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“I know.”He took three strides into the kitchen, and kissed her full on the lips, ignoring both Smudge still vying for his attention and the large paper bag dangling in his left hand.“I hope it’s still warm, I had it in the side pannier all the way home,” he said when he finally came up for air.
“Right at this moment, as long as you got me chicken katsu and some miso soup, I don’t care what temperature it is.”
“Yes, I did.But no sushi, because I know you can’t have raw fish.”
Damn, that was right, another thing she wasn’t allowed while she was pregnant.This carrying-a-child thing seemed to have more cons than pros right now.
“How did you know I hadn’t cooked yet?”
“I wasn’t sure, but the way you looked when you left the station tonight, it was a good guess.”
Lacey lifted one shoulder in defeat.Nico knew her too well.
He started to set the food on the kitchen table and she put out plates and cutlery, a beer for him and a soda and lime juice for her—she may as well get used to them because she was going to be drinking them for seven more months.They sat down together and silently dished up huge plates of Japanese food.Chicken katsu for her, beef yakitori skewers with special sauce for him.
Lacey fell on her food like she hadn’t eaten in a whole week, while silently wondering if she could ask for a foot massage afterward.After eating half of her chicken and slurping great gulps of her miso soup, she finally looked up at him.
“How come you left work early?”she asked through a mouthful of warm, salty, seaweedy liquid.
“I’ve left Pederson and Saito on the case.I was worried about you, and they understood that.”This was an interesting development.Nico wouldn’t normally show his partiality toward Lacey openly at work.Neither of them wanted the rest of the team thinking he was giving her any special treatment.But that being said, everyone also realized she and Nico were partners, lovers, committed to each other.And without anything being mentioned, everyone understood innately how anxious he would be about her.Nico would’ve reported that the killer had put Lacey’s name in Taylor’s mind by now, and Nico wouldn’t be the only one wondering why she’d been singled out.Silently, she thanked the two detectives for their dedication.“I’ll do some more work from home later,” he added.
“Any new developments since I left?”she asked, not really expecting anything; he’d only been an hour behind her.
“Not really.I organized a local unit in Brisbane to break the news to Danika’s family.The father is going to fly down tomorrow to identify the body.”Nico scowled at the idea of a father having to identify his own dead daughter.It was horrific.
It wasn’t until after Nico had first interviewed Taylor in the hospital that Sally-Ann confirmed through social media posts and photos, that Danika and Taylor were indeed friends, and had been backpacking together around Tasmania.Which meant Danika was almost certainly the murdered girl lying in the ditch.
Nico had known better than to ask if Taylor was up to identifying her dead friend even though it would’ve given them the definitive answer they needed.Lacey and Mary had already decided that if he had asked, the answer was going to be an emphatic no.They believed the poor girl may have been forced to watch on as the murderer strangled Danika, but as part of the dissociative amnesia, Taylor didn’t remember any of that, just echoes of the horror of it all.Taylor was just too fragile, and she was glad Nico could see that.
“Then, I was going around and around in circles, chasing my tail, trying to confirm beyond a doubt that the serial killer’s first three victims were all related to the sex trade—which they were.But that made me question if this is the same serial killer, then why would he change his predilection to a certain prey.It’s as if he had an appetite for one thing yesterday, and that seemed to have changed overnight.These girls seem to be the furthest thing from a woman in the sex trade.They’re almost too sweet and wholesome.It’s driving me crazy not knowing why.And I might’ve answered a little abruptly when one of the junior officers asked me a question,” he admitted.“So, I decided it was time to call it quits and come home and be with you instead.”
“I’m okay with that,” she said, grinning at him through a mouthful of rice.“And thank you for worrying about me.I was a little down,” she conceded.
“I could see it in your eyes,” he replied, putting down his fork and looking at her from below lowered eyebrows.“You take on too much sometimes, Lace.You absorb too much of other people’s pain.I’m not sure it’s good for you.”
Lacey considered him for a few seconds.He was right; she probably did empathize with some of their victims too deeply.But she couldn’t see any other way to do it.It was built into her DNA.And Nico had even told her that it was one of her strengths as a cop, the fact she could be so in tune with them that she could ask exactly the right questions or see to the heart of a matter when he just couldn’t.But she could see his point.She shouldn’t get so lost in her victim’s story that she became biased or forgot to focus on what was important.Catching a killer.
“You’re probably right,” she agreed, and he raised a skeptical eyebrow; she didn’t always agree so readily with him.“But you know what would help enormously to make me feel better?”
“What?”
“A foot massage.”She gave a hopeful grin.
“It’s a deal,” he said with a flourish of his fork.
What a man she had.Not only did he bring her takeaway when she needed it most, but he was prepared to rub her feet to help banish those stress demons sitting on her shoulders.He was as close to perfect as they got.
Ten minutes later, Lacey was ensconced back in the armchair, her feet resting in Nico’s lap as he sat beside her on the couch.“Oh, that’s heavenly,” she moaned, tipping her head against the backrest and closing her eyes.There was almost nothing that could top a good foot massage, not in Lacey’s books anyway.Nico’s big hands felt exquisite as he wrapped them around her ankle and kneaded the arch of her foot.She groaned again in response.
“Careful,” he growled.“Keep making those noises and I’m likely to throw you over my shoulder and drag you to bed.”
“We could do that too,” she replied.“Later, once you’ve done the other foot,” she added, not opening her eyes.
There was silence for many moments, the soft strains of Enya filling the space in the room.Then she felt Nico shift slightly on his seat.
“I know it’s still early days, but maybe we should talk about our plans.”
“Hmm?”She didn’t really care about anything right now, especially plans, but she opened one eye and lifted her head to give him a questioning look.
