“I left you for last because my notes indicate you said this was your day off. Both Ms.DeWitt and Ms.Williams work tonight, and I didn’t want to make them late. Ms.Atler had indicated that she wanted to be able to start clearing the apartment for her sons as soon as possible. If you need to be somewhere sooner...”
“No, it’s fine.” Rory waved Janice toward the table the detective had first indicated they use for the interview to give their statements. She felt guilty for lumping Larrsen in with Westlake when Larrsen had treated her with kindness. “I didn’t mean to sound grumpy. I didn’t sleep last night. I should have gone to a hotel, but I was too tired to make the effort. I just came down here with a couple of blankets.”
“Rory,” Lydia protested. “You should have stayed with me.”
“I wasn’t about to wake you up.”
“You’re always helping me. How many times have you bailed me out when I needed someone to watch Ellen? Or when I needed extra money? You’ve been teaching me how to mix drinks. I want to be able to help you.”
“My bed is smashed, and my mattress is torn to shreds. I’ll be happy to sleep on your couch, at least for tonight,” Rory teased.
She was aware of Larrsen paying close attention to the exchange as he scooped up cookies, put them on one of the little paper plates Lydia had provided and carried them over to the table where Janice had set his coffee.
“After I take each of your statements, I’ll need to see the apartments, take pictures and dust for fingerprints. Then you can have your places back,” Larrsen assured them.
“Maybe Cindy should go first so she can get started right away on getting her place ready for the kids,” Janice said.
“No.” Cindy shook her head. “They’ll be with their grandparents long enough for me to get everything done, but thanks, Janice.”
Rory’s phone vibrated, and she pulled it from her pocket and glanced down. Her heart jumped and then accelerated. Gideon. At last. She was foolish enough to run the pad of her finger over the text on the screen, her pulse reacting to the sight of seeing what he’d written.
Red, everything all right? I’m doing better. Any chance you can drop by today? Javier said you’re taking extra shifts. Hoping you didn’t tonight, and you can spend time with me.
She wanted to sag with relief. He was doing better and wanted to see her. Thankfully she hadn’t taken an extra shift, although she was exhausted and she should sleep. What did that matter when she had the chance to see Gideon? She could assess the damage done to him for herself. If she thought he was up to it, she could share the message Scott Tinsdale had given her for Harvey, and she’d tell him about the break-ins at the apartment building.
No extra shift this evening. Would be happy to come by. What time would be best?
“You’ve got that dreamy look on your face, Rory,” Sally accused. “Gideon is texting you, isn’t he?”
Rory couldn’t help laughing. She felt joy at the prospect of seeing him. Just knowing he was alive and well made her slightly giddy. “Yep. And I don’t even care if you tease me about him.” She touched her hair. “I must look a mess. Ifeela mess.”
“You can use my shower,” Lydia offered immediately. “Do you have clean clothes?”
Rory made a face. “I threw clothes into the washing machine a little while ago. The alarm hasn’t gone off yet. I’ll shove them in the dryer when it does.”
Come now if possible.
That made her even happier. He was as eager to see her as she was to see him. She loved that. A part of her was a little afraid he wouldn’t still be quite as interested. She didn’t want to be a clingy, needy girlfriend.Girlfriend?She’d never been anyone’s girlfriend. She’d never let herself trust anyone to get that close to her.
I can’t make it for a couple of hours, but if you’re hungry, I can bring us takeout when I come.
“I’ll take a shower as soon as I transfer my clothes to the dryer,” Rory announced to the others. “That way, I’ll cut down on the time it will be before I can get over to see him.”
None of your homemade dinners?
Alas, without kitchen. It’s takeout or nothing.She added laughing emojis in the hopes that he would think she was teasing him.
It took him longer than normal to get back to her. At once, an uneasy feeling crept in. Maybe she shouldn’t have teased him. Gideon was uncannily perceptive, especially when it came to her.
Is everything okay? Javier mentioned you had a run-in with someone the other night.
She was right. He was much too discerning when it came to her. The alarm on her watch went off. “My clothes are ready, and I’ve got to claim the dryer before someone else tosses my clothes from the washing machine and all the dryers are taken.”
“It would be a war if that happened,” Pam declared. “No one’s ever done that to me. Has it happened to you, Rory?”
“Not here. At another place I lived, there was a woman who did it on a regular basis. She would stop washing machines and take other people’s clothing out so she could use the quarters they’d already put in the machines. Someone took all her clothes out of the dryers when they were nearly dry and put them back in the washing machines and then put all kinds of money in the machines. She was so angry. She kept trying to find out who did it.” Rory grinned at them. “She never did.”
“Didn’t they have cameras?” Lydia asked.
