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?I grew angry. “You’re not dying, dammit. Don’t say that.”
?“Listen to me,” she insisted and put a finger against my lips. “If you were dying, would you want me to be alone after you were gone?”
?“You’re not going anywhere,” I muttered.
?All at once, I was awake, in our bed…my bed…and alone.
?I smelled bacon.
?I sat up and shielded my eyes from the bright light as it poured through the windows. I glanced at my bedside clock and it read 9:30. I threw on a bathrobe and followed my nose out to my small kitchen.
?Fully dressed, Sheryl stood at the stove and fried the smoked meat. Next to her was a glass bowl that contain several eggs, mixed and ready to be cooked once the bacon was finished.
?“Where did this come from?” I marveled. I didn’t have bacon in the house, let alone eggs.
?“I went out and bought them,” Sheryl teased. “I wanted to surprise you.”
?“When did you get up?”
?“About 7:30.”
?“But how did you get in and out of the building?”
?“I saw you leave your keys on that table on the way in.” She gave a nod toward the table near the door. “It gave me a chance to see how hard it was to get in and out of your apartment without being noticed.”
?I nodded with admiration. “Good idea.”
?“Also, we aren’t leaving here until you change your lock.”
?“What?” I bleated. “Is that necessary?”
?“Completely,” Sheryl said. “I examined your keys and there are fresh scratches on the sides of them. I believe someone had them copied.”
?I stood there, shocked. I finally found my voice. “Which is how someone could have ‘borrowed’ my gun.”
?She nodded. “To test my theory, I had the man at that hardware store over on Broadway make a copy of one. The machine holds the key in the very way that corresponds to the scratches.”
?“Well…” was all I could muster.
?“I took the liberty to purchase a new lock. It matches the one you have, so we only need to replace the mechanism itself.”
?“How did you know what type of lock it was?”
?She gave an impatient sigh. “Mark, you’ve read my books. I did a study of locks for the Banshee book. Made myself a bit of an expert.”
?“Apparently,” I admired.
?“The new lock is in that bag there.” She indicated the brown paper sack on the dining room table. “Get showered. We’ll eat and do the job. You have tools, don’t you?”
?“Yes,” I insisted. “Shouldn’t we get a locksmith?”
?“This is safer. The fewer people who know, the better.”
?I shook my head in amazement. “Astounding, Homes.”
?She smirked. “Elementary, Watkins.”
?I took a shower and cursed myself that I hadn’t cleaned the bathroom in a few weeks. Then again, I wasn’t expecting a guest, and certainly not a female one. I paid careful attention to my grooming as I shaved, and even put on a little aftershave.
