“I can still drop you off if—”
“You just want my doughnuts. I’m fine.”
He sighed and kept driving.
We parked in a quiet street, similar to the ten others we’d passed through on our way. “This one.” He pointed at a dark, two-story house farther down the road. “Maybe they’re out on errands.”
“It doesn’t look like the kind of place Bo would live in.”
“I’ve seen my share of monsters who blend in like normal people. This house tells us nothing of whoever lives inside.” He reached for the glove compartment, took out a camera and placed it on the floor next to his legs.
“What now?” I asked.
“We wait.”
“For how long?”
He chuckled and patted my leg. “It really is your first stakeout. There’s no way of knowing how long we’ll have to wait or if we’ll get anything.”
“Maybe they’re on vacation.”
“I called the house earlier and a woman answered—likely the wife, Donna. Maybe they went out to eat. Speaking of food…”
I opened the box for him to take a doughnut. “Hmm, that’s good. Taste.” He held it for me to take a bite.
“I don’t like cinnamon, but it’s nice.” I returned my gaze to the house. “Do you have your gun?”
“I do, but we won’t need it.”
“Even in self-defense?”
“We’re two people sitting in a car; there’s nothing to defend ourselves from.”
He was talking rationally and making me feel even more irrational. I tore my gaze from the house and looked back at Hayden, who had finished the first doughnut, leaving his lips glossy. “How was your day?” I asked.
He pulled out a napkin to wipe his hands. “It was busy. We’re working on a big drug bust downtown. We caught two dealers and got them to snitch, so now we have our opening.”
“I hope you didn’t catch whoever sells Jenny her pot; she’ll be pissed.”
He laughed. “It’s a bit more serious than Jenny’s pot. I’m just happy it’s putting me back on the Chief’s good side.”
“He cares about you.”
“Not as much as I thought, and not when it mattered the most. Anyway, Maya’s coming to LA next month. I told her she’d get to see you again. Hope I didn’t speak out of line.”
A month from now felt like a lifetime away, but it was nice to be included in his plans again.
“I’ll need to grow my hair back.” She loved my curls.
“You definitely should.” He lowered his voice. “You know how I like to grab them when…” His eyes narrowed. I followed his gaze. The car that had driven past us was slowing down before turning right into the driveway of Bo’s alleged house.
Hayden picked up his camera as I leaned forward, holding my breath. The light in front of the house was enough to reveal two young boys getting out of the backseat. They seemed to be about five or six, clearly twins.
“No running!” a woman called. She was chubby but carried her weight well.
“That must be Donna,” Hayden said.
I barely heard him. My entire focus was on that car, waiting for Bo to climb out, but he didn’t. Seconds later, the woman and her two children vanished into the house, and the lights inside were turned on.
