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“Hold it,” Nico said, turning the steering wheel into a strip mall parking lot. “Scroll back to that last photo.” He slotted the car into a parking space, then reached for his phone. The photo Julia had paused at was a close up of Dawson’s face, his head tilted as he listened to Carole.
“You spent a few extra seconds looking at this one,” he said, turning the phone so Julia could see it. “Why?”
She frowned as she studied the photo. “I don’t know what it is,” she said slowly. “But there’s something familiar about that man.”
“Any idea what’s familiar?” Nico asked, keeping his voice even. Calm. “His face? His expression? The way he’s standing?”
She shook her head as she studied the photo. “No. Something pinged for me.” After a long moment, she took a deep breath and looked away from the phone. “Maybe he met Carole at Madeline’s, which means he’s eaten there, probably more than once. Maybe that’s why it caught my attention.”
“Okay,” he said, sliding his phone back into his pocket. “Let your brain mull it over and see if you come up with anything.”
She nodded. “I’ll let my subconscious work on it.”
As they got closer to her house, Nico said, “What would you like to do with the rest of your day off?”
Julia stilled. Turned her head slowly to study him, her green eyes dark. He had no trouble reading the lust in her eyes and the need in her expression. He fell into her dark pupils for a long moment. Then a car honked at him, and he jerked his attention back to his driving.
“Damn it, Julia! Don’t look at me like that when I’m driving.”
“Look at you how?” she asked. But he didn’t hear bewilderment or innocence in her voice. He heard the same heat and desire that pulsed through him.
“Don’t do this to either of us, Jules,” he said, his hands gripping the steering wheel hard enough to crush the plastic. “You know I want that as much as you do. But we both know why it would be a bad idea.”
He kept his gaze on the street in front of him, but he heard Julia’s shaky inhalation. “Yeah. Sorry, Nico. Momentary lapse. I’ll control myself better.”
“Never thought I’d be grateful to hear a woman I’m… involved with say that,” he muttered.
“Is that what we are, Nico? Involved?” Jules asked.
“Yes,” he said through clenched teeth. “Damn straight we’re involved. I’m responsible for your safety. That’s about as involved as it gets.” He was grinding his teeth so hard he was sure they were turning into enamel powder.
She stared out the windshield for a long moment, her hands clenched into fists on her lap. Finally she said, “What do you think we should do with this day off?”
He wanted to do exactly what Jules had suggested. Go back to her house and spend the rest of the day in bed with her. Make love until they were both so exhausted they fell asleep with her sprawled on top of him.
Since that wasn’t possible, he needed to solve this case as fast as possible. Then get as far away from Julia as he could get. “We should call Detective Petersen,” he said. “See if he has time to meet with us.”
“Good idea.” She fingered her phone, which she had clenched in her hand. “Do you want me to make the call?”
This was tricky, and he didn’t want to hurt her. Or dismiss her. “Maybe I should,” he said carefully. “I’m an outsider investigating the case. I think he’d be more receptive to talking to me than to you. He probably still thinks of you as that distraught, grief-ridden sixteen-year-old.”
She was silent for a long moment. Finally she said, “Detective Petersen was always kind to me when we talked, even several years after the explosion. I think he’d be okay with talking to me again.”
“Okay, fine. You can call him.” At the next stoplight, he pulled out his wallet and handed Julia the card with Detective Petersen’s phone number on it. “But tell him you and your bodyguard would like to talk to him?”
She frowned. “Why put it that way?”
“Because he’s a detective. Which means he’s curious. He’ll be dying to find out why you have a bodyguard.”
Julia smiled. “That’s completely devious,” she said. “I love it.” She tapped the numbers into her phone, and a moment later said, “Detective Petersen? This is Julia Stewart. From sixteen years ago, when my family was killed in an explosion.”
She listened for a moment, and Nico suspected he was assuring her that he knew exactly who she was.
She drew in a deep breath. “I was wondering if you’d have time today for me and my bodyguard to stop by and ask you some questions about my family’s case.”
She listened for a long moment, her mouth curling into a smile. Finally she said, “It’s a long story, and we’ll tell you everything that’s going on. What time would be good for you?”
She listened for another few moments, then said, “How about right now. We’re probably fifteen or twenty minutes away.” Her smile grew. “Thanks, Detective. We’ll see you then.”
