I skipped over to him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, “I’msoglad that you agree.”
Over the past couple of days, ever since our kiss in his room, some of the barriers and walls that had existed between us had crumbled. I felt like a teenager with a new crush, and judging by the way he looked at me, he felt the same.
The Keurig began to spit coffee into my mug, and I left Cobb to hop from foot to foot in a little dance as the ice melted and the dark liquid turned into a cloudy, creamy mixture. Damn, I really loved a good cup of iced coffee. Using a spoon to stir the contents of the mug, I retrieved my tablet from in between the couch cushions, and turned to Cobb and Matteo who were still in the kitchen.
“Well, if you need me, I’m going to be on the terrace basking in the sunlight and being absolutely spoiled.” Wally jumped off the couch and followed me as I headed through the dining room. I could hear Cobb’s phone ringing as I opened the terrace doors and stepped into a surprisingly sunny San Francisco afternoon.
Pack Simmons’ apartment was so high up that the noise from the traffic below was almost non-existent aside from the occasional honking. It felt like it existed in its own world in the sky, surrounded by taller skyscrapers. The apartment took up half of the roof of the building and the terrace took up the other, tan cobblestones led to a long, thin lap pool and a pagoda with lots of comfortable furniture. There was also a garden that had seen better days, when Aria had shown me the terrace she had sheepishly explained that, while her grandmother had a green thumb, her own was charred black. So, she mostly left the garden to grow over. I had secretly downloaded a few gardening books on my tablet to read so that I could play around in the dirt. What can I say? I loved a new hobby.
Wally led the way to the seating area where a wicker egg chair was swinging idly in the light breeze. A comfy white cushion had been shoved inside of, and the cat jumped up into it, circling a few times before settling in for another catnap.
“You’re going to have to scoot over, you know?” I told the cat as I set my tablet next to him and turned to stretch, coffee still in hand. The sunlight and fresh air felt glorious after I’d tortured myself on the couch, and I let it seep into my skin.
I don’t know what drew my eyes to the building in front of me, maybe the way that the sunlight hit the glass or the bird flying by or the sound of a car honking below. There was an electronic billboard attached to the top of the building, and it normally advertised fast food or someone’s real estate business. Now, however, as I looked up at it, the coffee mug slipped from my fingers and shattered at my feet.
In front of me was my own face, plastered on a billboard. The picture was of my state ID photo and I looked less than enthused in the picture, but the picture wasn’t what freaked me out. Next to my picture, in huge white letters was: “HAVE YOU SEEN ME?”
CHAPTER 28
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Iwas busy watchingTibby leave the room, and probably spending more time than I needed to stare at her ass as she walked away, when Cobb’s phone began to ring.
“This is Collins.” He answered, his previously jovial tone gone as he shifted into FBI mode.
I was just beginning to gather my things to head into my office when, suddenly, Cobb’s tone changed. “What do you mean they are all over the city? Do you have the locations of all of them...?”
Cobb stood up, the stool scraping loudly against the floor as he hurried towards the terrace. I followed, my concern steadily growing as he spoke rapidly to whoever was on the other end of the line. “Get those fucking things down before she sees them—”
The sound of glass shattering somewhere close interrupted Cobb’s next words. Cobb paused and turned to look at me, his dark eyes were filled with fear. “Too late.”
Too late for what?I left Cobb behind and hurried out onto the terrace. Everything looked normal, the pool was sparkling in the sunlight, and Tibby was standing in front of her favorite egg chair...then I noticed the pool of brown liquid that was surrounding her bare feet.
“Tibby, sweetheart, what’s wrong?” I practically sprinted over to her, worried that she’d hurt herself on the glass or something.
Tibby’s face was completely drained of color, her freckles standing out starkly against her pale skin. Even her normally rosy pink lips had turned ashen, and I was worried that she was going to drop to the ground at any minute.
