My eyelids drooped as I watched her paw through my closet and select the clothes she wanted to wear. The outfit she chose looked ridiculously cute on her. I set the phone aside and let my eyes close.
I wasn’t sure how long I slept but the buzzing from my phone woke me up. I picked it up and pressed a button. “Hello?”
There was a slight pause. “Inspector Bell?”
“This is she,” I said, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.
“This is Detective Bowers. …Sorry, did I wake you?”
“No, it’s okay.” I tried to shake off the grogginess. He clearly knew he’d woken me, but that didn’t matter. I’d been waiting for this call. He’d told me he’d keep me updated on the case. How was he supposed to know I called in sick today when I gave him my personal number to bypass having to call the station?
“I just wanted to let you know that your findings have helped move this case along a lot quicker than expected.”
“Thank you. Just doing my job.”
“Yeah, well, you’re good at it. The fact that the guy used Acetone rather than the usual gas or diesel was very helpful. We’re tracking down where that might’ve been purchased.”
I let out a low whistle. “That’s going to take some time. Especially here in Phoenix.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I mean, Acetone is used heavily in auto body shops, construction, and other industries, not to mention every teenage girl in the city is probably buying it in bulk to take off their nail polish. And could it be possible that it was one of the chemicals left behind when that warehouse was abandoned?”
There was heavy silence on the other end of the line.
“I’m kidding, Bowers. Well, at least about the teenage girls.” I grimaced, realizing this guy didn’t seem to have a sense of humor. “But seriously, tracking down that lead is going to…take some time.”
“Hmmm. Yeah, it seems so. Still, I wanted to thank you for sending over your reports.”
“Have you found out anything else?” I asked, hopeful that maybe there’d been some other kind of break in the case.
“Not yet. Still waiting on those DNA results. Shouldn’t be too much longer on those.”
“Okay.”
“Well…thanks again.”
“Anytime.” We said goodbye and hung up. I frowned down at my phone. I wasn’t sure exactly why Bowers had just called me since there really hadn’t been much to report, but before I could speculate on it, the door to my room opened.
“Thought I heard you.”
I smiled at Bolo. “Phone call.”
He came over and sat on the bed while his big hand went immediately to my forehead. I had to fight against the urge to stretch into his touch like a content feline. “You feel cooler. We can just hang out here tonight with some chicken noodle soup.”
My eyebrows lifted. “You make soup?”
“Yeah.” He arched a brow. “I can heat up a can of soup, Dev.”
I gave him an exaggerated smile and patted his chest. “I’m sure you can,” I teased. I’d already seen him cook but I liked flirting with him.
His eyes narrowed, but then my phone started buzzing again. “Want me to chuck that out the window?”
“No,” I said with a laugh. “It’s my mom. No one’s heard from me all afternoon, so she’s probably two minutes away from sending out the search party.”
“The search party being…”
“It starts with my sisters. But once she hears that Audrey was already at my apartment earlier and I wasn’t there, then it moves on to my dad. If he doesn’t have any luck she’ll be calling in the National Guard and every search and rescue team in the state.”
