“You know, about seventeen people a year die from injuries caused by a four-pronged fork.”Drea picked up the napkin-wrapped implement, slowly removing it from its trappings to gently press the tines into the soft flesh of her thumb.
“Really?”
She looked up at him—damn those blue eyes.“No, I have no idea.But I could definitely make you the first victim.”Drea bit back a grin as Cujo laughed.
They made small talk for a while longer until Drea reached for her binder.“We have a bunch of stuff to go through.”
They were interrupted by the food being placed in front of them.Cujo leaned across her, his fresh clean scent competing with the salty smell of the bacon in the BLT.It was a tough call as to which was more appealing.
He closed her folder and pushed it off to one side, replacing it with the BLT.
Drea pushed the sandwich toward Cujo.He pushed it back.
“What?”Cujo asked, facing her.“It’s a BLT, not a marriage proposal,” he whispered into her ear.“Just eat it.You can stab me with the fork later.”
Drea picked up the sandwich and took a bite.The soft sourdough bread had been toasted, loaded with mayo just how she liked it.The salty bite of bacon and the sweet tang of perfectly ripe tomatoes exploded on her tongue.She closed her eyes and sighed.If an orgasm ever took physical form, it would be this very BLT.
“Good?”Cujo asked, watching her curiously.
Drea nodded furiously.“Absolute perfection,” she said, covering her full mouth with her napkin.“Thank you.”
Chewing quietly, she decided to tell Cujo about the flash drive.“I think I found something connected to Snake and the woman.”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“You know that night I cleaned the laundry basket and I was complaining about my coworkers not emptying their pockets?”
Cujo nodded as he bit into his toast.
“Do you remember I found a flash drive?”
“Yeah.You claimed finders-keepers rights, right?”
“I figured it was one of the students who work at the café part-time but turns out it had all this weird environmental stuff on it.Reports and stuff about fracking.”
Cujo took a sip of coffee and put his mug down.“What makes you certain it’s hers?”
“I don’t know.It’s a gut feeling.”
“Did you give it to Carter yet?Maybe he can figure out if it is connected.”
Drea shook her head.“I got a bit paralyzed about it.You saw Snake.The guy meant business.I think it was what he was looking for.”
“You need to get it to Carter.If it is hers, I doubt Snake’s going to come back and ask you nicely for it, Drea.”
She knew that, and it was part of what scared her.
Cujo got the check and left some bills with the receipt.“Do you want to deal with it now?I can drive you home and back.”
“No, it’s fine.You have work, and we still need to get through this list.”
“We can go through the list in the truck on the way to the party rental store,” Cujo said, throwing down his napkin.
“Sounds good,” Drea said, glancing down at the headlines of a newspaper someone had left behind.Every day she checked them, waiting for a headline confirming that the woman had been found, but instead it was about a boatyard fire just outside of Pinecrest.
“What are the chances we get through today without a fight?”Cujo asked leaving a tip on the platter.
“We don’t fight,” she responded quickly.
