.
“I’d like to go inside sometime this century.”
I scoffed and muttered what might have beenassholeunder my breath before unlocking the door. I pushed it open with my shoulder, the ever so slightly crooked doorframe always causing the door to stick.
“Make yourself at home.”
“I take it Mr. Millett isn’t coming home tonight,” Calvin said, shutting the door behind himself.
The apartment had been dark before I turned a lamp on. Neil had certainly not been here. “Probably not,” I agreed absently. I kicked my boots off and hung up my coat before taking back the bags. “Thanks.” I hurried into the kitchen, turning on another lamp and setting my sunglasses aside for regular lenses. I could hear Calvin walking around the front room and tried to ignore his curious examination while I put away the ice cream and other junk I had bought.
“Nice flowers.”
“What?” I turned suddenly to find Calvin leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen. I looked back at the carnations and laughed. “Oh. Yeah. Long story.”
“You know what’ll be shorter? You explaining why you’re butting into another murder case of mine.”
“Ah….”
“How did you know about the murder at that street address?”
