I coughed out a laugh. “No, I don’t need tampons, Aiden. I was thinking maybe some makeup.”
He grinned. “You’re gorgeous without makeup. I didn’t even think of getting any.”
I shook my head. “You didn’t bring me panties, either.”
“That was deliberate.” He started pouring batter into a pan and they sizzled instantly. Knowing Aiden, he might be telling the truth about that one.
I sent a quick text to Clark letting him know I wasn’t coming to the office today. Then I hopped off the stool. “Bathroom.” I wandered to the powder room by the front door and then returned.
Aiden’s cabin had three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a large great room, and a spacious kitchen with a round breakfast nook. He still didn’t have any furniture in the living room, but the bar stools were a decent beginning. I wandered into the smallest bedroom, and it was still vacant. The master bedroom at least had a bed if nothing else. The third room had already been set up as an office with a card table in the middle. I stepped inside.
Aiden caught me snooping. “What’s up?” The smell of pancakes filled the air behind him.
I stared at the large board hung on the side wall. A picture of Barensky was in the middle. “Just checking out your murder board.”
“Case board,” he corrected. “We don’t call them murder boards. It helps to have everything in one place.”
“I know,” I said. I kept a murder board in my laundry room, and I liked thinking of it as a murder board even though I didn’t deal in murders. It was more interesting. And I liked to kill it in court, so maybe it fit. At least in my mind it did.
His board was neater. Above Barensky was a blank head and a question mark with the word ‘client’ written next to it. Below that was Sasha’s face as well as the faces of the two guys I’d seen meeting at the Lordes apartment building. Then Bev and Kay, and next to that my picture with a question mark.
I turned to the two guys. “Did you ever figure out the real names of the Barensky representatives?”
“Not yet.”
“What all happened when you met with them?” While I understood that he liked to keep his cases private, I had a right to know.
“A lot of double-talk,” he muttered. “They used euphemisms for delivery of product and all of that, so they didn’t say anything criminal. They talked money to deliver their gifts to Seattle. Five gifts and a hundred k for each. That’s it. I hated letting them go, and we tailed them, but they lost the tail. That normally happens in real life—it’s not like the movies.”
Nothing was like the movies. “How are you going to find out who they really are?”
“We have them on video. Facial rec might help us out, but so far, nothing. It takes a while, though.” He secured my hand in his warmer one. “You need to eat.”
I studied the board one more time and then went with him toward the kitchen. “I’m surprised you’re at home making me pancakes. Don’t you have work to do?”
“Yep.” He led me back to my bar stool. “I already looked through what remained of the apartment buildings to examine what I could of the devices, and my unit is collecting all of the evidence to send to the lab. We also have BOLOs out on everyone I need to find. I can take the morning off and make sure you’re okay before going back to work.”
I sat. His ultra-efficient and calm demeanor was starting to throw me off balance, although I appreciated being his priority right now with so much going on. My heart might’ve twittered a couple of times.
He went back to cooking and expertly flipped a pancake before starting to load up my plate. Syrup and butter was already at my spot. “Peanut butter?”
I shook my head. “No, thanks.” I was a butter and syrup type of gal. The smell of perfectly cooked pancakes filled the room with fragrance and my body with anticipation. “What did you find in the apartment building when you looked at the device? Was it still smoldering?”
“The fires were out, but it was still smoldering and smoky. I grabbed a shower at Saber’s before picking you up since he lives close to the hospital right now.” Aiden filled his own plate. “I didn’t find much at the scene.”
I paused with the fork to my mouth. Now wasn’t the time for him to separate personal and work lives. Whether either one of us liked it or not, I was involved in this thing, considering Barensky had visited my office. “I’m in this, Aiden. Don’t try to keep me at a distance. What did you find?”
“Four bombs expertly placed, and all were both explosive and incendiary devices,” he said, taking a bite of pancake. “We’re talking ammonium nitrate and fuel oil to start with.”
I didn’t understand much of that and didn’t worry about learning bomb talk quite yet. “Was anybody hurt?”
“All four of the missing Lordes members were caught in the explosion and fire,” he said. “Carbine and Crash are dead.” He rolled his neck. “I wish they hadn’t been caught up in this. Neither has family, so we’ll take care of some sort of burial. They weren’t the best of guys, but they sure didn’t deserve this ending.”
My stomach ached. While it had probably been a quick death, it was so sad. So unfair. “Do you think they were targeted?” I asked.
His mouth tightened. “Yeah. Based on device placement and where the bodies were found, I think they were probably targeted.” He moved for the fridge and took out orange juice to pour two glasses. “They knew something, but whatever it was, I’m lost. None of this is making sense, and I need to figure it out. All of it.” He calmly handed over a full glass of OJ. “Drink. You need Vitamin C.”
I blew out air. “How do you seem so calm and methodical about all of this?”
