Xander placed his hand to the small of her back as they walked over to the bank of elevators.
“I suppose. Either way, they put him away beautifully.”
“Yes, they did. And, speaking of beautiful, what you did for that family was one of the most beautiful displays of friendship that I’ve ever seen.”
The elevator arrived and the doors parted. Niyah sighed and stepped inside. “Bella, I didn’t do anything that I don’t do every day.”
She could hear Bella’s soft laughter. “Niyah, you did everything you could to keep Taylor’s dad alive. But tell me something. The things that you do every day… do you do them after watching a man get shot to death? Do you do them with a gun to your head?”
Xander pressed the button for their floor.
“Of course not.”
“And the way you stayed with him until he was released to the funeral home was above and beyond the expectations of what you do.”
Niyah squeezed her lids shut and tried to banish every memory of the gunman from her mind.
“You there?” Bella asked.
The elevator stopping on her floor snapped her back to conversation. “Yes. Thank you, Bella.”
They stepped off the elevator and walked to Niyah’s condo.
“You’re welcome. All right, I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay. Feel better,” Niyah told her before ending the call.
Xander punched the code in and opened the door. As soon as they stepped inside, Niyah was thrown off by the smell of food. She turned to Xander. “You smell that?”
Xander frowned. “I do.”
Niyah dropped her bag on the hall table and kicked off her shoes. “Maybe it’s next door.”
“Maybe.” Xander stepped out of his shoes and dropped his car keys on the table.
Niyah entered the living room and discovered the Bears game playing on the television.
“What the hell?” Xander remarked when he entered the living room. He looked over at her, seemingly, to gauge her reaction. But Niyah had no reaction. Their uninvited guest had to be Naomi. She was the only one with the code to enter her condo. Only, Naomi didn’t cook.
“Finally!”
Niyah’s breath hitched at the sound of her mother’s voice coming from the kitchen. She froze and closed her eyes. The sound of footsteps warned that she had come closer.
“Well, it is about time,” her mother fussed before kissing her cheek. “Hallo, Liebchen.”
Niyah sighed and opened her eyes. “Hey, Mom. What are you doing here?”
“I missed you. And I made your favorite.” She smiled, completely pleased with herself.
“My favorite?”
Gretta Bauer wouldn’t have the first clue what her favorite anything was.
“Yes, darling. I made Labskaus.”
“Which is nobody’s favorite,” Naomi retorted when she entered the room. “Hello, Alexander.”
Xander smiled. “Naomi, how are you?”
