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“Yeah?”
“Remember what happened last time Angie tried to set me up?”
He waves his hand. “You know what, never mind!”
I don’t reply as I walk back to my vehicle. Angie means well. As the last of Mani’s single friends, she’s taken it upon herself to pawn me off on any number of her available girlfriends. The only time I’ve ever said yes, it went well. Great, even—until I ended up leaving her at the altar three years later.
In the confines of my vehicle, I’m able to breathe again. Twenty years on the job, thirteen working homicides, you’d think I’d be used to the bodies by now. I used to believe all the lies:It gets easier with time. You become numb to the horror. You learn to detach yourself, to see the homicide as a puzzle.One day, nothing will surprise you…
What a heap of bullshit.
As I turn on my cruiser and pull into the bustle of traffic, I commit the details of Elizabeth York’s body to memory. It’s useless to begin brainstorming. I know that. I don’t have enough information yet. But that doesn’t stop me from thinking about who killed Elizabeth York?
And why?
Chapter 2
Catherine
“Up, two three. And down, two three. Up, two three. And down, two three.” I squat in time with Sandra Henderson on the TV, the unfamiliar burn in my thighs and ass reminding me that this is my punishment for slacking off too many days in a row. Sweat runs down my face. On the television mounted on the wall in front of me, Sandra doesn’t break stride; she’s squatting and instructing and generally looking like a million bucks. The bitch.
Usually, I’d get through a Sandra workout by pretending she’s my nemesis. There’d be cursing and a colorful array of insults hurled at the television mid-squat. I’d wave my fists at her and threaten to kidnap the perfectly tanned, fit children I imagine she has.
Not today though.
My attention is elsewhere.
On the sofa to my left, Juliette sips her first cup of coffee. Her dark eyes are heavy with fatigue, her general unresponsiveness pointing to her habitual eszopiclone haze. The innocuous white sleeping pills could tranquilize a horse, but they leave Jules half-dead in the morning, and even though she drags herself out of bed before nine, it always takes her a few hours before she’s able to form coherent sentences. Before then, she mostly communicates with grunts and mumbles.
When she first moved into the house on Clementine Lane, I thought she might be speaking Japanese. Now, for the most part, we’ve all learned to categorize her strange sounds into three general requests: More coffee, need carbs, and fuck off.
I watch her closely, looking for any sign that she’s reached a human level of communication, and as soon as I see that she’s half a mug into her coffee, I turn on my mat. I keep squatting in time with Sandra’s voice, but I watch Juliette’s face closely. “So? What time did you get in this morning?”
She burrows back into the oversized sofa and takes a small sip of coffee. “Close to three, I think. Just after Toni.”
“Toni’s home? I thought she was visiting Cassidy?”
Jules shrugs, clearly not buying my ploy for small talk.
I briefly consider taking the high ground and just waiting until she’s ready to tell all of us. “Goddamnit!” The high ground is not my style. “How did it go? Withthe Duke?”
“Fine.”
“Fine? Fine!” I pulse squat at the bottom, my breath straining as I talk. “You went on a date with your ex-boss, and it wasfine?”
Jules frowns, her perfectly arched brows pinching in the middle.
“I’m not buying,” I tell her.
Juliette, bless her heart, isthatfriend. The one who never gossips or says anything bad about anyone. Oh, she listens when we do. But to say she reciprocates would be a big, fat lie, and today Ireallyneed to know about the date she went on with the man who ruined her life: Dylan Duke. AKA, the Duke, in the business world.
“Catherine.”
I turn in my squat to watch Toni come down the stairs in a short, silk teddy, her long, black hair cascading down either side of her front. “Yes?”
“Leave Juliette alone.”
“You can’t pretend you’re not curious!” Turning to face Jules again, I add, “I’lldieif I don’t know!”
