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All in all, it took him about fifteen minutes to shower, shave and dress. Apparently, he was nothing if not effective. As he came into the kitchen, Kona forgot all about the new person in the room and ran around the island to greet her owner.
“No jumping,” Hansen told her and I could hear the pitter-patter of her paws moving on the floor as she couldn’t stand still, but at least remained on all fours. “Good girl,” he said.
“Why didn’t you become a chef or something?” I asked. Isn’t that what they say? The happiest people are the ones who have their hobbies as their jobs?
“What?” he said in response, straightening up. Then he scoffed at the thought. “Too stressful,” he said and added, “let’s go,” before leaving the kitchen.
I scrambled off the counter stool and walked after him. “Thatwould be too stressful? You work for the police.”
“Yep,” he said, Kona running back and forth between him and the door. Apparently, she knew her owner was leaving.
I caught up as he found some shoes and a gray jacket and suddenly felt like I’d been caught in his orbit in some way. God, he smelled good. Whatever scent he used, blended well with what I guessed was soap and shampoo.
“Come on,” he told me while telling Kona to stay where she was.
I mumbled; “okay,” enjoying passing him in the doorway and then came to my senses. What the hell? I felt like I was following the pied piper there for a moment, wondering who that made me? A rat to be killed or someone never to be seen again?
What was going on? It’s not like I was stupid. Obviously, I was attracted to the guy, but this was getting ridiculous.
Luckily, he was oblivious as he kept asking questions about the Community as we drove back into the town center. At this point, I realized I kept glancing over at him in the passenger seat, annoyed at all he demanded to know and yet wanting to stop the car and climb on top of him. Seriously. Like some stupid teenager. This was not something that happened to me. Of course, I didn’t usually bring men I had any kind of entanglement with around with me on my jobs, either. Nor did I bring anyone who didn’t trust me. I guess it was new times all around.
I did, however, find a way to distract myself from any lascivious thoughts as we got to the police station. I didn’t want to go there for obvious reasons, but also because of Agent Larkin. The station was his hub in town and I told Hansen as much as we walked over to the building.
“What’s he going to do?” Hansen said. “Not like he’s here on any official business, is it?”
“Doesn’t mean he can’t cause problems,” I argued.
“No, but…” he trailed off and stared over at the police parking spaces. There was the gray sedan he and McAllen used—parked. Last I had seen of it was outside Mona’s house. Hansen shook his head and got his phone out, reassembling it as he walked.
“And that is a good idea?” I pressed. I couldn’t see the black car the FBI agent used, but alerting him to where we were, was perhaps not the best way to go?
“It’s fine,” Hansen said after I asked, while he seemed to be reading text messages that had come in during the phone’s little hiatus.
At this point, I noticed a familiar face heading down the steps in front of the large brick building that constituted the station house. Eddie Hays was as usual dressed in scruffy clothes, but his hair was unusually slicked back and tidy. For a moment, it reminded me of his brother.
As Eddie saw me, he changed his direction, heading over toward us. I suddenly felt Hansen’s hand close around my elbow, texts all but forgotten at the moment. It was the kind of possessive gesture only men who are stupid enough to think of doing, although I expect there wasn’t much thinking involved. I looked at my elbow in surprise, and he jerked his hand back as if he hadn’t realized what he was doing.
What now? I thought and then realized as Eddie came closer that he looked more like his brother than usual. Hansen probably hadn’t recognized the usually shabby and scraggly looking guy. But why would that bother him? It took a moment for my brain to click into place. I had told them about Jacques, hadn’t I? When McAllen and Hansen came to get me at the harbor. It had only been a few days, but it seemed so long ago.
“Hey, Maggie,” Eddie said, looking with uncertainty in Hansen’s direction, but nodding politely enough.
“Made an effort today, Eddie?” I said, smiling. The two brothers were, despite their stunning and similar looks, very different with Eddie not caring much about how he came off to others. At least, not usually, it turned out.
He shrugged. “Officer Leland wanted a chat,” he said. “thought a little charm wasn’t to be wasted on her.” He gave a dazzling smile. Hansen scoffed at the comment but said nothing.
“Anyway,” Eddie said, a short glance in the detective’s direction, but he made no move to step away. “I’ve got a message for you.” Eddie continued on, though I knew those words were for show. Knew what he wanted to tell me about and whatever message it was, it was from him.
“Oneday,” he said.
I nodded my understanding and actually felt my shoulders sag a little.
“And what was that about?” Hansen asked as Eddie went on his way.
“Nothing that requires me to answer you,” I said and headed up the stairs. “Keep your questions general, Detective.”
“Sure,” he said as he followed me. “Are were-animals and ghosts real?” His tone was sarcastic; no answer expected or wanted, for that matter.
“Not really,” I said. “And there are surprisingly few ghosts about. When people die, they seem to move on.”
