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She hummed and then backhanded my chest. “Okay, well, thanks for everything. I’ll see you on Monday.”
I tailed her to the door of the building, and she spun on me when we reached the overhang. “What’re you doing?”
I closed the umbrella. “Going in with you.”
Her eyes bugged out of her head. “Absolutely not.”
Since I hadn’t handed her keys off yet, I ignored her and found what I presumed to be the correct one to unlock the door. Lucky guess that it was, I opened it and grinned, waving my hand for her to walk in.
“You don’t need to do this whole chivalrous thing.” She marched inside and up the stairs.
“No, I don’t,” I agreed. There were four apartments, and hers was on the second floor. She sighed and tapped her foot while I studied her keys again. As I held up a brass one, she nodded, and I unlocked her apartment door. This time, she stalked inside, probably hoping to shut the door in my face, but she couldn’t with my fingers still on the handle.
She stuck out her hand. “Keys.”
I deposited them into her palm and shoved my way past her to inspect her place. It was as chaotic as her desk at work. Not dirty but stuff everywhere. Random potted plants, shelves overflowing with books and papers, an abstract statue of what Ibelievedwas a flamingo. For all the black she wore, her apartment was a shock of color, from her jade-green sofa to her bright-yellow lamp to the framed art on the walls. I couldn’t believe Satan let her decorate like a rainbow splattered on her walls.
“All right, well, now that you’ve forced yourself in here, you can see yourself out.”
“Where’s your sister?” I asked, turning toward Taylor.
“Work.”
I checked the time. It was after seven. “On a Friday night?”
She retrieved her prescription bag then tossed her purse and coat down on a velvet chair that looked straight out of 1928. “Yep.”
“What does she do?”
She dropped her head back on her shoulders. “Why does it matter?”
I stuffed my hands into my pockets. “I’m curious.”
“She does a lot of things. Right now, she’s picked up a few shifts at a bar by the college.”
“When will she be back?”
“I don’t know.” Taylor shrugged. “After two, if she comes home at all.”
I didn’t like the sound of that and curled my fingers into fists.
“You done with the deposition?” She kicked off her heels and stomped over to her kitchen, where she filled up a glass with water. I watched as she opened up the bag and set down a packet, counting out four little pills.
“Do you need to take it with food or something?” I asked.
“No.”
“Do you—”
“I don’t need you looking over my shoulder about this.”
“I’m not looking over your shoulder. I’m asking if you need anything.”
“I need you to leave,” she said and finished off the glass of water before swiping the pills into her hand. She pivoted, clomping down the small hall without looking at me. “I’ll see you Monday, Hargrove.”
A door closed quietly behind her.
And I blew out a breath, dropping down onto her green couch.
