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“Well, I hope they get it figured out soon.” Chuck paused there, expression now sympathetic. “Hazel told me it was your birthday yesterday. How about we take you out for a belated birthday lunch?”
I didn’t miss the way he’d said “we.” Obviously, some progress had been made while they were off delivering all the solstice celebration leftovers to the Third Street Shelter.
But as much as I appreciated the offer, I didn’t think I’d be functional by lunch. “That’s really nice of you two,” I said. “Can I take a rain check? Right now I’m so tired, I think I just want to go to sleep for the next twelve hours.”
“I get it.” He’d been smiling slightly, but he turned serious as he asked, “Are you okay to drive back to your place? I can take you, if you want.”
“No, that’s all right,” I replied. The last thing I wanted was to have to come back out to his ranch to get my car. I was here now, and I’d drive it back to my place if it killed me. “It’s not far. But thanks.”
“If you’re sure — ”
I assured him I was. In all the hubbub, I’d left my purse behind in his guest bedroom, but he handed it over to me and then offered to follow me back to my apartment, just in case.
Once again, I shot him down…but gently. After Calvin’s indifference, it was still nice to have someone around who cared about me, even if it was just as a friend and nothing more.
And at last I climbed wearily behind the wheel of the Beetle and pointed it toward Globe. Maybe my eyelids drooped once or twice, but I managed to make it back to my building without incident. Once there, I parked the car and dragged myself up the stairs, ignoring Archie’s recriminations after I got inside the apartment. Yes, I was late, but I’d already warned him I’d be out all night.
I poured some dry food into his bowl and refreshed his water, then stumbled down the hall and went into my room, shutting the door against Archie’s grousing. It felt like I was swimming through lead as I removed my shoes and dress, and I could barely keep my eyes open as I slipped into the shower for a quick spritz.
Hair still damp, I put on a clean tank top and panties, and then fell into bed. My eyes shut as soon as my head hit the pillow, but just before sleep reclaimed me, the question continued to swirl in my mind.
Who had killed Lilith Black…and why?
11
Boden My Time
The back door’sbuzzer seemed to echo in my head. I opened one bleary eye and looked at the clock on my bedside table.
Two-fifteen.
Who in the world would be ringing the buzzer at two-fifteen in the morning?
However, as I opened my eyes a little wider, I realized it was dim in my room because of the closed blinds, not because it was dark outside.
Two-fifteen in the afternoon, not in the morning.
Even though it wasn’t all that odd a time for someone to be stopping by, I wanted to ignore the buzzer. The sign on the front door of the shop clearly stated that it would be closed until Thursday morning, and I didn’t have any deliveries scheduled for that day. Chuck knew I planned to sleep the sleep of the dead, and I assumed he’d probably passed that information along to Hazel.
The buzzer sounded again. I muttered a curse and pushed myself up from the pillows, then stumbled over to the dresser and located a pair of yoga pants. A scrunchie lay in the little bowl on top of the dresser that I used to temporarily store earrings and rings, and I grabbed it and pulled my sleep-mussed hair out of the way.
I doubted I looked at all presentable, but at least I was dressed.
Feet into a pair of handy flip-flops, and then I made my way through the apartment and down the stairs to the back door. I opened it, and saw probably the last person in the world I’d been expecting.
Boden Marsh.
I blinked at him in astonishment…or maybe that was just my reaction to the bright sunlight glaring down on the parking lot outside. “Boden?”
“Can I come in?”
His black hair lay lank on his shoulders, and he was wearing a faded Motorhead T-shirt and jeans rather than the head-to-toe black I’d seen him in previously. And he looked tired, too.
Well, it seemed to be going around.
I realized that it could look pretty bad to be seen with Lilith’s former assistant. But there was no one else in the vicinity at the moment, and I really wanted to hear what he had to say.
“Come on in,” I told him, moving out of the way so he could step inside.
