Page 17 of Breathe Me In

“That’s such crap!” I waved a hand at him. “Please, you just sit there all up in your lies till you’re ready to tell the truth.”

Brad leaned back and rested his arm along the back of my chair. “Sit here like this?” I rolled my eyes. “’Cause I’m comfortable sitting in the truth.”

I caught his mother smiling at his father. “I see nothing’s changed between these two.”

We both sat up straight and went back to our food. It felt so good to slip back into our old banter. To feel like my old self again, the one who hung out here years ago. I caught Brad’s eye for a split second and read his expression. We both knew what was there. We’d always had an attraction toward each other back in high school. It was mostly physical, not that we ever acted on it, but also intellectual, as we were both on the debate team. It was a strong connection that couldn’t be denied, but we were young, and he was dating Sherry.

I always wondered if we might have eventually ended up together if we hadn’t stumbled upon the Barbed Wire Killer that day. I always thought Sherry wouldn’t last. Even Kennedy joked about ole Doritos breath. Yet here we were, years and a lot of pain later, with the same chemistry crackling between us. Too bad it was too late for us. I loved my job back in New York, and I had no intention of staying.

We finished eating, cleaned up and said goodbye, then hopped into his car.

“That was really nice.” I felt like something needed to be said because neither of us had said a word all the way to the main highway. “Your brother seems a little different.”

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “A lot has changed since you left.”

I looked away as his comment ate at me. I left because I had to. It had been the decision I’d felt I had to make at the time, and I shouldn’t have been punished for it. We rode in silence the rest of the way.

We spent most of the day running through videos from the nearby businesses, but nothing stood out. Officer Smith joined us partway through and offered some theories, but they didn’t lead to anything. “Can I see the club videos again?” I asked Brad in spite of the fact that my butt was numb from sitting. We’d been in the office for ages, and I looked forward to a bit of sunshine, but we had a job to do, however tedious it might be.

“Yeah.” Brad pushed a few buttons, and the club videos came up. “What are you thinking?”

“Nothing yet.” I stretched my neck and squinted to see the screen.

But the sheer volume of people in the frame made it nearly impossible to pinpoint any one person. Even though we knew roughly when the attacks had happened.

“Well, if Shelly died in the bathroom,” Officer Smith asked, “wouldn’t you just follow her steps and question anyone that had contact with her?” He scratched his leg absently, then got up and pushed his back up against the doorframe. Like me, he needed a stretch. It was wonderful that he’d offered his help, and it was a good experience for him.

“That’s a lot of people.” Brad tapped his fingers on the table as he thought. “And because we don’t know what the actual substance is, we’re not sure how quickly it takes effect.” He paused. “We have a rough timeline of how long the substance may take to attack the system thanks to the surveillance videos, but what we really need is to be able to pinpoint any possible suspects. There’re just too many.”

“Right.” I leaned forward and pointed to Shelly on the screen. “She interacted with at least seven people since she arrived at the club, another six as she walked up to the bar top, three at the bar, and one on the way to the bathroom. And that’s just men—it doesn’t include the entire party of women she showed up with.”

“We’ll still question them,” Brad added, “but narrowing it down is the hard part.”

Smith tossed his sandwich wrapper into the trash. “Okay, yeah, that makes sense. It’s just, all this sitting around is hard. I hope I can learn the patience you two have.”

“Always nice when they’re interested in learning,” I commented to Brad as the young officer slipped away. I grinned as I heard his groan when he reached his desk just outside the room. I’d seen the pile of paperwork on it. “I need more coffee.” I yawned and stretched my arms out and heard my elbow snap. “Why don’t you keep watching, and I’ll grab us some?”

“We just had coffee.”

“And?” I blinked at him.

“So why do you need more coffee?”

I squinted, confused. “I’m sorry. I don’t follow.”

Brad shook his head and pulled out his phone. He scratched the shadow of a beard on his chin as he took in the time. Seven thirty. “Fine, I’ll go check in with Cap, and I’ll meet you in there when you’re done being an addict.”

“We all have our thing, Brad.” I hooked my bag over my arm. “I’ll find out what yours is soon enough.”

“It’s Bradley or Detective Stone,” he grumbled and made me laugh.

“Bye, Brad.” I waved over my head.

The next four days, we ate, slept, and breathed the case. We hunkered down and went over every single piece of evidence till I could see everything in my head when I closed my eyes at night. I felt like I was going squirrelly at one point. My old job as a PI had a lot more action than being hunched over a table rereading statements and rewatching videos over and over.

“I feel like I should take up yoga if this position is to be my new normal.” I plucked my coffee off the table, took a sip. I wrinkled my nose as I realized it had gone cold.

“That I’d like to see,” he snickered, and as I went to swat him, Captain Robert appeared.