“I know it’s not a lot to go on, and maybe it doesn’t even make sense to you. I know you probably work with murderers and, I don’t know, drug deals gone wrong, or something, but—”
“Drug deals?” The lift in his eyebrow and the smirk on his lips told me he found me amusing, but not in an insulting way. I didn’t get the sense that he was laughing at me.
So, I decided to play into the unintended joke. I leaned into the table. “Yeah, I bet you’ve got some stories of coming across drug runners.”
“You think so?” He leaned in, the corners of his mouth tugging wide.
“Lay ’em on me.”
He shook his head. “A man needs his secrets.”
“It’s a full moon tonight.”
He cocked his head sideways and looked at me.
“My nana always said secrets come out under the full moon.”
His body stiffened, and I pushed back from the table. Of course, I said something wrong.
“Tell me about your nana.”
I jerked, surprised. “Really?”
When he nodded, a grin crested on my face. My nana was my favorite person to talk about, and I rarely got a chance to do it.
“She raised me, and she was… eccentric. She did things like walk barefoot almost everywhere, stay up all night whenever there was a full moon and paint. She would say certain people are cursed, but she gave the best hugs and nursed me back to health when I…” I stopped, pulling my lips together.
“She used to call me her Reese Cup.” My body warmed from the memories.
“Because of your name,” he concluded.
“That.” I nodded. “And chocolate is my favorite food group.”
He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Chocolate isn’t a food group.” He stiffened when I widened my mouth and gasped, pressing my hand against my chest, aghast.
“Bite your tongue. Truthfully, chocolate should be the only food group, but,” I sighed as if exasperated, “…we need those pesky things like nutrients and vitamins.”
His lips twitched.
Somehow, we managed to get back to the case at hand.
“Is she why this situation at Creekview means so much to you?”
I swallowed, surprised that he put it together so well. Then, I internally rolled my eyes. Of course, he would. He was a private investigator.
“Sort of,” I answered.
“Was she one of the residents that went missing?”
I shook my head. “She died over two years ago. Natural causes.” I paused and looked down into my lap, my vision blurring from the emotion welling up in my eyes.
Chael’s hand squeezed mine, and it helped me breathe a little easier. I sat up straight and shook off the emotions.
“She died of dementia. But she was a resident at Creekview. I’ve volunteered there ever since.” I rubbed my lips together. “This is important to me because it matters how we treat people who can’t do anything for us. At least, it should matter. Their lives are as important as anyone else’s.”
I lifted my gaze to meet his. His nostrils flared, but other than that, there was no discernible movement on his part. He looked transfixed, but I blinked, and the expression disappeared. He nodded.
“We’ll look into it. Tell me everything you know.”
