"Chef St. James," he said in a cheerful tone. "I've heard good things about your establishments. I thought I'd come check it out for myself."
I looked up at him and smiled, pretending I hadn't seen him until now, hoping I appeared genuine.
"Hello there, Mr…" I cocked my head slightly, waiting for him to give me his name.
"DetectiveGetzoff," he said smoothly. Just as smooth as the night we met. "Hans Getzoff. This is my sister, Felicia."
I gave her a smile too.
"It's nice to meet you both. I hope you have a wonderful evening. If you have any problems, please let my maitre d' know. She'll pass it on to me."
I hope he got the message. He was more or less welcome here, but I didn't want him lurking around our table all night, disturbing me or the other customers in the restaurant.
"I'm sure I won't have anything to complain about," he said, his gaze lingering for a moment on my cleavage. "Have a nice evening." His arm around his sister's waist, he turned and walked in the direction of his own table.
"He gives me the creeps," Jules said.
"Me too," I said with a sigh.
Was it a coincidence he kept turning up in places where I also was? New York City was relatively small, especially if you moved in the same circles, but the way he looked at me gave me all sorts of creeps. Like he knew things I didn't want him to know. Or like he was trying to crawl underneath my skin and see how I ticked.
No thank you. I preferred to be the one looking under skin. I was firmly attached to mine.
"We could always.…" Archer started, leaving the words unsaid because we all knew what he was going to say.
"He hasn't done anything to us," I reminded him. "If he does, we can worry about it."
"Are you sure?" Boner was gazing thoughtfully in Getzoff's direction. "I don't know about you, but he gives me the heebie-jeebies. I'm always a big fan of being proactive and getting someone before they get you." He seemed ready to stand up, pick up a knife, and stab it right through Getzoff's carotid, not particularly caring he had an audience to witness the act.
I knew he wouldn't do something in public. We hadn't lasted this long without learning discretion. Me, Boner, and Archer in particular, since Cass and Jules were relatively new to this.
"He's a diner here to have dinner," I said firmly. "Nothing more."
"'We should keep an eye on him," Cass said, looking as worried as Boner.
"I one hundred percent agree with that," Jules said, leaning his elbows on the table.
"Of course," I said. “We'll keep an eye on him, but we won't do anything unless he gives us a good reason."
I looked around at them, hoping they were listening.Reallylistening.
They all had their moments of unpredictability. I didn't need them going off the rails and after a police detective. Not if we ended up under the microscope.
If they found out what we were up to, we were screwed. And if they didn't, having them breathe down our necks would make it that much more difficult to go after Hypnos and Zeus.
No, we had to keep a low profile. Keep our noses clean, and stay out of the way of Getzoff.
The conversation ended with the rattle of plates and the servers placing our first course in front of us.
The discussion wasn't over, but for now we could enjoy our meal. Or try to anyway.
It was difficult when I felt as though Getzoff's eyes were on me the entire time.
CHAPTER 6
HARLOW
"That was exhilarating," I said as the last of the staff left and I closed the door behind them.
