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“You never miss a trick,” I said, shaking my head.
“What about you, boss?” Cole asked. “You getting in on this bet?”
“The only bet I’m taking part in is whether or not Jaye gets dessert,” Jack said. “Though I’ll double down that she’ll regret it. She’s not as young as she used to be.”
I narrowed my eyes and glared at him. “I’m not old. And Iamgetting dessert. They have apple pie. It’s healthy.”
His lips twitched. “I hope you don’t give people this kind of medical advice.”
“My patients are all dead,” I said. “They can eat what they want.”
Martinez snorted out a laugh. “I’ve noticed your appetite is more vigorous than usual, Doc. Maybe you’ve got an announcement you want to make.”
The table got quiet and everyone turned to stare at me. Jack got very still beside me and I knew his face would be impassive. I was clearly on my own for this one.
“No,” I said firmly. “I have no announcements. I’m a stress eater.” My tone was defensive and everyone started smiling, as if they were in on a secret that I wasn’t privy to yet. Though I was pretty sure I’d be the first to know about the announcement they were waiting for.
“It’s Emmy Lu’s fault,” I said. “She keeps bringing donuts to work and we’ve been neck deep in bodies lately. Anyone would have cravings after that.”
I’d apparently used the wrong word choice because their smiles got bigger. I sighed with defeat. To be fair, Jack and I had been talking about starting a family. And we’d been practicing a lot for when we wanted to put our plan in motion. But practice was as far as we’d gotten.
I looked at Jack and he smiled and shrugged his shoulders, making it seem like everyone had found out our secret.
“Seriously?” I asked him. “You’re not going to help me out here.”
“I’m just a simple man,” he said, grinning. “Enjoying the simple things in life.”
I elbowed him in the ribs just as the waitress came over. “I’ll have an apple pie,” I told her. “And a beer to go with it.” Then I pointed at Jack’s bottle. “Whatever he’s having.”
That seemed to deflate the conversation, and everyone else gave their dessert orders and refilled their drinks.
“Just for that, I’m not sharing my pie with you,” I said to Jack.
“Sure you will,” he said. “You know you never finish it.” He leaned in and kissed the corner of my mouth. “You’re cute when you’re flustered. Maybe we should take our dessert to go.”
“Mmm,” I said, snuggling closer. “I like the way you think.”
Cole interrupted the moment and said, “You lose, Martinez.” He nodded toward the couple at the front table. “They’re putting on their coats. I’ve got to agree with Lily on this. I bet they do it in the car.”
“I’m changing my vote,” Lily said, shaking her head. “Now that I’ve got a better look at him, he seems like he’s compensating. I bet he drives a Porsche or something. A guy his age can’t do it in a car that size. They’ll go back to her place. She probably lives in one of the new apartments around the square. I bet he’s married. What a jerk.”
Martinez let out a low whistle. “Lady, if you gotanyof that right I’ll give you a hundred bucks. Someone who has that kind of skill should be profiling for the FBI. You sure as hell don’t need to be wasting talent like that in the pathology department.”
There were several boos and hisses at the mention of the FBI. We weren’t fans of the FBI at the moment, despite the fact that Jack’s best friend was—or had been—one of the higher-ups in the organization. Things were complicated and we were still sorting out the details.
I nudged Jack and said, “Hurry and ask for the check. All I can think about now is eating our dessert at home.”
Jack laughed and kissed me just above my ear. “You’re so easy.”
“I’m trying to be,” I said cheekily.
That’s when all hell broke loose.
The first plate-glass window exploded inward, spraying shards of glass in every direction. There were screams and tables were upended as people threw themselves on the floor and glass rained down like glowing purple diamonds. It was then I heard the rapid-fire gunshots and every window across the front shattered.
Jack shoved my chair to the side and I hit the floor before I even realized what he’d done. I instinctively covered my head with my hands, but changed positions when I felt him move. I watched in terror as he and Cole and Martinez pushed our tables over to use as a kind of shield and then they ran toward danger instead of hiding like the rest of us.
It had all happened in a matter of seconds. And then there was an eerie silence.
