Quietly stepping away from the living room, she made her way to the side entrance, her gun safe in her purse.
“Where are you going?” Olivia asked, looking up from the kitchen with a cup of coffee in her hand. Her eyes widened. “Are you kidding me? You got shot at yesterday and you’re going back into the city.”
Ronni’s chin dropped. “I’m a cop, Olly. No way am I hiding out here and not solving Walt’s murder. Seriously.”
“You are not a cop,” Olivia snapped, standing and reaching her.
Ronni shrugged. “Maybe not completely, but I’ve done the training.” Sure, it was more for education and a bit of fun, but she wasn’t some weak woman. “Nobody knows we’re meeting this morning, and I need to find out what happened to Walt. He was a good guy, and I think we’re close. I feel it.”
Olivia shoved her coffee cup atop the clothes washing machine and grabbed her coat off a hook. “Fine. Let’s go.”
Ronni’s eyebrows rose. “You aren’t going.”
Olivia got into her face. “I am going.” Her eyes gleamed. “You asked me to be part of your little foursome of sleuths from the beginning, you know.”
Yeah, because Olivia was a hell of an investigative journalist. Ronni gulped. “Won’t Chalton be mad?”
“Yeah. He’ll be mad,” Olivia said with a bite. “So will Jared. You want to be an independent woman or not?”
“Hells, yeah.” Ronni pulled open the door and ducked through swirling snow for the car. The wind pierced her sweater right to her skin, and she shivered, hurrying inside and igniting the engine.
Olivia jumped in next to her, scattering snow. “The storm is worse.”
“Yeah.” Ronni drove carefully away from the house, feeling like she was getting away with something. Take that, Jared. Fucking vampire.
Olivia cleared her throat. “What’s going on, Ron?”
Ronni sighed. “Saw Jared and Ginny together in the living room.”
Olivia winced. “Saw them doing what?”
“Just talking. Her head was on his shoulder.” The image hurt, damn it.
“Just talking? Then who cares?” Olivia peered through the snow-filled windows. “Maybe we shouldn’t drive in this.”
Ronni continued down the long driveway. “I care. I mean, they have every right to talk, and it could’ve been innocent, but even so. He was in love with her centuries ago and never found anybody else. I don’t think he even knows what he wants.”
“You should ask him,” Olivia said. “Help him figure it out.”
“I know.” Ronni blew out air. “Give me a break, Olly. Six days ago, I was next to death. Then I mate a vampire…which is the craziest thing ever. Somebody is trying to kill me, and I think I’ve fallen for said vampire. You can understand my not thinking all that clearly quite yet.”
“I do understand.” Olly nodded vigorously. “It all makes sense.”
Ronni slowed by the gate as the trees swayed wildly around them. “We should probably stay here, right?” Sticking it to Jared with her show of independence didn’t seem worth having a tree land on the car or a bullet hit her head. “This is reckless.” She wasn’t a stupid woman.
“Yeah. Maybe we can have the others come to us?” Olivia brushed snow off her jeans. “We could work the case from here. The coffee is excellent.”
Ronni shuddered. “I’ve been trying to prove my worth for so long, to my dad, that I have taken stupid chances.” Or avoided risks. She was a shrink, for goodness’ sake. “I understand my motivations.”
“Sometimes hearing them out loud helps. You have nothing to prove to your father,” Olivia said softly. “It’s nice to see you finally realize that. Has Jared helped?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure. He treats me as something fragile but worthwhile at the same time.” It was different than her father, that was for sure. As she let go of the past, her chest felt lighter.
“Good. I think that’s good.”
Ronni turned and grinned at her best friend. “You jumped in the car with me.”
“Of course.” Olivia smiled back. “I’m Thelma to your Louise. Monica to your Rachel. Tina Fey to your Amy Poehler.” She turned to look out the back window. “You know, if you flip a quick U-turn, they’ll never know we even left.”
