“I’ll need your names for my report.” He took out a tiny notebook and I backed up, folding my arms. I didn’t want to get involved in this shit.
“Naya.” She spelled it out. “Naya James.”
“And?” he said, locking eyes with mine. It made me nervous. More nervous than it should have since he was the good guy.
“Um, is this necessary? I didn’t call.”
The tip of his pen remained firmly pressed against his little notepad. “Name?”
My stomach knotted. “Alexia.”
He didn’t move his pen. “Alexia what?”
Why was he making me so nervous? “Alexia Knight.”
“Do you live alone?” he asked.
I glanced at Naya.
“Ma’am, if there’s anyone else on the premises, I need it for my report. If we come back for more information, we’ll need to know the names of all residents within the building.”
“I’m alone, she’s alone,” Naya quickly said, smiling with her ruby lips. She stepped a little closer to him. “Were you on your way home? Sorry if we pulled you back on duty, officer. Can I make it up to you?”
She batted her lashes and I gave her the look. Not that she noticed since her eyes were eating up Mr. Undercover Cop.
Without writing down my name or any additional information, he tucked his little notepad in his back pocket. “I’ll go down and have a talk with them. If they bother you again, give us a call and you can come down to the station and file a formal complaint. Have a good evening.” He tipped his head and walked off.
“Damn,” Naya said, slamming the door. “He was kind of hot, and so not into me.” She put her arm around me. “But he sure had his eyes all over you.”
“Yeah. In a creepy way.”
“I’m going to have to put in a personal request for Officer McNeal next time,” she said with a giggle. “I’d love to rub my hands all over his head.”
“Which one?”
She slapped my arm and feigned a shocked expression. “A little seasoned by the look of salt and pepper in his hair, but I bet I could crack a smile on that stern face of his. Try to get some sleep, and don’t forget about my party on Tuesday.”
Naya shut the front door behind her. “Lock it!”
I turned the bolt and wondered how I could possibly forget about the party she reminded me of at every opportunity. That night, I slept with a pillow over my head.
The music downstairs went on until four in the morning.
Chapter 6
The next day, I found Naya’s cell phone on the floor by the sofa. I decided to swing by the strip club and drop it off since she had tiny conniptions whenever she misplaced it. I never understood how a man could walk into a strip club on a Sunday and not turn into a puff of smoke as soon as he crossed the threshold of the establishment.
Club Sin was on the far end of town and I had a few other errands to run, one of which included laundry. I stuffed two large bags of clothes into the trunk of my car. We had a laundry room in the apartment building, but it was dark and had only one door. The Laundromat I frequented had televisions, ample seating, and a few classic arcade games in the back. I felt safe in there and it gave me time to read my magazines or paint my toenails.
Her phone was tucked in the back pocket of my shorts along with Austin’s card, because I planned to call him on a phone that wasn’t mine so he wouldn’t have my number.
And wasn’t that childish?
Before going to a strip club on a Sunday, I made a detour over to the cemetery because something had been bothering me, and that was the possibility of having left a whiskey bottle on top of my brother’s grave. I parked the car on the little pathway and walked across the stretch of high grass until I reached his marker. There were a few blades of grass on the plaque, so I dusted them away, but no signs of a whiskey bottle or vomit.
Thank God.
That’s when every muscle in my body froze.
