He reads my expression and snorts. “Bros before bras.”
I shake my head. “Where do you come up with this stuff?”
He shoots me a dimpled grin.
“Hi,” I answer, pitching my voice low.
Dwayde makes kissy noises at me, and I slice my finger across my throat.
“Sounds as though I’ve caught you at a bad time.” Dee’s voice carries a swell of irritation, and I can feel her jealousy pumping through the phone.
She thinks I’m with a woman.
A selfish satisfaction slides in that she’s affected. Yet as much as it does my ego good, I’m not about to let her believe that—especially when I doubt that making this phone call is easy for her.
“You haven’t caught me at a bad time. That was just the sound of Dwayde kissing my feet.”
“You wish!” he protests in the background.
“Hold on a sec. I’m going to take this upstairs. Dwayde, I’ll be right back.”
Dwayde bats his eyes and I toss a pillow at him before taking the basement stairs two at a time and ducking into the empty dining room. I can hear Victor and Isabelle across the main hall talking in the family room.
“Sorry about that, baby.” I wince as soon as the familiar endearment passes my lips. I don’t want to scare Dee away. “How are you?”
“Just fine, thank you,” she says stiffly.
“I’m glad you called.”
“Yes, well, I’m calling because we’re meeting with the judge tomorrow afternoon. I thought I should check in to see if you had managed to find out anything from Dwayde. I’m sure you would have let me know if you did, but I’m just dotting my i’s and crossing my t’s.”
She’s all business. Doesn’t even acknowledge the half-dozen messages I’ve left over the past couple of days or the fact that I showed up at her door on Sunday night and she didn’t answer.
“I’m batting zero so far,” I tell her.And not just with Dwayde.“He insists he doesn’t remember the Franklins or Kentucky. Victor’s tried, too, with no better luck, and he’s a skilled interrogator.”
“The difference with suspects is Victor can use a heavy hand and intimidation. With Dwayde, it will take patience and gentle persuasion. That may mean chipping away a little at a time.”
Is gentle persuasion what it will take to crackDee’ssecrets?
I brace a shoulder against the window that overlooks the front garden. “How will this affect you in court?” I ask.
“At this point, it shouldn’t. We’re just presenting our positions, and I feel confident that I have what I need to demonstrate the strength of Dwayde’s case. If we find out anything subsequently that’s relevant to the case, I’ll bring it into evidence then. How’s Dwayde?”
“Anxious about tomorrow. But kicking my butt in video games has definitely lifted his spirits.”
She laughs softly. “I’ll let you get back to it.”
Not ready to say good-bye, I hunch my shoulders and turn my back to the hall. “The way we left things on Sunday feels unfinished.”
“It’s finished, Mick,” she says, her voice tremulous. “It ended fifteen years ago.”
Resting my forehead against the cool glass, I look out at the somber clouds swallowing up the night sky. I struggle not to give in to my hurt, determined to stick it out this time.
“The way your body still responds to me says we’re not.”
“That was a mistake.”
“I know I let you down when I walked away that night, Dee. But I was young and stupid. I messed up. I realize that now. Talk to me. Give me a chance to fix things.”
